Adding Independent Category

1. At least one department must be mapped in the associated department field.
   
2. The default department shows the list of departments that are mapped under the Associated Department field.
3. Moderators can be either admins or agents of the default department.
4. You must add at least one moderator, even if you choose not to moderate posts.

To add an independent category

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Community.
2. On the Categories List page, click Categories under Community from the left menu.
   
3. Click + Create Category from the top right corner of the page.
   
   
   
   

4. On the Add Category page, do the following:
   

1. Click Upload to upload your own logo for the category or select from the list available.
   

2. Add the Name and a Description for the category.
   

3. Choose the desired Associated Departments from the drop-down.
   At least one department must be mapped in the associated department field.

4. Select the Visibility permission for the category.
   

   You can choose between All users, Registered users, Moderators, Agents, and Groups.
   

5. Select who can post new topics into the category from the drop-down.
   

   You can choose between Moderators, Registered users, and Groups.
   

6. Select who can respond to the topics of this category.
   

   You can choose between Moderators, Registered users, and Groups.
   

7. Select the Moderation requirements for the category.
   

   You can choose between None, First post only, and All posts.
   

8. Select the Default Department where you want to add topics as tickets.
   

   The topics moved between the categories will reside in the department mentioned in the Default Department field. 
   

9. Specify the Moderators for the category.
   
   

Editing Independent Category

You can edit an independent category to change its characteristics.

To edit an independent category

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Community.
2. On the Categories List page, click Categories from the left menu.
3. Hover over the desired independent category and click Edit.
   
   
   
   
4. Make the necessary changes and click Save.
   
   
   

Locking Category  

You can lock a category to put it in the standby mode so that your customers cannot post any topics in it. However, the category will be listed and its contents can be viewed in the Help Center.

To lock a category

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Community.
2. On the Categories List page, hover over the desired category and click the Lock icon (  ). 
   
   
   

Disabling Category  

If you are no longer using a category, you can disable it to archive its content. When you disable a category, it will not be visible in the Help Center. However, the topics and discussions of the disabled category can be accessed by agents from within your Zoho Desk portal.

To disable category

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Community.
2. On the Categories List page, hover over the desired category and toggle it.
   
   
   

Managing Forums  

Forums are sub-categories. Creating a separate forum helps your customers to access quickly the information they need, besides keeping them focused on a specific issue or topic. You can create any number of forums to maintain a vibrant online community.

To create a forum

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Community.
2. On the Categories List page, select the desired category.
3. On the Category Details page, click Add forum and give it a Name.
4. Click Save.
   
   

The category details page will list key metrics like the number of forums the customers have, the number of topics and comments customers received, and the percentage of topics created under each topic type.

To rename a forum

1. On the Categories List page, select the desired category in its detail view.
2. On the Category Details page, hover over the desired forum and click Edit to rename the forum.
3. Perform the desired edits and click Save.
   
   
   

Locking Forum  

You can lock a forum to put it on standby so that customers cannot post any topics in it. However, the forum will be listed under its category and its contents can be viewed in the help center. Note that you can lock all the forums under a category. 

To lock a forum

1. On the Categories List page, select the desired category in its detail view.
2. On the Category Details page, hover over the desired forum and click the Lock icon (  ).
   You can click the Lock icon to Unlock the forum at any time.  
   
   
   

Disabling Forum  

To disable a forum

1. On the Categories List page, select the desired category.
2. On the Category Details page, hover over the desired forum and toggle it.
   
   

Deleting Forum  

You can delete a forum that doesn't have any posts underneath it. 

To delete a forum

1. On the Categories List page, select the desired category in its detail view.
2. On the Category Details page, hover over the desired forum and click the Delete icon. 
   
   

Note:

1. You cannot delete forums that have posts in them.
2. The user (agent or admin) can move a forum ticket to another department by selecting the desired department, category, and associated forums from the drop-down list. Please note that all the categories on the Desk will be listed under each department.
   
   
   

Handling Uncategorized Posts  

Uncategorized posts are topics that are posted directly onto a category before a forum is created under it. When you create the very first forum under a category, the uncategorized posts, if existing, will be automatically moved underneath the forum. From then on, your customers can only submit posts on the forum and not to the category. 

Community Preferences  

You can customize certain aspects of the community like the topic types to be made available for your customers and the content to be displayed on the landing page. You can allow your customers to choose the topic type so that you can better organize the discussions and respond to them. The Zoho Desk community provides you with the following topic types:

1. Discussion
2. Question [Default]
3. Announcement
4. Idea
5. Problem
   

Besides the topic types, you can customize the community home page to either display a list of the categories or only the most recent topics across all the categories.

To set community preferences

1. Go to Setup > Channels > Community.
2. Select Preferences under community from the left menu.
3. In the Preferences page, toggle the desired topic types.
4. Under Landing page, choose between All Category or Recent Topics.
   
   
   

1. When you disable a topic type, the discussions in it can be changed to an active topic type or deleted from the community.
2. You can click Set as default to set a topic type as default, while submitting a post. Only Question, Idea, or Problem can be set as default topic types.