Comments on: Usable Category Navigation in Wordpress Pages

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:01:27 +0000

It is nice working with software with a supportive community. Definitely one of the big advantages to open source software!

Hope it works for you!

I’ve also revised the code above - it may be easier for you to cut and paste (and read) now. ;)

By: Carolyn Phillips

Carolyn Phillips — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:33:06 +0000

Thanks, Joe! I’ll try it now. What I like most about those of us who work with WordPress is we seem to be forming a community. It means so much to me that you explain your code and try to help figure out what’s happening when some newbie screws it up I’ll let you know how it goes!

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:39:33 +0000

What you’re describing sounds a lot like a silent PHP failure, which suggests that there’s an error in the code somewhere: a missing quote, a missing final curly brace (}) or something to that effect.

It’s hard to be sure, of course, without actually seeing your code…but I suggest giving a close look to the format of the code and searching for any missing pieces. Also, you may want to try changing this section:

if(get_the_title($post->post_parent) != the_title(’ ‘ , ‘ ‘,false))

to this:

if(get_the_title($post->post_parent) != the_title('','',false))

The only change is in the removal of smart quotes in the_title()’s parameters and the removal of the empty space in the middle, which I’ve found makes a difference in some versions of WP.

By: Carolyn Phillips

Carolyn Phillips — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:07:40 +0000

Hi Joe,
I thought you saved my life. Your solution is EXACTLY what I need, only I can’t get it to work. I’m a newbie, so I’m sure it’s me and not your most excellent code. When I put in your code, replace smart quotes with straight ones, still nothing shows up beneath the header. I thought it was my theme so I tried it on a different sidebar and the sidebars disappeared, not everything below the header as it does on mine. Maybe I’m placing it incorrectly?

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:15:33 +0000

All right, Jason - If you were using WP Pages, then I think that this scripting would be, in fact, what you’re looking for. What you’re describing seems to be almost exactly what I was doing when I figured this out, in fact.

However, if (as you describe) the categories in your navigational menu are actually blogging categories — - posting groups in the blog — - then you’ve got a different issue.

What you’ll probably want to do is use the Recent Posts plugin to generate a list of posts in the sidebar. It has an option called “match_cats” which you can use to generate a list of posts which match the category of the currently active post. I think it’ll also work with the currently active category; although you’ll have to try it, first.

Good luck!

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:24:46 +0000

Hi, Jason - sorry to get back to you so late, but your comment got pegged as spam by Akismet. I don’t have the time to answer your question right this moment, but I promise I’ll be back tomorrow!

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:36:14 +0000

Joe, I guess I’m not understanding this. I don’t see where I’m supposed to drop this code exactly. Frankly I’m not sure if this is what I need.

Please let me explain…

Basically I’m trying to create a news/blog site using wp as a CMS. I have 8 main blogging categories set up on a horizontal menu beneath the header. I’d also like to include a verticle menu on the left hand side for “Featured Content” (IE. content that could be changing from week to week). I have not decided if I should be using the category, pages or links function for this specific list. It’s a sports site so over the next month my desired featured content menu might go as follows:

(Sample Home Page Menu)
FEATURED CONTENT
-2008 NFL Draft
-NCAA Final Four
-NBA PlayOff Hunt

When the user clicks on “2008 NFL Draft” i would like to send them to the “2008 NFL DRAFT” page. The “FEATURED CONTENT” menu should morph into the “2008 NFL DRAFT” menu and look like so…

(Sample “2008 NFL DRAFT” Page Menu)
2008 NFL DRAFT
-NFL Mock Drafts
-College Prospects
-Rumers & Speculation

Now lets say the user clicks on “College Prospects”…What was the “2008 NFL DRAFT” menu should morph into the “COLLEGE PROSPECTS” menu and look like so…

(Sample “COLLEGE PROSPECTS” Page Menu)
COLLEGE PROSPECTS
-Quarterbacks
-Runningbacks
-Offensive Linemen
-Tight Ends
-Defensive Linemen
-Linebackers
-Defensive Backs

I don’t mean to get into obnoxious detail. I just want to make sure I’m very clear about what I’m looking for. I would greatly appreciate any help our direction on this problem as it has been killing me for weeks now!

Thanks Much

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:06:12 +0000

Cool. Glad that worked out for you!

By: Issy

Issy — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:20:00 +0000

Joe,
You are the man.
It worked like a charm. You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for this solution.

Thanks a lot for all your help.

Happy coding. Gracias…

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:21:44 +0000

Well, for a flyout-type menu you don’t really need the scripting in this article — - all you really need to do is make use of the standard wp_list_pages() function and then write CSS styles to generate the flyout menu.

The code in this article is really designed for a contextually variable navigation menu, so that the relevant pages only show up when you need them.

You will need to use something like this:



< ?php

wp_list_pages('sort_column=menu_order&title_li=');

?>

…in order to make use of the styles. But it should be basically plug’n’play, I think.