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Category Management

Category management screenshot

Categories in Periodix-Planner allow you to organize and track your time investments across different areas of your life.

🎯 Overview​

Categories are the foundation of the time budgeting system. They represent different areas where you invest your time:

  • Work - Professional activities
  • Health - Exercise, wellness, self-care
  • Learning - Education, skill development
  • Relationships - Family, friends, social activities
  • Personal Projects - Hobbies, creative pursuits

✨ Automatic Discovery​

No manual category creation needed! Categories are automatically detected and registered when you use them in your periodic notes.

How It Works​

  1. Write a Time Allocation: Add any category name in your time budget code fence 
    ​```periodic-planner
    NewCategory: 5
    ​```
  2. Instant Registration: CategoryTracker detects it and adds it to settings automatically with a default color
  3. Real-Time Tracking: Usage statistics update as you work across all notes
  4. Automatic Cleanup: Remove all instances of a category, and it's automatically removed from settings

Example​

When you create a time budget in any periodic note:

​```periodic-planner
Work: 40
Health: 10
Learning: 5
​```

The categories "Work", "Health", and "Learning" automatically appear in Settings → Categories with default colors - no manual setup required!

Create Categories in the Allocation Editor​

You can also create categories on-the-fly in the allocation editor:

  1. Open the allocation editor in any note
  2. Click "+ Create new category"
  3. Enter the category name
  4. Assign hours to it
  5. Save - the category is instantly registered with a default color

🎨 Using Categories​

In Time Budgets​

Categories work seamlessly across:

  • Time Budget Blocks - Allocate hours in your periodic notes
  • Allocation Editor - Interactive modal for managing allocations
  • Statistics - Comprehensive analytics and visualizations
  • Budget Tracking - Monitor spending across parent/child periods

🎨 Customizing Colors​

Default Colors​

When a category is first discovered, it's automatically assigned a color from the default palette:

  • Blue (#3B82F6)
  • Green (#10B981)
  • Purple (#8B5CF6)
  • Amber (#F59E0B)
  • Red (#EF4444)
  • Pink (#EC4899)
  • Cyan (#06B6D4)
  • Lime (#84CC16)

The system cycles through these colors as you add new categories.

Changing Colors​

Personalize category colors in settings:

  1. Go to Settings → Periodix-Planner → Categories
  2. Find the category you want to customize
  3. Click the color picker next to the category name
  4. Choose a new color from the wheel or enter a hex code
  5. Changes apply instantly across all notes and visualizations

Visual Feedback: Category rows have a subtle background tint matching their color, and pie charts update immediately when colors change.

✏️ Editing Categories​

Rename Categories​

To rename a category across all your notes:

  1. Go to Settings → Periodix-Planner → Categories
  2. Click the pencil (edit) button next to the category
  3. Enter the new category name
  4. Click Rename

The system will automatically update the category name in all notes that use it.

Delete Categories​

To completely remove a category:

  1. Go to Settings → Periodix-Planner → Categories
  2. Click the trash (delete) button next to the category
  3. Confirm the deletion in the dialog
  4. The category will be removed from all notes and settings

Note: Deletion is permanent and will remove the category from all time budget blocks across your vault.

📊 Category Statistics​

The Categories settings tab serves as your analytics hub. See comprehensive usage data for all your categories:

What You'll See​

For each category, view:

  • Total Notes: How many notes use this category across all period types
  • Period Breakdown: Usage per period type (e.g., "Daily: 5 · Weekly: 3 · Monthly: 1")
  • Hours Allocated: Total time for the selected period type
  • Percentage: Category's share of total time
  • Color-Coded Rows: Visual identification with subtle background tinting

Smart Sorting​

Categories are automatically ordered:

  1. By Hours (for selected period type): Most-used categories first
  2. By Total Notes: Categories in more notes rank higher
  3. Alphabetically: Ties broken alphabetically

Learn More: See the Statistics page for complete details on analytics, pie charts, and insights.

🔄 Category Lifecycle​

Fully Reactive System​

Categories automatically sync as you work - no manual management needed:

  • Auto-Registration: Use a new category name → CategoryTracker adds it to settings with a default color
  • Real-Time Tracking: See note counts and hours update instantly
  • Color Changes: Update colors → all charts and UI reflect immediately
  • Auto-Cleanup: Remove all allocations → category automatically removed from settings
  • Undo/Redo Support: Create categories in the allocation editor with full undo/redo functionality

Behind the Scenes​

The Plugin:

  1. Monitors all periodic notes for category usage
  2. Automatically registers new categories when detected
  3. Updates usage statistics in real-time
  4. Removes categories when no longer used
  5. Provides color management with automatic defaults

🔍 Finding Category Usage​

In Settings​

The Categories tab shows comprehensive statistics:

  • Which notes use each category
  • How many notes per period type
  • Total hours and percentages
  • Interactive pie chart visualization
  • Edit and delete buttons for category management

In Notes​

Categories appear wherever you allocate time:

  • Time budget code blocks
  • Allocation editor modal
  • Parent/child budget tracking

🚫 Removing Categories​

To remove a category from your system:

  1. Go to Settings → Periodix-Planner → Categories
  2. Click the trash (delete) button next to the category
  3. Confirm the deletion
  4. The category will be removed from all notes and settings automatically

Alternative: You can also manually remove allocations from all notes. Once a category is no longer used anywhere, it will be automatically cleaned up from settings.

Note: Category colors are preserved even if temporarily unused - they'll reappear with the same color if you use the category again.

Next Steps​