What are tags in Camphouse?
Tags are a type of media field in Camphouse. Its options are restricted to a pre-determined dropdown menu.
Prefer a quick walkthrough?
Watch our short Academy video on how to configure tags.
💡 When setting up the Sheet View, you can use tags for specific attributes like market, target audience, brand, product, objective, etc.
Tags limit planners to selecting from predefined options, reducing the chance of errors. For example, instead of manually typing 'Brand X' under column 'Brand', and risking a typo like 'Brand XC', planners can simply select the correct option from a dropdown menu. This ensures the data remains accurate and can also be used in reports.
💡 Media Types and Media Vehicles function as tags in Camphouse; any additional tags are up to you to create and configure.
What are the benefits of using tags when planning?
Tags are restricted – meaning that admins have control over the available tag categories and editors can add options to those
Tags reduce the risk of human error – since planners can only choose from a pre-defined drop-down menu, you limit the risk of typos
You can filter data and create reports based on tags – regular text fields cannot be included in reports
Tags can be auto-populated in the Sheet View - tags that you'd like to apply to an entire plan can be chosen in the plan setup. They will then be populated automatically.
How are tags organized?
Individual tags are organized into tag categories. When added to a media type, tag categories display as column headers in the sheet view just like other field types. Tags are the options in the drop-down list.
💡 In the example below, Country is a tag category whereas Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg are tags.
Tag categories can branch off into further sub-categories. There is no limit to the number of each.
In the GIF below you can see the tag category Country has tags Canada and USA under it, and is further broken down into the sub-categories Region and City.
How to create tag categories and add tags
All tag settings are controlled in the tags section of the account settings.
To create a tag category and add tags, follow these steps:
Access Tags Settings: Go to the Settings section and click on Tags.
Create a Tag Category:
Click on 'Create a tag category'.
If you want the tag category to apply to all existing media types automatically, check the 'Media types option'. Leave it unchecked if you prefer to add it manually to specific media types later.
Enter a name for the category, and if desired, add a description and choose a tag color (the color will be visible in reports or calendar view when using the tag as a dimension).
Click 'Create tag category' to complete the setup.
Manage Your Tag Category:
After creating a tag category, it will appear in the 'Tag Categories' list.
Select the category to add tags or create sub-categories within it.
Add Tags:
Click on 'Add tags to [Tag Category Name]'.
You can add tags individually or multiple tags at once by entering them one per row.
💡 You can easily copy and paste multiple tags from an Excel sheet; just make sure to place one tag per row.
What happens after adding tags
When you add tags to a category, Camphouse now flags any Media Inventory relationships that still need updating, so the new tags can be used in entries straight away.
You'll see three things:
A confirmation message letting you know the tags were added and reminding you that the media inventory needs to be updated before the tags can be used in entries.
An in-page yellow banner listing each Media Inventory relationship that's missing a combination for the new tags.
A warning icon next to each new tag in the list. Hovering it opens a "Missing inventory combination" popover with a link straight to the relevant Media Inventory relationship.
Click any of these links to open Media Inventory pre-filtered to that relationship, then add the missing row(s). If you skip this step, planners will see a "Media inventory mismatch" error in the sheet when they try to use the new tag. See Fixing a "Media inventory mismatch" error.
💡 If you're not the admin who manages Media Inventory, share the link from the warning with whoever is. They'll land directly on the right relationship.
How to create a sub-category
Tag sub-categories can enhance the organization of your tags. Especially if you have more static tags like 'Regions'. For instance, you might have 'Region' as the main tag category, with tags like 'APAC' and 'EU'. Sub-categories could then list specific countries within these regions. This approach streamlines the selection process for planners by narrowing their options.
💡 Sub-tags work best for more static categories like regions, which don't change often. For more dynamic needs, such as varying fees, where options need frequent updates, consider setting up a media inventory. Learn more about this process here.
Follow these steps to create a tag sub-category:
Access Tags Settings: Navigate to the Settings section and select 'Tags'.
Select the Main Category: Click on the category where you want to add your sub-category.
Add Sub-Category: Click 'Add sub-category to [Tag Category Name]'. A 'Create sub category' panel opens on the right.
Enter the name of your sub-category and provide an optional description.
Click 'Create category' to finalize the process.
Add Sub-Tags: After creation, a plus sign will appear next to your tags. Click on this plus to add sub-tags.
Type your sub-tags. You can add tags individually or multiple tags at once by entering them one per row.
To learn more about how to visualize and filter data based on tags, check out our article on Reports.
Additional settings for tag categories and tags
Tag category settings let you control how a category behaves in plan setup, sheet view, and reports.
A tag category has several settings, accessed in one of two places: directly from the three-dot menu next to the category name, or from the Edit category panel that opens when you choose Edit category from that menu.
To get to either, navigate to Settings → Tags and click the three dots next to the category name.
Directly from the three-dot menu
Edit category: opens the settings panel where you can change Name, Description, Color, and the Category options listed below.
Lock tag category (limited release): locking a tag category prevents changes to it. You can't add, edit, or remove its tags, change its settings, or delete it. Locking applies only to the category you lock. It doesn't lock the sub-categories, and sub-categories can be locked individually. Only Admins can lock or unlock a category.
Delete category (admin only): permanently remove the tag category. A confirmation dialog will appear. This option is visible to admins only. See "How to delete tag categories, tags, sub-categories, or sub-tags" below for details, including what happens if the category is in use by Media Inventory.
Protect category: see "How to protect your tag category" below. Protection is set up by your Customer Success Manager and isn't editable directly from the Tags settings page.
From the Edit category panel
Click Edit category from the three-dot menu to open the settings panel. The following options are available:
Name: the category's display name. This is what planners see as the column header in the sheet view.
Description: a free-text description for the category. Helpful context for other admins managing the same workspace.
Color: the color used for the category in reports and the calendar view when the tag is used as a dimension. Set with a color picker or a hex value.
Required in plan setup: if active, you can't proceed with plan creation without an option being chosen for this tag category.
Hide from plan setup: if active, the tag category will be excluded from the plan setup. You won't be able to pre-select options for the plan.
Allow editing when plan is locked (limited release): when a plan is locked, the tags on its entries normally can't be edited. Turning this setting on for a tag category lets that category's tags still be edited on entries even while the plan is locked.
Inherit from plan setup (limited release, top-level categories only): see the Inherit from plan setup section below for details.
Inherit from plan setup
Each top-level tag category has an Inherit from plan setup option. Where to find it: Settings → Tags → open the ⋮ menu on a top-level category → Edit category → Category options.
When this is enabled, the tag value chosen for a plan in plan setup is applied automatically to every entry in that plan, and the entries stay in sync with the plan. The field becomes read-only in the Sheet View – it can't be changed on an individual entry.
Advantages
Entries are tagged automatically – no need to tag each row by hand.
Entries can never drift out of sync with the plan; the value is always consistent across the whole plan.
No manual "retag" step: changing the plan tag updates all entries instantly.
Removes a common source of error, since entries can't be tagged differently from the plan.
⚠️ Important: changing an inherited tag resets approval status. When you change an inherited tag at the plan level, every entry in the plan is updated to the new value, and every affected entry's approval status is reset to "Working" – including entries that were already Approved. Those entries will need to be re-approved.
This always happens. It is not affected by the field's "Does not affect plan status" setting. Even if the tag's field is configured so that changes do not normally affect plan status, changing the tag at the plan level still resets approval status on inherited entries. The "Does not affect plan status" setting only applies to edits made directly on an entry – it has no effect on inherited plan-level tag changes.
Example
A plan has the Region category set to Inherit from plan setup, with the plan tag set to "North". Three entries in the plan are automatically tagged Region: North, and two of them have been Approved.
A planner later changes the plan's Region tag from "North" to "South". As a result:
All three entries are automatically re-tagged to Region: South.
The two Approved entries are reset to Working and will need to be re-approved.
This happens even if the Region field is set to "Does not affect plan status" – that setting does not apply to inherited plan-level tag changes.
Other things to be aware of
The tag can't be overridden on an individual entry while inheritance is on – there are no per-row exceptions.
Changing the plan-level tag overwrites all existing entries, including any that were already filled in.
Inheritance is available on top-level categories only.
If you don't use inheritance (default behaviour)
Without Inherit from plan setup, plan tags are applied to new entries as a starting value but remain fully editable, and existing entries are not changed automatically. If you change a plan tag and entries no longer match, Camphouse shows a warning ("Some plan entries don't match configured tags") and a Retag entries? prompt where you choose Update (apply the new tags to entries) or Ignore (leave entries as they are). This keeps you in control, but keeping entries in sync is then a manual step.
Tag settings (per tag)
To change settings for a specific tag, click the three dots to the right of the tag name. The following options are available:
Manage aliases (limited release, if enabled for your organisation): set a different display name for this tag in a specific subsidiary, without changing the original tag name used in parent-level reports. See the Tag aliases section below for details.
External Reference (limited release): add a simple external reference or ID to the tag. When you export the tags from the settings page, any external IDs are included in the export.
Deactivate tag: hide the tag from new plans while keeping historical data intact. Deactivated tags appear with their name crossed out and can be reactivated at any time.
Delete tag (admin only): permanently remove the tag. A confirmation dialog will appear. This action cannot be undone, and any sub-tags belonging to the tag will also be deleted. This option is visible to admins only.
Why and how to deactivate tags
You can also deactivate a specific tag. It's usually done when you don't use the tag in the planning, but use it to report historical data. Deactivated tags can be reactivated if you want to use them again in current or future plans.
To deactivate a specific tag:
Access Tag Categories: Navigate to the organisation settings and select an existing tag category.
Open the tag menu: Click the three dots next to the tag name and choose 'Deactivate tag'.
Best practice: avoid duplicate tag names when re-organizing
Camphouse normally prevents you from creating two tags with the same name in the same category. But when you're moving tags between sub-categories, an edge case can let a duplicate slip through. If that happens, Sheet View matches dropdown selections by name and may pick the older (deactivated) tag, which quietly breaks reports and filters.
How this happens
Imagine a "Region" tag category that originally looks like this:
Region
├── ASEAN (active)
│ ├── Indonesia
│ ├── Malaysia
│ ├── Philippines
│ ├── Singapore
│ └── Thailand
└── NASEA (active)
├── Vietnam
└── Myanmar
You decide to restructure regional groupings. Rather than editing the existing groups, you:
Deactivate the old ASEAN and NASEA sub-categories (correct – to preserve historical reporting data).
Create new sub-categories also named ASEAN and NASEA with updated country lists.
The hierarchy now contains:
Region ├── ASEAN (deactivated — old) ├── NASEA (deactivated — old) ├── ASEAN (active — new) ← duplicate name └── NASEA (active — new) ← duplicate name
When a planner opens Sheet View and picks "ASEAN" from the dropdown, the system resolves the name to the first/older match – which is the deactivated one. The plan ends up tagged with a deactivated tag, breaking reports and filters.
⚠️ Avoid duplicate tag names
Never create a tag with a name that already exists elsewhere in the same tag category, even if the existing one is deactivated.
If you need to reorganize tags:
Rename the old tag before creating the new one (e.g., "ASEAN (legacy)" or "ASEAN – pre-2025"), or
Edit the existing tag's sub-category placement rather than creating a new one, or
Delete the old tag if you're certain no historical reporting depends on it.
Even when the UI appears to allow a duplicate name, this should be avoided in all cases.
Tag aliases (limited release)
⚠️ Limited release. Tag aliases is currently in limited release and is not enabled for all organisations by default. If your organisation isn't enabled for this feature, you won't see the 'Manage aliases' option in the per-tag menu. To discuss enabling it for your organisation, please contact your Customer Success Manager.
Tag aliases let you display a global tag under a different name in a specific subsidiary, without affecting reporting at the parent level. This is useful when local teams use a different language or local term for the same underlying concept.
Example. A parent-level tag "Product Line A" can be aliased to a local product name in the German subsidiary and another local product name in the French subsidiary. Planners in each market see the term that's natural to them; parent-level reports continue to consolidate everything under "Product Line A".
What gets shown depends on which org you're acting from:
Subsidiary with an alias set: the alias appears everywhere in that subsidiary, including planning, calendar, results, targets, filters, settings, and any reports, imports, or exports run from that subsidiary.
Parent org or media type owner org: the original tag name appears everywhere, including in parent-level reports, imports, and exports. This is what keeps global reporting consolidated.
Subsidiary with no alias set: the original tag name appears as normal.
How to set an alias
Aliases can only be set on global tags (tags that exist at the parent level).
Open the tag's three-dot menu and choose 'Manage aliases'.
Select the subsidiary you want to set an alias for.
Enter the alias (1 to 100 characters). It must be different from the tag's original name, and it can't match an existing alias in the same tag hierarchy.
Click Save. The alias is now active for that subsidiary. You can edit or remove it later from the same menu.
How to protect your tag category
Protecting a tag category makes it invisible to selected users. They will not be able to see any line items in a media plan that use the tag, and they will not be able to see any calendars or charts that contain values associated with the tag.
⚠️ Setup is handled by your Customer Success Manager. Tag category protection can only be enabled by your CSM. Contact your CSM with the tag categories you'd like protected and they'll configure it on your behalf. Once protection is enabled, you can manage which users have access in Settings, under Users and Roles.
How to delete tag categories, tags, sub-categories, or sub-tags
To delete tag categories, tags, sub-categories, or sub-tags, follow these steps:
Locate the Item: Find the tag category, tag, sub-category, or sub-tag you want to delete.
Access Options: Click on the three dots next to the item.
Confirm Deletion: Click on 'Delete' to confirm the deletion.
What happens if a tag category is in use by Media Inventory
If you try to delete a tag category whose values are still used in Media Inventory entries, the deletion is blocked. Camphouse shows an error explaining why, with a direct link to Inventory Settings.
To proceed, open Inventory Settings via the link in the error, remove (or remap) the entries that still reference values from this tag category, then return to the Tags page and delete the category.