One item to many categories

[pioada]

Hi
Regarding: adding a single item to multiple categories.
This has probably been reported and discussed before, but this functionality is still missing in Joomla.
Every other CMS has had this functionality for a long time. Joomla must have it if it wants to keep up with the competition.
I need this for a large website for the institution I work for. I know you have a lot of work and limited resources. I could try to create this functionality, but first I need to know if Joomla is ultimately intended to have this functionality. If not, I'll have to look for another CMS. Please let me know.
Piotr

[brianteeman]

This has been discussed many many times over the last 20 years and there are no plans to do this. Tags exist for this purpose so there is no need for this

[4digitalworld]

@pioada Please make this feature for Joomla because TAGS DO NOT HELP AT ALL!

here is an issue #25619 where this was marked as a feature, so you can make this feature for Joomla!

[4digitalworld]

@pioada I also recently created a poll #44072; please vote.
I believe that Joomla should first add multi-categories and only then add the multi-site feature.

[pioada]

@universewrld I think the same.
@brianteeman Tags only allow you to combine items with similar content and nothing more. Tags do not replace categories in any way. Categories allow for full configuration of the display of items and more. Every other CMS allows you to assign elements to multiple categories. This is one of its basic functionalities. If you want to compete with other CMSs, you should have the features that others have.
Joomla has excellent code, high quality, and efficient, but end-users don't care about this even if You put there some NASA technolgies. They want functionality, and ultimately, it's up to them to decide which CMS they'll use because they use different ones and base their choices on usability and functionality. I get asked why it's not here if it's already in another CMS. I don't want fancy functionality. Assigning to multiple categories is essential, especially in larger projects.
The fundamental question isn't whether anyone needs this functionality, but rather whether Joomla is prepared to simultaneously refine the code, develop new features, and chase other CMSs? Is Joomla ready to reclaim the CMS market to the level of, say, 10 years ago? Does Joomla serve developers and users and want to create the features they need? If other CMSes haven't abandoned this functionality, then it's clearly useful.
I know you have a lot of other work to do, and this isn't on the list, so I want to try to get it ready. I don't know every corner of Joomla, so I'll sometimes need help and testing at the end, but I'd like to at least try. On the other hand, if it works, I don't want to hear at the end that the functionality won't be included in the Joomla source code.
If I succeed, will the functionality make it into the core code?

[4digitalworld]

I know you have a lot of other work to do, and this isn't on the list, so I want to try to get it ready. I don't know every corner of Joomla, so I'll sometimes need help and testing at the end, but I'd like to at least try. On the other hand, if it works, I don't want to hear at the end that the functionality won't be included in the Joomla source code. If I succeed, will the functionality make it into the core code?

please do this for everyone, because every time I asked here about whether the multi-category feature would ever be added, I was told every time that "you can develop it yourself and post the code here for testing so that it can be implemented in the CMS. We need volunteers for this, you can become a volunteer."

[ot2sen]

@pioada You cannot use your screwdriver for all the nails you meet. Flip the view and use the right tool for the given task.
Most often that tool is Joomla! and occasionally another great tool is better for the task. Choose the tool that match the task.

[pioada]

Using different systems for the same purpose leads to creating a little hell of differences... different server configurations, different security approaches, different WAF configurations, different expansion methods, different documentation, training, updates, etc., etc, etc. NO thanks. I want "one to rule them all".
I have about 15 Joomla sites, and more are on the way, including a large one that requires one-to-many.

[brianteeman]

if every other cms does this and its essential for you then why are you using joomla

[pioada]

@brianteeman Because Joomla is the best, especially from a developer's perspective, but it lacks few important, proven features compared to others. One-to-many is the biggest and will significantly expand Joomla's capabilities. I'm here because I don't want to switch to another system, but I want to expand Joomla's capabilities. I don't want you to commit resources to this, thay are working on toher things, but I do want to try to do it.
Joomla won't lose anything from this, and it might gain new functionality and potentially new users. This isn't the only thing I'd like to do, but it's the most important one, the one that will take most time and effort.

[brianteeman]

No one is stopping you from trying but no one will guarantee to accept the code. Trust me what you want to do is not easy to achieve if at all, that is why we have tags.

[MrSuddenJoy]

@brianteeman Its not easy? Its enough to place dropdown with multiselection enabled (frontend) and some complex sql querry (backend). Thats pretty much it.

[brianteeman]

please tell me what you can do with categories that you can not do with tags

[4digitalworld]

please tell me what you can do with categories that you can not do with tags

I explained it to you here #9838 with examples, but you always try to pretend that you don't see or hear anything.

Besides me, there were several other Joomla site administrators here #16553 #23126 #25619 #24454 #44541 who also made requests to add multi-categories to Joomla, but all their requests were rejected.

If website administrators come here so often with this request, then this really is a Joomla feature that is very necessary for website administrators, and you can no longer pretend that this is something that no one needs!

[pioada]

WP has a plugin that allows you to easily migrate a website from J! to WP. Unfortunately, it's impossible to do it the other way around because J! lacks the features found in WP. Even if someone wanted to switch to Joomla, they can't at the moment. You're losing potential users. In addition to developing unique, innovative solutions, it also needs to catch up with other CMSs to remain competitive.

[brianteeman]

then you are out of date as there are two different core supported extensions for this that are being completed.

[4digitalworld]

then you are out of date as there are two different core supported extensions for this that are being completed.

This should be included in Joomla out of the box, and not in the form of third-party extensions, which often stop being supported and because of this you can then not update your website to the new major version of Joomla.

[alikon]

this is one from gsoc 2025 https://github.com/joomla-projects/gsoc25_api

[4digitalworld]

this is a migration component, not a multi-category component.
It still doesn't solve the problem of adding a single article to multiple categories.

[alikon]

my answer is related to

WP has a plugin that allows you to easily migrate a website from J! to WP. Unfortunately, it's impossible to do it the other way around because J! lacks the features found in WP. Even if someone wanted to switch to Joomla, they can't at the moment. You're losing potential users. In addition to developing unique, innovative solutions, it also needs to catch up with other CMSs to remain competitive.

[MrSuddenJoy]

@alikon The relation is not obvious.....

[drmenzelit]

The project Multicategories was accepted for GSoC 2026: https://community.joomla.org/gsoc/projects-2026.html

[4digitalworld]

Thank you very much to everyone who approved of this idea!
I have been using @joomla since early 2008 with version 1.0 and I have been waiting for this feature for almost 20 years!

[LadySolveig]

@4digitalworld What exactly would you like to see happen when there are conflicts between access levels at category level when you have multiple categories assigned? I'm just curious.

[4digitalworld]

@LadySolveig If an article is assigned categories that are not visible to all users, then categories visible only to certain user groups will be hidden in the article description from users who don't have access to these categories.

Joomla currently has plugins that can hide specific text in an article from different user groups.

The same can be done for the list of categories that will be displayed in the article description, so that certain categories in this list are visible only to user groups with access to these categories.