📚 How your content is organized in SmoothStay

Your SmoothStay guidebooks use a simple 3-level structure to keep information clean, easy to navigate, and relevant for your guests.​

The 3-Level Structure 🏗️

Your guidebook content is organized into three hierarchical levels:

1. Category - The top level that creates main menu headers (e.g., "Things to Know Before You Travel")

2. Subcategory - Sits within each category and creates subheadings (e.g., "Welcome")

3. Article - The most granular level where you add photos, text, videos, and detailed information (e.g., "About Your Hosts")

Optional: 2-level streamlined category view 🗂️

Not every category needs three levels. If a category has a small number of articles, you can enable Streamlined category view to take guests directly from the category to its articles — skipping the subcategory screen entirely.

You can also optionally surface subcategories as a horizontal filter bar above the articles, so guests can still narrow down by topic without the extra navigation step.

This is configured per category, so you can mix and match based on how much content each section has.

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? 🤔

The 3-level hierarchy is the sweet spot for both hosts and guests:

For Hosts:

• Easier to manage and organize content as your guidebooks grow, especially if you have dozens

• Quickly find and update specific articles without endless scrolling

• Duplicate entire sections across multiple properties while maintaining structure​

• Fewer guest questions when information is easy to find

For Guests:

• Faster information discovery with fewer clicks​​

• No cognitive overload—see manageable choices at each level​​

• Intuitive navigation from general to specific

• Mobile-friendly browsing without endless scrolling​

Additional Features 🛠️

• Custom tags 🏷️ - Share articles across multiple properties

• Pin articles 📌 - Highlight critical information on your home screen

• Deep links & QR codes 🔗 - Direct access to specific articles

• Reordering ↕️ - Drag and drop to adjust your structure​