📚 How your content is organized in SmoothStay

Your content follows a simple 3-level structure, so guests find what they need in a few taps and you can find anything to update in seconds.

The 3-level structure 🏗️

1. Category: the main menu headers guests see first, like "Things to Know Before You Travel."

2. Subcategory: groups inside each category, like "Welcome."

3. Article: where the actual content lives: text, photos, videos, maps, and links, like "About Your Hosts."

Optional: streamlined category view 🗂️

Not every category needs three levels. If a category has only a few articles, turn on Streamlined category view. Guests then go straight from the category to its articles and skip the subcategory screen.

You can still show subcategories as a horizontal filter bar above the articles, so guests can narrow down by topic without the extra step. You set this per category, so each section can match how much content it has.

AI data source only categories 🤖

Some information guests ask about but don't need to browse: pet policy details, where the extra towels are, how to reset the breaker. For content like this, create a category and select AI data source only.

• Everything in the category is hidden from your guidebooks.

• Your AI Concierge uses it to answer guest questions.

• Articles are plain text, with no cover media or map.

• The structure stays the same: category → subcategory → article.

The setting belongs to the category, so every article inside it follows the same rule. To show one of these articles to guests, move it to a regular category. Streamlined view doesn't apply here, since guests never browse these categories.

See How to create an article for step-by-step setup.

Automatic Clean-Up ✨

Only subcategories containing articles—and categories containing those subcategories—will appear in your published guidebook. Empty sections are automatically hidden.​

Benefits for Hosts:

• Build your guidebook gradually without incomplete sections showing​

• Always looks professional, even with partial content​

• Experiment with new sections risk-free

• Adapt seasonally without manual cleanup

Benefits for Guests:

• No dead ends or empty pages

• Cleaner, scannable navigation​

• Faster task completion​

• Professional experience builds trust​

Why 3 Levels? 🤔

For you:

• Content stays manageable as it grows, even across dozens of guidebooks.

• You can find and update any article without scrolling through long lists.

• You can duplicate whole sections across properties with the structure intact.

For guests:

• Each screen shows a short, manageable set of choices.

• Navigation runs from general to specific, which suits browsing on a phone.

• Answers are easier to find, which means fewer messages to you.

More ways to organize 🛠️

• Custom tags 🏷️ - share articles across multiple units or properties.

• Pinned articles 📌 - highlight critical information on your guidebook's home screen.

• Deep links & QR codes 🔗 - send guests straight to a specific article.

• Reordering ↕️ - drag and drop categories, subcategories, and articles into any order.