## What Are Categories?

Categories help you organize your vocabulary into meaningful groups. You can use them to track words by topic, language, stage, or any custom system that works for you.

## Two Types of Categories

### List Categories

List categories are simple groupings of vocabulary items. You can simply just add words to a list and they stay there forever.

**Use cases:**
- Group words by topic (e.g., "Food", "Travel", "Business")
- Create custom decks for specific purposes

### Filter Categories

Filter categories automatically include all vocabulary items that match certain criteria. Words are dynamically added or removed based on the filter rules.

**Use cases:**
- Filter by learning stage (e.g., "Words I'm learning")
- Filter by language
- Combine multiple criteria for complex filtering (e.g., "Words in Spanish that I know already")

## Creating Categories

1. **Tap the + button** to create a new category
2. **Choose the type** - List or Filter
3. **Add a name** and optional description
4. **Set the rules** (for filter categories)
5. **Save** your category

## Managing Categories

- **Edit** - Enter a category to modify its settings

## Tips

- Use filter categories for learning stages to automatically track progress across all words at a certain level.
- The same vocabulary card can appear in several categories
- You can also use categories to manage large groups of vocabulary items at once by using the "selct all" feature inside a category