WordPress Ideas » Topic: Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories

Ipstenu (Mika Epstein) on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

Ipstenu (Mika Epstein) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:22:18 +0000

Yeah, WordPress itself is a resource hog and plugins add to its complexity.

Yes and no. WP is not a resource hog any more than any other web app. The problem is most menu plugins do a lot of DB transactions, which slows things down (think of it like a toll road ;) ).

<?php wp_list_categories( 'orderby=name'); ?>

That lists all your categories, by name, with children. You'd put it in your theme (or if you use a PHP widget plugin, in a widget). That'll dynamically pull the data and you don't have to reorder anything.

thoufeeq on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

thoufeeq — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:44:25 +0000

Yeah, Wordpress itself is a resource hog and plugins add to its complexity.

In case of limited number of menu-elements, I think you should make use of css menu makers. Some of them even outscores the look and feel of advanced javascript menus. With that said, I haven't experimented with them yet and am no expert in any of these. :)

So if you are interested with CSS thing, then you may give it a try.

Thanks

carbuzzard on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

carbuzzard — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:37:41 +0000

Code makes my eyes glaze over. Might as well be Hindi.

carbuzzard on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

carbuzzard — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:33:54 +0000

That's what I'm using now. It's beautiful and works perfectly from the user side and is easy to use from the publisher side...but it's gotten to the point where it won't add any more links.

Ipstenu (Mika Epstein) on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

Ipstenu (Mika Epstein) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:33:17 +0000

The problem with all plugins that let you drag/drop/organize is that a large number of menu items will always slow your site down. It's a memory thing.

If you've organized your categories, however, you could just use the list categories functions

http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/wp_list_categories

thoufeeq on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

thoufeeq — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:22:08 +0000

In that case, you can go for a vertical menu plugin that uses javascript.
For example: Download JQuery Vertical Mega Menu Widget.

carbuzzard on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

carbuzzard — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:12:00 +0000

Thanks...but it would make for a very long list, and I'm looking for something that would make a menu-type list as I have at http://www.carbuzzard.com, which would keep the same "real estate" in the sidebar, despite how many subcategories and links are added.

I like the look and feel of the menu as is. I just want to be able to add more links. And I can't.

thoufeeq on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

thoufeeq — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:54:41 +0000

This can be done with a simple if you prefer to work with HTML for a minute.
Grab the 'Text/HTML widget' to your sidebar.
Make a simple list using HTML to represent your desired hierarchy, like shown below.

<ul>
	<li><a href="#">Category 1</a></li>
	<li><a href="#">Category 2</a></li>
	<li><a href="#">Category 3</a></li>
		<ul>
			 <li><a href="#">Subcategory 1</a></li>
			<li><a href="#">Subcategory 2</a></li>
			<li><a href="#">Subcategory 3</a></li>
		</ul>
	<li><a href="#">Category 4</a></li>
	<li><a href="#">Category 5</a></li>
	<li><a href="#">Category 6</a></li>
 </ul>

Hope this helps you to attain a nice category widget for your sidebar and makes site navigation quite simple.

carbuzzard on "Menu for multiple categories with multiple subcategories"

carbuzzard — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:14:59 +0000

I am surprised that with the oodles and oodles of WordPress users and developers that someone hasn't come up with a plugin for what I want. To wit:
A sidebar menu with multiple categories--20,30--each with up to ten or more sub-categories, each with six or ten or more direct links to posts. Only the categories would be visible until hovering slides out its sub-categories and links.

The only plugin I've seen that does this apparently slows down and stops adding new links when the links approach 200.

Can I be the only one who wants this?