Could someone please explain the difference between adding categories and links?

Question

... the difference between adding a category to a profile, and adding a link to a category? I understand how the two are done (from the Categorization page), just not why you would pick one or the other.

Answer 1

Adding a category to a profile adds the profile to the category. :) So you would do that if you want the profile to actually appear on the category page. This is almost always what you want.

Linking to a category is more for if you're talking about a category. You don't want the profile you're editing to be in the category, but you want to refer to it. For example, on the Canada category there's a link to Category:United States of America, where it says that Canada and the US share a border. Canada doesn't belong in the US category; it's just a link so that people can navigate there.

I hope that helps!

Answer 2

after you add a category to a person and save you would check to be sure the category link is not red on the profile

If the link is red you would click it  and in the edit box the links to other categories can be added that relate to the category ie the upper categories

I always check whether red or green and if unsure what to add I let someone from the categorization team know by posting here in G2G and choosing categorization tag

Answer 3

Profiles can link to a LOWEST level category.

Categories can link to a HIGHER level category.

Answer 4

Kitty,

Lianne has a complete answer, for individual profiles another example can be the burial of a couple.  One spouse could be buried at cemetery A. and you would want a direct link, but the spouse may be at cemetery B and that should be an indirect link to that cemetery.