--- title: "Category Form" slug: "category-form" description: "This page allows you to create or edit a category record.Click Done to save any changes or click Save and New to save your changes and open a new category form based on the category you just saved." updated: 2026-09-09T12:46:27Z published: 2026-09-09T12:46:27Z canonical: "documentation.sysaid.com/category-form" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.sysaid.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Category Form This page allows you to create or edit a category record. Click **Done** to save any changes or click **Save & New** to save your changes and open a new category form based on the category you just saved. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/52d3cb6c-cc81-43c2-b6f7-cbabcb449271/Images/Documentation/image-CEND4FTP.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-17T02%3A46%3A02Z&se=2026-10-17T03%3A46%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=gdxcuUyG9mlthbjaNiJDq4AcXzdLyoYzDFkRaBXyXkY%3D) ## Managing categories In the **Category** field, type a category name or select from existing categories. ![CategoryEditfilesSelectCategorySelectCategory.jpg](https://cdn.document360.io/52d3cb6c-cc81-43c2-b6f7-cbabcb449271/Images/Documentation/CategoryEditfilesSelectCategorySelectCategory.jpg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-17T02%3A46%3A02Z&se=2026-10-17T03%3A46%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=gdxcuUyG9mlthbjaNiJDq4AcXzdLyoYzDFkRaBXyXkY%3D) ### Editing a category name When you open an existing category record, the category name is in read-only mode. You can activate edit mode to change the name. To edit a category name 1. Click the **pencil icon**. This unlocks the category name for editing. 2. Use the drop-down lists to select different category names, or type them in the appropriate fields. 3. Click **Done**. If there are any service records using the category, the following prompt appears: ![CategoryEditfilesModifyCategory.jpg](https://cdn.document360.io/52d3cb6c-cc81-43c2-b6f7-cbabcb449271/Images/Documentation/CategoryEditfilesModifyCategory.jpg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-17T02%3A46%3A02Z&se=2026-10-17T03%3A46%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=gdxcuUyG9mlthbjaNiJDq4AcXzdLyoYzDFkRaBXyXkY%3D) 1. Select if your renamed category should apply to active, closed, and/or archived SRs. SysAid maintains the previous category name for any SR classes not selected, but that version of the category set is no longer available for generating new SRs. 2. Click **Continue** > [!NOTE] > Please note: > > **Category names cannot include a backslash character (\)**. This applies to categories at any level, including sub-categories and third-level categories. > > If a backslash is included in a category name, changes made in the **Service Desk** > **General Settings** page cannot be saved. ### Creating description templates For each category/subcategory/third-level category, it's possible to create a template text that appears in the description field whenever an administrator or end user chooses the category. To do this, enter the desired text in the **Description** field. A description template applies to a category and all sub-categories under it, unless one of those sub-categories has its own description template. In such a case, that specific subcategory alone (and any third-level categories under it) has its own description template. A description template applied to a subcategory or third-level category does not apply to the category above it, nor to any categories on the same level. Only sub-categories are affected. Creating a description template ![CategoryEditfilesDescriptionTemplateCreationDescriptionTemplateCreation.jpg](https://cdn.document360.io/52d3cb6c-cc81-43c2-b6f7-cbabcb449271/Images/Documentation/CategoryEditfilesDescriptionTemplateCreationDescriptionTemplateCreation.jpg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-17T02%3A46%3A02Z&se=2026-10-17T03%3A46%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=gdxcuUyG9mlthbjaNiJDq4AcXzdLyoYzDFkRaBXyXkY%3D) Results of a description template ![CategoryEditfilesDescriptionTemplateExampleDescriptionTemplateExample.jpg](https://cdn.document360.io/52d3cb6c-cc81-43c2-b6f7-cbabcb449271/Images/Documentation/CategoryEditfilesDescriptionTemplateExampleDescriptionTemplateExample.jpg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-17T02%3A46%3A02Z&se=2026-10-17T03%3A46%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=gdxcuUyG9mlthbjaNiJDq4AcXzdLyoYzDFkRaBXyXkY%3D) > [!NOTE] > Please note: > > If there is both a **Description** template and an **Incident** template for the same category, the Incident template text is used. ### Limiting visibility to Admin and User groups Each category can be limited to specific groups of End Users and Admins, using the **Visible in SSP for user groups** and **Visible for admin groups** fields. To learn more about limiting a category to specific groups, see [Setting Category Visibility](/v1/docs/categories-by-user-groups). ### Enabling categories for specific service record types or CIs You can decide which SR types are relevant for this category. Select the check box corresponding to each SR type you want to associate with the category. You can also associate the category with CIs by selecting the CMDB check box. When designating a category for an SR or CI, you can only choose categories that are enabled for that SR type or CI. For example, for the Servers: Active Directory: Unlock account category set, you would only enable Requests, since this category is not relevant to incidents, changes, or problems. When creating a new incident, change, or problem, you would not see the Unlock Account category. ## Configuring Dynamic Forms You can set the appropriate template to dynamically load in the SR form when a category is selected. To do so, you must designate a specific template to load for each SR type for each category. This could be helpful when you want to associate a specific template with a defined process for SRs in a given category. **Example:** You have a Network Printer template that includes a drop-down menu of available network printers. You can specify this template to dynamically load in an incident form the moment the category Other Equipment > Network Printer. Similarly, if you have a simple template for password reset requests, you can set this template to dynamically load only in request forms when the designated Password-related category is selected. ![CategoryEditfilesSelectTemplate2.jpg](https://cdn.document360.io/52d3cb6c-cc81-43c2-b6f7-cbabcb449271/Images/Documentation/CategoryEditfilesSelectTemplate.jpg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-17T02%3A46%3A02Z&se=2026-10-17T03%3A46%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=gdxcuUyG9mlthbjaNiJDq4AcXzdLyoYzDFkRaBXyXkY%3D) You also have the option of setting a [default template](/v1/docs/categories#set-default-templates) to dynamically load for multiple categories. This allows you to change the template for multiple categories by simply changing the SR type's default dynamic template. If the designated default template is appropriate for a category, then select **Default**. ![CategoryEditfilesSelectDefault2.jpg](https://cdn.document360.io/52d3cb6c-cc81-43c2-b6f7-cbabcb449271/Images/Documentation/CategoryEditfilesSelectDefault.jpg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-17T02%3A46%3A02Z&se=2026-10-17T03%3A46%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=gdxcuUyG9mlthbjaNiJDq4AcXzdLyoYzDFkRaBXyXkY%3D) > [!NOTE] > Please note: > > When an end user submits a new incident with the default incident template selected, the **Title** field is blank even if you entered a title for that template. If you want to preserve the existing template when the categories are chosen in a service record, select **Don't change**. ![CategoryEditfilesDontChange2.jpg](https://cdn.document360.io/52d3cb6c-cc81-43c2-b6f7-cbabcb449271/Images/Documentation/CategoryEditfilesDontChange.jpg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-10-17T02%3A46%3A02Z&se=2026-10-17T03%3A46%3A02Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=gdxcuUyG9mlthbjaNiJDq4AcXzdLyoYzDFkRaBXyXkY%3D) For more information on creating templates, see the pages for [Incident](/v1/docs/incident-templates), [Request](/v1/docs/request-templates), [Change](/v1/docs/change-templates), and [Problem](/v1/docs/problem-templates) templates. To configure the Dynamic Form behavior for the category 1. From the relevant template drop-downs, select template values. 2. Click **Done**.