Themes, categories, and attributes

Themes, categories, and attributes give your collection structure without requiring you to invent a cataloging system from scratch.

The relationship works from broadest to most specific:

1. A theme describes a broad area of collecting.
2. A category identifies the kind of collection within that theme.
3. Attributes record useful details about individual items in that category.

For example:

• Theme: Musical Instruments
• Category: Guitars & Basses
• Collection: Vintage Electric Guitars
• Item attributes: Brand, Model, Body Type, Number of Strings, and Year Made

Choose a theme

You choose a theme when creating or editing a collection. Themes are broad groupings such as musical instruments, art and photography, or other areas of collecting.

Themes help Akurium organize your public profile and give visitors another way to browse your published collections. You do not need to create or manage themes yourself.

Choose the theme that best describes the collection as a whole. A collection can use only one theme at a time.

Choose a category

After selecting a theme, choose one of its categories. Categories are more specific descriptions of what the collection contains.

For example, Art & Photography may include categories for cameras, paintings and prints, or other photographic and artistic material.

The category serves three purposes:

• It helps people find and understand your collection.
• It determines which attributes Akurium offers when you add items.
• It lets people filter Explore to focus on collections and items that match their interests.

Tip

Choose the closest useful category rather than searching for a perfect fit. A collection name and description can explain the distinctions that the category does not capture.

If you change a collection’s category later, review its items afterward. The new category may offer a different set of attributes.

Record item attributes

When you add or edit an item, Akurium displays attributes appropriate to its collection’s category. These fields appear in the Item Attributes area of the item form.

Depending on the category, attributes may record details such as:

• Brand, maker, artist, or model
• Date or approximate year
• Material, dimensions, or condition
• Technical specifications
• Features that can be answered yes or no
• A choice from a category-specific list

Attributes are optional. Fill in the details that are known and useful, and leave the rest blank. Empty attributes are not displayed on the item’s public page.

Akurium groups related attributes—such as General, History, Dimensions, or Condition—so visitors can scan them more easily.

Collections provide the context

Themes and categories belong to the collection, not to each individual item. Every item in a collection therefore uses the same category and receives the same available attribute fields.

This works best when the items in a collection are similar enough to share useful descriptive details. If two groups of items need substantially different attributes, consider placing them in separate collections with more appropriate categories.

How this appears publicly

Published collection pages identify their theme and category. Visitors can use those classifications to browse your public material, while completed attributes appear as organized details on each published item’s page.

Themes and categories also power filtering on Explore. People can narrow the results to the subjects that interest them instead of searching through every kind of collection and item. Choosing an accurate theme and category therefore helps your published material reach visitors who are already interested in that area.

Descriptions tell the item’s story; attributes make its facts easy to scan. Using both gives visitors useful context without forcing every detail into a block of prose.