Category Visibility

Category Visibility is a WordPress plugin that gives site owners better control over which categories appear inside the WordPress editor.

Instead of deleting categories or breaking existing category URLs, archives, or post relationships, this plugin lets you hide categories from editor selection screens while keeping them fully functional on the site. It is especially useful for sites with large category structures, legacy categories, internal-use categories, or category groups that should not be manually assigned by editors.

The plugin also includes tools for cleaning up unused categories, managing category visibility in bulk, and clearly seeing which categories are hidden.

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Key Features

  • Hide categories from WordPress editor category selectors
  • Keep hidden categories active and functional on the frontend
  • Show or hide individual categories
  • Optionally hide child categories when hiding a parent category
  • Hide all categories from editors in one click
  • Show all categories in editors in one click
  • Review empty categories before deleting them
  • Selectively erase only the empty categories you choose
  • Add visual visibility indicators to the Categories admin page
  • Optionally hide editor-hidden categories from the Categories admin list view

Dashboard Features

The plugin adds a Category Visibility module directly to the WordPress Categories admin page.

From this panel, administrators can:

  • Erase Empty Categories
    Opens a review popup showing all categories with no posts assigned. Each category is checked by default, and administrators can uncheck any categories they want to keep before deleting.

  • Hide All Categories from Editors
    Removes all categories from editor category selection interfaces while keeping the categories active on the site.

  • Show All Categories in Editors
    Restores all categories as selectable options in editors.

  • Also hide them from this view
    When enabled, categories hidden from editors are also hidden from the Categories admin list view.

The Categories table also includes an Editor Visibility column with visual badges, making it easy to see whether a category is visible, hidden, or has hidden child categories.

Installation Instructions

  • Step 1 — Download the Plugin
  • Step 2 — Install in WordPress
  • Step 3 — Go to Posts > Categories.