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Sections, categories, articles, menu items. See how it's a SCAM? Remember you do need to create them in this order, as menu items for articles can't exist without the article, the article can't exist without section/category, the category can't exist without section.

Then there's this thing called "uncategorized" associated with an article. So you CAN have an article that exists without section and category! Well, sort of. Think of "uncategorized" as the default section and "uncategorized" as the default category.

So, Frequently Asked Questions about the SCAM:

1. Can an article be assigned more than one section/category?
Nope. One section/category per article.

2. Do I have to use sections/categories?
Nope. You can set everything to "uncategorized" if you wish.

3. Well! Why am I banging my head against the wall then? I'll set everything to "uncategorized"!
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I do have a site set up where everything is "uncategorized". There are about 6 pages on the site, total. Maybe 10, but no more. I am the only person maintaining the site. It was easy to do, I did the site for free, and I didn't want to spend a whole lot of time on it. (www.nashuaflutechoir.com)

But: there are some pieces of Joomla functionality that run nicely with sections and categories. Try exploring some of these to see what you get. For example, rather than linking directly to a specific article in the Menu Manager, check out the blog settings for Section or Category, or the table layout settings. You can get a long listing of articles on your page, without ever setting up another menu link. Great for clients -- they don't need an extra step to get a new article on the site.

Some modules run nicely with sections/categories. Have a look at the "latest news" or "newsflash" modules. These publish the most recently created article(s) in a given section/category. Great way to highlight content on the home page.

If everything is set to "uncategorized", your "about us" page might show up as a newsflash item. And that's probably not really what you want.

4. So -- sections/categories are really about OTHER JOOMLA FUNCTIONALITY and less about the way my site map is structured?
They definitely can be.

One approach: Sections are assigned to primary nav items. Categories might be associated with secondary nav items. It's intuitive, and your client will know what section/category to assign a certain article.

EXCEPT: if you want to use one of these supporting modules, or the blog functionality in Joomla, or some component that works with a section/category, or whatever -- you may need to bend those initial rules to make things work for your site.

REMEMBER: that sections/categories are actually COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT of how you put your menus together, if you link directly to articles. So sections and categories really support the technology AND other Joomla functionality. Your task is to figure out how to balance these. Have fun!