Written by Janell Brown, Wayward Waymarking

For those of you who have ever considered creating your own waymarking category, you know the task can seem a bit daunting. This guide will walk you through the process step by step and help you see how fun and simple category creation can be. If you have only been waymarking a short time, I suggest that you wait until you have played the game for awhile and review several different categories before you create your own new category. Doing this will give you a feel for the different styles of categories, and help you make sure that waymarking is for you. Remember that when you create a category, you are accepting the responsibility to review the waymarks posted to it for the unforeseeable future, to make any necessary changes and edits to the category as issues come up, and to communicate those changes to your group's officers. If you've been waymarking for awhile and think you're ready to take the next step, then let's move on.

Creating categories is a feature which requires a premium Groundspeak membership. If you don't have a premium membership and would like to purchase one, link to the Groundspeak Store and follow the instructions there. This membership will allow you access to premium features on any of Groundspeak's Websites.

Before you start working through the process of creating a category, it's a good idea (and good waymarking etiquette) to first propose the category idea on the waymarking.com "Recruiting and Category Proposals" forum. There are many reasons to do this, but here are a few you might want to consider:

1. There may already be a group working on a similar category and the forum regulars would let you know about this.

2. There might be some tricky issues involved in creating the category and the advanced players would be able to give you some ideas on how to manage them.

3. Your category will need to pass through a peer review process and working out some of the issues other waymarkers might have with the category before you write it up could save you a lot of time and hassle.

4. You will need to find two officers to join your group before you can move forward and create the category. The forum is a great place to recruit active interested officers.

As you can see, it's a good plan to work with your fellow waymarkers, not just to get the category listed in the directory, but to use the expertise of others and to join an active group of waymarkers who share your interest in this hobby.

I've broken the process of category creation down into four steps: creating a group to manage the category, writing and creating the category, adding variables to the category, and the officer and peer review process your category will need to pass before it can become visible in the directory. Click on the links below to learn about each step.

Step 1: Creating a category group
Step 2: Creating a Category
Step 3: Adding Variables
Step 4: Officer and Peer Review

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