Categories provide the basis for the organizing scheme that will apply to every asset and inventory item in your tracking system. You can always add new categories as you go, but it is a good idea to step back and create categories that are sure to provide the appropriate level of detail that serves your organization's needs.

A category is the first step in building an asset model; the relevant category must be in place before you can associate it with the manufacturer and Model Number to create the Asset Model that applies to your asset.

This article describes:

Considerations for deciding on category names
Finding the menu options
Creating one category one at a time
Creating a filtered category list using search
Archiving categories
Deleting categories
Exporting the category list
Editing categories
Creating Custom Fields
Related articles

Considerations for deciding on category names

While you can add categories one at a time as needed, it is a good idea to import lists of categories because it gives you a chance to plan your organizational structure and develop your preferred naming conventions.

To get started with identifying a useful set for categories for your organization, consider the level of detail that will best serve your asset and inventory tracking needs:

Categories that an IT professional might create for tracking computer-related assets include:
- Computer (or create a category for each type of computer such as laptop or desktop)
- Computer components (or create a category for each type of component, such as monitor, video card, power supply, or motherboard)
Categories that an office manager might create include:
- Office furniture (or create a category for each type of furniture, such as Ergonomic chairs, File cabinets, or Copier)
- Office supplies (or create a category for each type of Inventory item, such as copier paper, paper towels, or toner cartridges)
- Vehicles (or create a category for each type of vehicle, such as Sedan, Van, or Truck)

Finding the menu options

Options for creating and editing Categories are accessed from the side menu (click on the carat symbol as shown by the red arrow):

Note: If the side menu is not visible, click on the square to the left of Global Search at the top of the screen to show/hide the side menu.

Once you click on Category>Categories you will have access to the options circled in red, which allow you to:

Access all functions facilitated by the icons in the upper right, as described in detail below
Refine the Category List to only display the categories of interest using the Category Search function
Access the complete Category List

Creating one category one at a time

To add one new category, navigate to Category>Create Category (side menu, about half way down) and click on Create Category.

Or, click on Category>Categories (side menu, option below the one shown in the previous screenshot), then click on the blue plus icon (upper right corner):

In the Create Category dialog box enter the new Category Name and optional Category Description. As you type, a list of categories with similar spelling will appear below the text box to let you know if a category with that name was already created.

Click on Save. The new category appears immediately on the Category List.

At times you may see the following option, which also allows one category at a time to be added. Click on the plus icon to access the same dialog box shown above.

Importing a list of categories

Navigate to Category>Categories and click on Categories.

Click on the (green) down arrow icon (upper right corner) to initiate the import process.

From the Import Categories dialog box, download a standard import file by clicking on the (tan) download icon.

Note: Clicking on the (blue) imported file list icon opens a list view of files previously imported.

Open the downloaded file, preferably in MS Excel. Note that the column headings match the fields in the Create Category dialog box.

Note: Any custom fields that were created for categories will be included in the downloaded file and will list with a prefix "_cfv."

List one Category Name for each row (required) and include a Category Descriptions if desired (optional). Do not skip any rows.

Save the file with a descriptive name.

Click on Choose File to navigate to the file you just created, and once you have chosen the file and it is listed next to Choose File (instead of No file chosen), click on Upload File.

Once the file is imported, you will receive a status report via the Imported File List showing which categories were not successfully imported; they are indicated as “Skipped.”

Note: Clicking Undo removes the imported values. This option is only available for the most recent import.

To determine the error(s), download the file by clicking on the link in the skipped column. In the example above, clicking on the number "1" in red downloads a file with the error message. In this instance the error was that the category name had already been taken, as shown below.

Creating a filtered category list using search

Note: The global search function at the top of the screen does not include searching for categories.

To search for categories, navigate to Category>Categories (from the side menu). From this view you can search by Category Name, Available or Archive status, and under the advance search option shown by the red arrow, you can search by the date (created or modified), as shown below. Once you click on Apply Filter, the sorted list appears below the search values.

Note: Clicking on the check box at the top of the column selects all items in the list.

Archiving categories

Applying the filter in the search function (described in the previous section) is a quick way of creating a list of items you may want to archive or un-archive. Once you have created a filtered list, you can select items by clicking in the check box to the left of each item (or at the top of the column to select all).

To archive (or unarchive) the selected items, click on the yellow icon in the upper right corner.

Archived information is still searchable and can be made available again (by unarchiving it).

Deleting categories

You can delete one category at a time while editing or mass delete categories by clicking the check box next to selected Category from the Category List and then clicking on the (red) trash icon.

Applying the filter using the search function is a quick way of creating a list of Categories you may want to delete. Once you have created the filtered list, select items by clicking the check box next to each item.

Note: Clicking the check box at the top of the column selects all items in the list.

Exporting the category list

If you need a record of your Categories, export them by clicking on the export icon in the upper right corner. The list downloads as an MS Excel spreadsheet and includes all categories.

Note: The spreadsheet is password protected and cannot be edited without the password that Tracmor sent to your account admin.

Editing categories

Navigate to the Category List by clicking on Category>Categories. Scroll down to Category Name of interest and click on it — it's a link.

When you click on the Category Name link your options are Edit, Delete, or Cancel:

Clicking on Edit allows you to change the category name and description. Click on Save to upload your changes (or click on Cancel to end the edit or Delete to delete the category).