After creating your codes in Delve, you may want to group related codes under common themes or categories. You can do this by nesting your codes into a hierarchy, making your codebook easier to navigate and your analysis more structured. Nesting helps:
Organize similar ideas under a shared top level concept or theme (for example, nesting “Anxiety,” “Depression,” and “Stress” under “Mental Health”)
Reduce clutter in your codebook
Clarify relationships between codes during analysis
In order to nest codes and create themes, first click Transcripts or Snippets in the the left menu to open the respective pages.
Both pages have a Codes sidebar to the right where you can see every code in your project's codebook and organize them.
Once you see the Codes sidebar on the Transcripts or Snippets page, there are two different ways to nest codes, we’ll go over both below.
Note: You can only nest codes three levels deep.
Nesting Method One: Drag-and-Drop Nesting
You can nest codes by dragging one code underneath another. This method is useful if you do not have many codes and want a quick easy method to organize them.
To do this:
Click and hold the code you want to move.
Drag it underneath the code you want to nest it under.
Let go of your mouse.
Use the light blue line as a guide to see where the code will drop.
For another example, watch the video below with voice over instructions:
Nesting Method Two: Dropdown Code Organization
Dragging codes can become cumbersome, especially when you have a lot of codes. You can also move and nest codes using a searchable dropdown menu. This method is best used when you’re managing a long code list.
To use the dropdown method:
1. Click the pencil icon next to the code you want to move and select Move Under in the dropdown.
2. Use the Filter codes search bar to find and select the top level code that you want to move your code under. You can also scroll through the existing codes and click on the desired top level code that you want to move your code under.
Note: If a code is grayed out, that set of codes is already nested 3 layers deep and cannot have more codes nested under it.
3. The selected code will be instantly nested.
Change Where a Code is Nested
If you made a mistake placing a code under a category or theme, you can easily move the code. This involves moving the code under the desired top level code and can be done in two ways:
Drag and Drop - Click and hold the code you want to move. Drag it underneath the correct code you want to nest it under.
Dropdown Code Organization - To use the dropdown menu for large codebooks, click the pencil icon next to the code you want to move and select Move Under in the dropdown.
Use the Filter codes search bar to find and select the desired top level code. You can also scroll through the existing codes and click on the desired top level code. The code will immediately be moved
Unnesting Codes
To unnest a code from all top level codes, you must drag and drop it. There are three options:
1. Drag the code all the way to the top of the list to unnest it.
2. Drag the code to the very bottom of the list to unnest it.
3. Drag the code between two top-level codes.
First collapse all the top level codes using the left arrows.
Drag and drop the code between the collapsed top-level codes.
Frequently Asked Questions about Nesting Codes
Q: Why isn’t my code nesting?
A: If you are receiving an error when trying to nest a code or the code doesn’t seem to stay where you dragged and dropped it - you may have too many layers. You can only nest codes up to 3 levels deep. This means a first level code can contain a second level code, and that second level code can have one third level code—but no deeper. This limit helps keep your code structure organized and manageable as your analysis grows.
When using the dropdown to nest codes, third level codes will be grayed out to let you know you cannot use them as a top level code.
Q: Why can’t I find where to nest my codes and create themes?
A: You can only find the Codes sidebar to organize codes on the Transcripts and Snippets page. Click Transcripts or Snippets in the left menu in order to see these pages and look to the right for the Codes sidebar.
Q: Can I nest the same code under multiple themes?
A: No, a code can only be nested under one theme at a time. If needed, you can create duplicate codes with similar names (e.g., "Motivations 1," "Motivations 2") and nest them under different themes.