These filters are useful when you want a variable to retrieve only certain activities, accommodations, transports, or steps instead of displaying every item available in the project.
If you are not familiar with variables yet, start with Getting started with variables.
What is a category?
A category identifies the type of program item.
For example, steps may have categories such as:
Restaurant
Visit
Meeting
Excursion
Transport items may use categories such as:
Train
Flight
Transfer
For more details, please read our dedicated article ✍️ Category
Categories are configured in Ezus and can then be used inside a Slides variable to retrieve only the items belonging to that category.
💡 Use categories when the type of item matters.
For example, use a category when you want to display only restaurants, only trains, or only a particular type of activity.
Find the technical name of a category
When you use a category inside a variable, you must use its technical name, not its display name.
To find the technical name:
Go to Settings.
Open Custom fields.
Select Steps.
Find the category you want to use and click on the edit button.
Check the technical name displayed for that category.
Use this technical name exactly as it appears when building your variable.
⚠️ The display name and technical name are not always the same.
Always use the technical name inside the variable.
Filter a variable by category
To filter a variable, add the category’s technical name between square brackets:
[category]
For example:
$$transp.[train].1.title$$
This retrieves the title of the first transport item categorized as train.
Without the category:
$$transp.1.title$$
Ezus retrieves the first transport item, regardless of its category.
Examples
What you want to display | Example |
First transport |
|
First train |
|
First restaurant step |
|
Description of the first restaurant |
|
First image of the first restaurant |
|
The same category filter can be used with the other information available for that item.
Display several items from the same category
The number after the category represents the position of the item within the filtered results.
For example:
$$steps.[restaurant].1.title$$
retrieves the first restaurant.
$$steps.[restaurant].2.title$$
retrieves the second restaurant.
$$steps.[restaurant].3.title$$
retrieves the third restaurant.
This allows you to create several areas or slides for items belonging to the same category.
⚠️The number refers to the position after the category has been applied.
$$steps.[restaurant].2.title$$ means the second step categorized as restaurant, not necessarily the second step of the entire program.
Use several categories
When a variable should accept more than one category, add the supported categories to the category filter.
Use a semicolon (;) to separate multiple categories.
For example:
[restaurant;catering]
This allows the variable to retrieve items that belong to either of the specified categories.
⚠️Use a semicolon (;), not a comma, when separating categories.
Incorrect: [restaurant,catering]
Correct: [restaurant;catering]
Exclude a category
Categories can also be used to retrieve program items while excluding one or more specific categories.
To exclude a category, write the category technical name using the exclusion syntax:
]category[
For example:
]restaurant[
This tells Ezus to retrieve the relevant items except those belonging to the restaurant category.
💡Use inclusion when you know exactly which categories should appear.
Use exclusion when you want to display most items and only remove a few specific categories.
Exclude several categories
To exclude multiple categories, separate the category technical names with a semicolon (;) inside the exclusion syntax.
For example:
]restaurant;meeting[
This excludes items belonging to either the restaurant or meeting category.
What you want to do | Syntax |
Exclude one category |
|
Exclude several categories |
|
⚠️When excluding several categories, use a semicolon (;), not a comma.
Correct: ]restaurant;meeting[
Incorrect: ]restaurant,meeting[
What is a moment of the day?
A moment of the day lets you organize steps according to when they take place during a day. This moments are the same configured in the planning view of your program:
Available moments include:
morninglunchafternoon
Depending on the information configured in the program, these moments can be used to retrieve the relevant steps for a particular part of the day.
💡 Categories answer “What type of item is this?”
Moments of the day answer “When during the day should this item appear?”
Display steps by moment of the day
Use the moment of the day inside square brackets.
For example:
$$days.1.steps.[morning].list$$
retrieves the steps associated with the morning of Day 1.
Examples:
What you want to display | Variable |
All steps for Day 1 |
|
Morning steps for Day 1 |
|
Lunch steps for Day 1 |
|
Afternoon steps for Day 1 |
|
Change the day number to retrieve information from another day.
For example:
$$days.3.steps.[afternoon].list$$
retrieves the afternoon steps for Day 3.
Categories vs. moments of the day
Categories and moments of the day solve different problems.
Use | Category | Moment of the day |
Select a type of activity | ✅ |
|
Display only restaurants | ✅ |
|
Display only trains | ✅ |
|
Organize a day into morning and afternoon |
| ✅ |
Display items occurring during a particular part of the day |
| ✅ |
A program item can have a category while also being associated with a particular moment of the day.
Common mistakes
Using the display name instead of the technical name
Always check the category under:
Settings → Custom fields → Steps
and use its technical name in the variable.
Using a comma between categories
Use a semicolon:
Correct:
[restaurant;catering]Incorrect:
[restaurant,catering]The same rule applies to exclusions:
Correct:
]restaurant;meeting[Incorrect:
]restaurant,meeting[
Changing the technical name directly in the variable
The value inside the brackets must match the technical name configured in Ezus.
If the technical name changes in the settings, the variables using the old technical name must also be updated.
Using the wrong item number
Remember that the number is calculated within the filtered results.
$$steps.[restaurant].2.title$$retrieves the second restaurant, not the second step overall.
Using a category when a moment of the day is needed
If your goal is to separate the day into morning, lunch, and afternoon, use moments of the day rather than creating categories for those periods.