Have you organized your codes in a tree structure before or during your analysis in MAXQDA, and now you realize that you want to reorganize some of the codes? Or maybe you’d like to convert some of your codes into subcodes or group several codes together. Whether you want to move a code within the Code System, create subcodes, or merge two codes into a single code, in MAXQDA all this can be done quickly and easily.
Watch our video tutorial to learn about the options you have to organize your code system
Rearranging the code system is easy
Here are some of the actions you can do to move and rearrange your code system in MAXQDA.
Move code to subcode level
You can convert a code into a subcode of another code via drag-and-drop. Simply click on the code and drag it onto another code. The code you have moved is automatically converted into a subcode.
Change code position in the code tree
You can use drag-and-drop to move a code within your Code System. To move multiple codes hold down the Alt (Windows) or option ⌥ (Mac) key and select all codes that you want to move. Then move your selection while holding down the mouse button. To select a range of codes, first click on a code and then click on a second code while holding down the Shift key ⇧. This will then also select all codes between the clicked codes.
Merge codes into one
Right-click on a code of your choice and select “Move coded segments”. Now right-click on the second and select “Move coded segments from [name of the first code]”. The number of coded segments to the right of the merged codes will increase and indicates that the merging was successful. Alternatively, you can merge codes via drag-and-drop. Click on the code you want to merge with another code and drag it to the highlighted word “Merge” that appears to the right of the target code and release the mouse cursor on that word. To indicate that the segments of another code were inserted into a code by fusion, a plus sign in brackets “(+)” is added after the target code.
Merge multiple codes
You can merge multiple codes via the context menu. Select all codes you want to merge while holding down the Alt (Windows) or the option ⌥ (Mac) key. Then right-click on the code into which all other codes are to be merged and Select Merge Codes from the context menu that appears.
Moving and sorting codes in the MAXQDA Manual
Editor’s note: this post has been updated from its original version published in April 2012.
