What Are Event Categories?

Event categories act as containers for Event Types. Each Event Type you create must belong to one category, which groups related events together for easier use.
 

Example categories:

• Wildlife Events (mortality, sightings, conflicts)
• Patrol Events (start, end, route, incident)
• Community Reports (feedback, human-wildlife conflict, outreach)

Why They Matter

• Organization: Keeps event types sorted, making it easier for users to find what they need.
• Permissions: Access can be controlled at the category level. This means you can decide who can view, create, or edit events in a given category.
• Example: Patrol rangers may only see Patrol Events, while analysts see both Patrol and Wildlife Events.
• Reporting: Categories provide clean filters for queries, dashboards, and analysis.

Where You’ll See Them

• When using the Event Form Editor (EFE) to build a new Event Type, you’ll be prompted to select an existing category or create a new one.
• Categories appear in the Event Types panel in EarthRanger Admin and define how Event Types are grouped in both Admin and user workflows.
• When creating a new Event in EarthRanger Web the Event Types are divided by the determined Event Categories.

Best Practices

• Keep categories broad and logical (e.g., “Wildlife Events” instead of “Elephant Mortalities”).
• Avoid creating too many categories — too much fragmentation can make filtering harder.
• Align category structure with your organization’s reporting needs and permission strategy.