What's the difference between Folders, Tags, and Categories?

Tags, Folders and Categories help you organize your materials in Ply, but they serve different purposes and work in different ways. There's also a third concept, folders, that's worth clarifying since it's easy to confuse with categories.

Categories are the structured way to classify your materials. You can set up Category > Subcategory levels to create a hierarchy, and they carry over across your entire system, not just your catalog, but also your warehouses and trucks.

Because categories are system-wide, they power filtering and reporting throughout the app, making them essential for organizing and tracking materials at scale.

You can view and manage all your categories from Settings > Catalog > Categories.

Tags are a more flexible, informal way to organize and filter your catalog. Unlike categories, they are not hierarchical, think of them like hashtags. You can apply multiple tags to a material and use them to quickly find what you're looking for.

Unlike categories, there is no master list of tags, you can only see them inside each material. To view or edit tags, go to Catalog > click the three dots (⋯) next to the material > Edit material > scroll down to the Tags section.

One thing to keep in mind: you can't search for tags directly in the main search bar. To filter by tags, use the Filter option above your material list.

Heads up: If you imported materials from ServiceTitan or another integration, tags may have been automatically created from your material descriptions. If you'd like to clean those up, reach out to us at [email protected] and we'll take care of it for you (usually within 1 business day).

Folders are a visual tool to organize how materials appear in your catalog view, nothing more. They do not tag or classify materials, and they don't carry over to your stock locations (warehouses and trucks). If you're looking to classify materials across the whole system, use categories instead.

If you're used to organizing things in folders, go with categories and subcategories, they give you structure and work across the whole system.

If you need a quick, flexible label to group certain materials without a strict hierarchy, tags are your friend.

Can I use both at the same time? Yes! Categories and tags are not mutually exclusive. You can categorize a material and also add tags to it for extra filtering flexibility.

Can I search by tag in the main search bar? No, tags are only accessible through the Filter option above your material list, not through the main search bar.

Do categories apply to my stock locations too? Yes, categories carry over to your warehouses and trucks, making them useful for filtering and reporting across your entire inventory.

Is there a master list of all my tags? No, there's no central list of tags. You can only see them inside each individual material by going to Catalog > three dots (⋯) > Edit material > Tags section.

Are folders the same as categories? No. Folders are just a visual way to organize materials in your catalog view. They don't classify materials and don't carry over to your stock locations. For system-wide classification, use categories.