> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://bettertickets.gg/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview

> How application categories work in better tickets: creating and editing a category, the apply-to-decision lifecycle, reapply eligibility rules, and reviewer roles.

An **application category** is a self-contained form: members apply from a panel message, answer a set of questions in their DMs, and staff review the completed submission and accept or deny it. It's commonly used for staff recruitment ("Apply to be a moderator"), but works for any structured form you'd otherwise build with a Google Form and manual copy-pasting into Discord.

This page walks through creating and editing a category, then explains the full lifecycle from someone clicking apply to a decision being made.

## Creating and editing a category

Like ticket categories, an application category always needs two steps: create it, then configure it.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create the category">
    Run `/application create id:<name>`, for example `/application create id:mod-team`. This registers a new, empty category. `id` becomes the `category` value used everywhere else, including `/application edit` - you can't rename it later, only delete and recreate it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Edit the category">
    Run `/application edit category:mod-team`. This opens an interactive settings menu with four pages (General, Roles, Channels, Questions), switched with a dropdown at the bottom of the message. Full field-by-field details are in [Application settings](/docs/applications/settings).

    At minimum, set a **submission channel** (Channels page) - the panel can't be sent without one - and add at least one **staff role** (Roles page) so someone can review submissions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add questions (optional)">
    Still on the Questions page, add whatever you want to ask applicants - a label, an input type (free text or a select menu with your own choices), and whether it's required. If you skip this entirely, applying submits immediately when a member confirms, with no DM conversation at all.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send the panel">
    Run `/application send category:mod-team channel:#applications`. This posts the message members click to apply. Like tickets, you can send the same category's panel to more than one channel.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Lifecycle

Once a category is configured and its panel is sent, here's what happens from a member clicking apply to a decision being made:

1. **Apply.** A member clicks **Apply** on the panel, or runs `/apply category:<name>`, and confirms. The bot checks their eligibility first (see below) - if they're not eligible, they're told why and nothing else happens.
2. **Questions, or immediate submission.** If the category has questions configured, the bot DMs them one at a time, waiting for an answer to each before sending the next. Once every question's answered, a review screen shows every answer with a select menu to jump back and fix any of them before submitting. If the category has zero questions, there's nothing to ask - the application submits the moment they confirm, with no DM conversation.
3. **Submission.** Once every question is answered (or immediately, if there were none), the completed application posts to the category's **submission channel** as a formatted message with the applicant's answers, plus **Accept** and **Deny** buttons and, if configured, an **Open Ticket** button.
4. **Review.** A staff member with this category's staff roles clicks Accept or Deny (or runs `/accept`/`/deny`), optionally providing a reason. The submission message updates in place immediately - the buttons are removed, the accent color changes to green (accepted) or red (denied), and a footer is added showing who decided and when.
5. **Notification.** If **Notify applicant on decision** is enabled (it is by default), the applicant is DMed the result, including the reason if one was given.

See [Commands](/docs/applications/commands) for the exact options every command in this list takes.

## Who can apply again, and when

Before letting someone start an application, the bot checks four things in order - the first one that applies wins:

1. **Blacklisted role.** If the applicant has a role on the category's blacklist, they're blocked outright, regardless of any application history. This check always runs first.
2. **An application already in progress.** If they're mid-way through answering DM questions for *any* category on *any* server (not just this one), they're blocked from starting another. This exists because there's only one DM conversation to answer questions in - starting a second would collide with the first.
3. **A submitted application awaiting review.** If they already have a completed, not-yet-decided application in *this server*, they're blocked from applying again until it's decided.
4. **A recent denial.** If their most recent decision for *this category* was a denial, they're blocked until the category's reapply cooldown passes (default 3 days, editable on premium tiers - see [Application settings](/docs/applications/settings#general)). They're told exactly when they'll be able to reapply.

An **accepted** application never blocks reapplying - there's no cooldown after an accept.

## Roles

Configured on the category's Roles page (full details in [Application settings](/docs/applications/settings#roles)):

* **Staff roles** - who can review, accept, and deny.
* **Ping roles** - pinged on the submission message.
* **Assign on open** - given the moment the applicant confirms and starts.
* **Assign on accept** / **Remove on accept** - role changes applied when accepted.
* **Assign on denial** - role given when denied.
* **Blacklisted roles** - can't apply at all.

<Note>
  Role list lengths and question counts scale with the server's premium tier. See the [FAQ](/docs/faq) for the exact limits.
</Note>

## Reviewing from the submission message

If a ticket category is linked in **Associated ticket category** (General settings), the submission message gets an **Open Ticket** button alongside Accept/Deny. Clicking it opens a normal ticket with the applicant directly from the review message - useful for asking a follow-up question before deciding, without needing the applicant to separately find and use a ticket panel. It won't open a ticket in a category linked to jail, since jail categories can't be opened through the regular ticket flow at all.