# Stages Explained

## **What are Stages?**

Stages is a thread tagging system that users & admins alike can use to filter for relevant content across the entire forum or specific forum topics. While stages can be used for any type of tagging system that you can think of, we’ve mainly seen communities use the system to document which governance stage the thread is in.

For more information of stage use cases, examples, and best practices visit the stages page under community best practices [**here**](/commonwealth/community-overview/community-best-practices/using-stages.md).

## **How do I Setup Stages?**

To create stages for your community, navigate to the “Stages” field in the community profile page. Follow this format to input the stage names (tags) that you would like.

\[”Stage 1”,”Stage 2”,”Stage 3”]

<figure><img src="/files/prZREdVEqMYAd1LuTSsv" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## **How do I Assign a Stage to a Thread?**

Once the thread is published, navigate to the thread’s preview in either the “All” view of the forum or the forum topic and click on the ellipses button.

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Note: Only thread authors, community moderators, and community admins can assign a stage to a thread.

## **How Can I Filter Using Stages?**

In either the “All” forum view or topic view, there is an option on the top right of the page to filter with stages.

<figure><img src="/files/MYradlM5eeivYTZqVu6m" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>


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