How do you filter events by multiple categories in Adalo?
Use category records and list filters as the source of truth instead of maintaining a concatenated search-index text field that must be manually edited.
Place a category selector above the Events list and filter the Events collection from the selected category relationship. Do not maintain a concatenated search-index text field just to add or remove categories; keep the event-to-category relationship as the source of truth and apply one or more explicit list filters.
Use the relationship as the durable category index and let the list filter interpret the current selection. This removes the need to keep a separate search string synchronized after every category edit.
The intended outcome
Users can narrow an Events list by category without stale category names remaining in a manually maintained search-index field.
Requirements
- Events and Categories connected by a relationship
- A category selector or other filter input
- An Events list with representative records
Step by step
- 01
Model categories as records
Store categories in a Categories collection and relate each Event to its applicable categories.
- 02
Add a category selector
Place a dropdown, list, or selection control above the Events list and bind it to Categories.
- 03
Filter the Events list
Add a custom filter that compares each Event’s category relationship with the selected category. Add deliberate AND or OR filters when the interface supports multiple selections.
- 04
Remove the text-index workaround
Stop appending and removing category names from one search-index text field after the relationship filter returns correct results.
- 05
Test selection changes
Select, change, and clear categories while checking that the Events list updates without carrying a previous selection forward.
The underlying logic
Relationships store category membership as data, while list filters decide which related records appear.
A concatenated text index duplicates relationship state and can become stale when a category is renamed or removed.
Data model
| Collection | Important properties | Relationships |
|---|---|---|
| Events | Event details | Related to one or more Categories |
| Categories | Name | Related to Events |
What still needs checking?
- This is a forum-native answer with no original Adalocado video. It is automatically organized from the accepted reply and remains open to correction reports.
Common failure modes
Removing a category does not change results
Inspect the Event’s category relationship and the active list filter. Do not rely on a previously generated text string.
No events appear after selecting two categories
Check whether the filters use AND or OR. AND requires an event to match every selected category; OR allows any selected category.
Testing checklist
0 of 7 checked on this device
Current limitations
- Adalo’s current documentation describes list filters, but the exact multi-select control and filter combination depend on the app’s UI.
- Large datasets may require a simpler filter strategy or an external search service; this page does not benchmark performance.
What the Adalo community is reporting
These are concise editorial summaries of public forum posts—not endorsements or independently reproduced results.
I have some issues with removing a record from my search index text
The accepted reply recommends a Category selection control above the Events list and filtering the list from that selection instead of editing a search-index string.
Boundary: The reply does not specify one universal multi-category control or AND/OR policy.
antonbazooka (question) and Eugen (accepted answer) · February 2026Sources and status
This page was last reviewed on Aug 14, 2026. Its current status is Documented from current sources.
Verification owner: Automatically organized from an accepted forum answer; monitored for corrections. Next review: Oct 14, 2026.
Changelog
Automatically posted from a solved Adalo forum topic; corrections are monitored on the live site.
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