---
title: Categories
slug: analytics/docs/WF3b-categories
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-07-20T15:45:24.799Z
---

**Categories** in Optimizely Analytics let you organize your workspace by assigning entities (like dashboards, events, and more) to a category. This makes it easier to find, manage, and govern your workspace at scale. You can categorize by team or product, or designate them as **verified** to reduce clutter, establish ownership, and enable faster navigation.

## Usage

Categories help you organize and discover relevant content across Optimizely Analytics by tagging key entities with shared, meaningful labels.

### Manage categories

- Apply categories to various objects, including
  1. Datasets
  2. Derived columns
  3. Dashboards
  4. Explorations
  5. Events
  6. Cohorts
  7. Metrics
- Assign one or more categories to any supported object.

  ![screenshot of the Categories page in Settings where Categories and New Category are highlighted](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/664wXssmseg2OThjNiLh7-20260720-144920.png)
- Manage categories centrally, allowing for consistent usage across your organization.

  ![screenshot of the New category window where the icon picker is open to choose an optional icon](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/CBhC56DLDDtStP9wiEpZE-20260720-144920.png)

### Filter by category

- Filter by category in key views such as the datasets page, the home page, and the explorations.
- Discover relevant content, narrow down objects based on team, use case, or business area, and surface trusted or approved metrics through consistent metadata.
- Use categories to filter data assigned to a category within the terminal select in explorations.

  ![screenshot of an exploration where the Assign categories list is open to select categories](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/Xsm1kc1ca9itPJlCN4P5A-20260720-144920.png)

### Analyze experiments

Analyze multiple metrics that share the same category by selecting the category itself. You do not have to manually select the same metrics for every experiment.

![screenshot of the Filters panel where the Categories filter is open with one category selected](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/QTiwW05kor5l3nPQfdyE2-20260720-144920.png)

## Configure categories and permissions

Manage categories from the **Settings** page. Only admins can create categories and control how they are applied across the system. To configure categories:

1. Go to **Settings > Organization > Categories > + New Category**.

   ![screenshot of the exploration event picker where the add button next to an event opens the category list](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/W9-q4n_tm9xFK4yBdRccr-20260720-144920.png)
2. Enter the following information:

   - **Name and description** – Describe your category (for example, **Sales** or **Trusted Metrics**).
   - **Color and icon** – Visually differentiate categories in the UI.
   - **Permissions** – Control who can manage or apply specific categories.

   ![screenshot of the Events page where the Assign categories list is open for an event](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/E0eksz3WOA-oZmQQ6wsvi-20260720-144920.png)
3. Click **Add category**.

### Assign categories to entities

To assign categories to explorations, metrics, or columns,

1. Open the entity of your choice.
2. Click **Assign categories**.
3. Select an existing category or [create a new one](docId\:hCBYJYC_nvnwUro4r64PX).

![screenshot of the Categories page in Settings where two categories display with a preview of each tag](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/xuQyGp7mYoqJNJrLO0txM-20260720-144920.png)

### Categorize events

In exploration templates, add individual events from the event picker to existing or new categories.

Click **+** next to the event you want to categorize and select a category from the drop-down list.

To add a new category, click **+** in the category drop-down list.

![screenshot of the exploration event picker where the filter button opens a list of categories to filter by](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/F3NRBCFflT59bY4ew4kty-20260720-144920.png)

You can also assign categories to events in the **Events** section.

![screenshot of the metric picker in an experiment where selecting a category adds all three of its metrics](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/WruA2-N1CbpqLcbnwIZD1-20260720-144920.png)

### Filters and visibility

When you apply categories, they are visible in the following areas of Optimizely Analytics:

- **Home page** – Use category filters to find relevant dashboards or explorations.

  ![screenshot of the Home page where items show category tags and the Categories filter is open](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/6toCUsVy-gOqpCBK3PWDH-20260720-144920.png)
- **Search and pickers** – Filter by category when selecting events, columns, or metrics.

  ![screenshot of the exploration event picker where events show category tags and the details panel lists the categories of an event](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/O6SIOPrWK1nSczcpEnyv9-20260720-144921.png)
- **Global search** – Identify entities by category when you search across Analytics. To open global search, click **Search APP\_NAME**, or press **Cmd+K** (Mac) or **Ctrl+K** (Windows). APP\_NAME is the name of your current app. Each result displays up to three category tags. When an entity has more than three categories, a count tag shows the number of hidden categories. Hover over the tags to see every category assigned to the entity.