--- title: "Automatic Assignment of Link Categories" slug: "automatic-assignment-of-link-categories" updated: 2026-07-28T15:26:14Z published: 2026-07-28T15:26:14Z canonical: "docs.mapp.com/automatic-assignment-of-link-categories" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mapp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Automatic Assignment of Link Categories ## When to Use Automatic Assignment Link categories can be assigned by hand or automatically. Automatic assignment is the better choice when: - **A message has many links:** Instead of editing each link, the system checks every sendout and assigns the matching category automatically. - **Links come from attributes or related data sets:** These links are inserted only at sendout, so they can be assigned only automatically. When only part of a link comes from an attribute, the placeholder name drives the assignment — for example, a link built from `${user.CustomAttribute['hotel']}` can be matched on the string *hotel*. To evaluate personalized links, enable link tracking for the group (see [Activate Link Tracking for a Group](/v1/docs/activate-link-tracking-for-a-group)). --- ## How Automatic Assignment Works Categories are created in the Administration area; the assignment runs on a keyword or a regular expression (Regex) at sendout. For landing pages inserted through an Engage Variable, assignment must be automatic, because the variable becomes a link address only at sendout — a word from the URL, or the full landing-page URL, serves as the keyword or Regex. ### By Keyword A keyword is a single word that must appear in the link address; no programming knowledge is needed. Keywords are case-sensitive, and only the link address is searched — not the visible link text. Example: links containing `hotel` are assigned to the *Travel* category. - Matches: `www.hotel.com`, `www.reallynicehotels.com`, `www.travelagency.com/hotels`. - No match: `www.Hotel.com` (case-sensitive); or a link whose visible text is "hotel" but whose URL is `www.bookings.com` (only the URL is searched). ### By Regex A regular expression matches patterns in the link address, allowing more precise rules than a single keyword. - `.*Resort.*` – any link containing "Resort". - `(?=.*Cruise)(?=.*Bahamas).*` – links containing both "Cruise" and "Bahamas". - `.*Cruise|Bahamas.*` – links containing either "Cruise" or "Bahamas". --- ## Add a Keyword to a Link to Trigger Assignment Often the destination URL does not contain the string needed for assignment. Add it as a parameter so the assignment can trigger. Example: `www.myhotel.com/resortpeter` becomes `www.myhotel.com/resortpeter?linkcategory=Wellness`. If you use a CMS template, ask your customer representative to add the placeholder to the master template. ### By Hand Insert the value manually, using a flag the destination site ignores so it triggers no unintended action (for example, `linkcategory=Wellness`). ### With a Placeholder or Personalization Drag an Engage Variable or personalization placeholder into the link; it is replaced with the real value at sendout. The category is determined from the placeholder name **before** the value is resolved, so every variant maps to the same category — for example, `www.myhotel.com/resortpeter?linkcategory=<%Wellness%>`. > [!NOTE] > Note > > If the whole link is inserted through a placeholder, it is not recognized as a link during processing and receives no category. ### Save as a Personalization for Reuse In the personalization builder, store a value from the code view (for example, `linkcategory=Wellness`) and drag it into any message. Prefix it with `?` or `&` — for example, `www.myhotel.com/resortpeter?language=de&linkcategory=Wellness`. --- ## Set the Priority of Link Categories A link can belong to only one category. If it matches several categories, the one with the highest priority (the smallest number) wins — this stops a link being counted more than once in the statistics. ### Procedure 1. In the main navigation menu, go to *Administration > Categories > Link*. The **Category Overview** opens; the **Priority** column shows the current ranking. 2. In the **Action** column, select **Change Priority**. 3. Enter the rank in the **New priority** field (the smaller the number, the higher the priority). 4. Click **Change Priority**. The other categories shift up or down accordingly. --- ## Automatic vs. Manual Assignment If both are used, manual assignment wins. Once the **Assign Link Categories** window is closed, automatic assignment no longer affects that message, even if the Regex changes later (see [Assign Link Categories](/v1/docs/assign-link-categories-window)). Changing a link's category takes effect from the date entered; statistics already collected are not adjusted. Changing a category's **name** takes effect immediately and system-wide.