This document provides best practices and troubleshooting strategies for navigation trees. It covers core design principles, guidance for multi-discipline trees, naming and readability recommendations, a suggested workflow with the three-pane editor, data quality considerations with Keyword Manager, and the expected user experience in Explore. The goal is to manage navigation trees effectively for better usability and performance.

• Objectives
• Design principles
• Multi-discipline trees 
• Naming and readability
• Recommended workflow (three-pane editor)
• Data quality (Keyword Manager)
• Expected user experience

Objectives

This guide helps administrators and moderators design, maintain, and troubleshoot navigation trees so users can explore content smoothly in Explore. 

Design principles

Start with a highly discriminating Level 1
Choose a video category that segments the catalog well (for example, year or season).

Aim for 3–4 levels in most trees
Reserve level 5 for advanced scenarios.

Keep the required order
Place video categories before event categories.

Show only useful values
Levels present only values that lead to content (product behavior).

Short paths to results
At any level, users can click All Videos Of: {Category} — {Keyword} to exit the tree early and display matching videos for the current path.

Multi-discipline trees 

Problem to avoid
If Level 1 = Discipline (for example, Long Jump, Javelin), do not place different categories at Level 2 per discipline (for example, “Technique — Javelin” for Javelin and nothing equivalent for Long Jump). That creates branches with missing or empty Level 2.

Rule
At a given level, use the same category across all branches. Values may be discipline-specific, but the category itself must be shared.

Recommended pattern
L1: Discipline → L2: Technique (shared category) → L3…
Technique values differ by discipline, but the category label remains Technique everywhere.

Data modeling in Keyword Manager
Create one category (for example, Technique) and define values that vary by discipline. Do not encode the discipline in the category name. Keep Discipline at Level 1 and Technique as the shared Level-2 category.

Why this works
Coherent trees on every branch, fewer dead ends, and labels are easier to scan.

Naming and readability

Tree name behavior
A new tree is named Undefined. If you add a first level before renaming, the tree automatically takes the name of that level. Once you rename the tree manually, that name is kept regardless of later level changes.

Level names
A level’s name comes from its category and is not editable in the tree editor. Edit the category in Keyword Manager if needed.

Duplicate categories
Duplicates are prevented. If a category is already used in the tree, any attempt to add it again triggers a notification and the duplicate is rejected.

Recommended workflow (three-pane editor)

1. Create the tree in Trees (leave it as Undefined or rename it).
2. Add levels in Levels, pulling categories from Keyword Manager.
3. Reorder as needed (drag and drop or Move up / Move down).
4. Save regularly.
5. Exit the editor: saved changes are immediately available in Explore (there is no Publish).

Data quality (Keyword Manager)

Clear categories and normalized values
Avoid near-duplicates that fragment results.

Create or edit on the fly
If a category is missing, create or adjust it in Keyword Manager, then add it to the tree.

Regular cleanup
Remove obsolete categories and use Purge invalid trees to remove broken trees that reference deleted categories.

Expected user experience

• Explore shows 1–20 trees on the Channel Home page and also on the Videos page.
• At each level, only values that lead to content are shown.
• Users can select All Videos Of: {Category} — {Keyword} at any level to exit the tree and view results for the current path.
• Results can be viewed in Grid or List. In List, users can expand a video to view matching events.
• When filters target events, users can select View playlist to play the filtered playlist of events back-to-back.
• Users can copy a Shareable link to reopen or share the same view.