Support » Fixing WordPress » I need to get the category slug from the category ID

  • I’m modifying a WP category dropdown nav function I found on this site… it returns the categories in the “ugly” way (/?cat=#) which then redirects because I have permalinks enabled, but you can see the flash of the url changing because of the redirect and I don’t want that. I would rather the javascript function create the permalink structure I already have, ie. domain.com/category-slug/. So since I have the category ID from the wp_dropdown_categories() function I need to get the category slug from that.

    This is the code I have now (that renders the urls in the “ugly” way):

    <?php wp_dropdown_categories('show_option_none=Channels&hierarchical=1&orderby=name&exclude=14,33,77,78'); ?>
    <script type="text/javascript"><!--
    	var dropdown = document.getElementById("cat");
    	function onCatChange() {
    		if ( dropdown.options[dropdown.selectedIndex].value > 0 ) {
    			location.href = "<?php echo get_option('home');?>/?cat="+dropdown.options[dropdown.selectedIndex].value;
    		}
        }
        dropdown.onchange = onCatChange;
    --></script>

    “dropdown.options[dropdown.selectedIndex].value” is the code returns the category ID from the wp_dropdown_categories() function. How would I switch it to something like:

    location.href = "<?php echo get_option('home');?>/<?php echo category_slug('catID');?>;

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • You’ll have to custom code the drop down menu, like this:

    <?php
    
    $categories = get_categories();
    
    $select = "<select name='cat' id='cat' class='postform'>\n";
    $select.= "<option value='-1'>Select category</option>\n";
    
    foreach($categories as $category){
    	if($category->count > 0){
    		$select.= "<option value='".$category->slug."'>".$category->name."</option>";
    	}
    }
    
    $select.= "</select>";
    
    echo $select;
    ?>
    <script type="text/javascript"><!--
        var dropdown = document.getElementById("cat");
        function onCatChange() {
    		if ( dropdown.options[dropdown.selectedIndex].value != -1 ) {
    			location.href = "<?php echo get_option('home');?>/category/"+dropdown.options[dropdown.selectedIndex].value+"/";
    		}
        }
        dropdown.onchange = onCatChange;
    --></script>
    Thread Starter semidivine

    (@semidivine)

    Thanks so much! it works great except for one thing, I can specify hierarchical but it doesn’t indent the sub categories for clearer reading like the wp_dropdown_categories function does… do you know how I would do that?

    Ok… different approach:

    <?php
    
    function replace_id_for_slug($option){
    	$categories = get_categories("hide_empty=0");
    
    	preg_match('/value="(\d*)"/', $option[0], $matches);
    
    	$id = $matches[1];
    
    	$slug = "";
    
    	foreach($categories as $category){
    		if($category->cat_ID == $id){
    			$slug = $category->slug;
    		}
    	}
    
    	return preg_replace("/value=\"(\d*)\"/", "value=\"$slug\"", $option[0]);
    }
    
    $select = wp_dropdown_categories("hierarchical=1&hide_empty=0&echo=0");
    
    $select = preg_replace_callback("#<option[^>]*>[^<]*</option>#", "replace_id_for_slug", $select);
    
    echo $select;
    
    ?>
    
    <script type="text/javascript"><!--
        var dropdown = document.getElementById("cat");
        function onCatChange() {
    		if ( dropdown.options[dropdown.selectedIndex].value != -1 ) {
    			location.href = "<?php echo get_option('home');?>/category/"+dropdown.options[dropdown.selectedIndex].value+"/";
    		}
        }
        dropdown.onchange = onCatChange;
    --></script>
    Thread Starter semidivine

    (@semidivine)

    That’s so much better! Thank you so much!

    Dear WP Guy ,
    I have a similar problem, but I am not using the drop-down function. I use the ordinary category view, but even though I have selected “Show Hierarchy”, it doesn’t indent the sub categories for clearer reading.

    When I read your reply to Semidivine, I understand that the code you suggested should be something similar to what I need.

    As I am a newbie to wp, css and php, I do not understand where neither how to alter any code. If you would be able to give me some advice on it, I would be very, very grateful for your kind support.

    I have asked the same question in previous thread. For reference, pls see

    http://wordpress.org/support/topic/180675

    Best Regards,
    B

    Dear WP Guy,

    My problem is now solved. I tried insert below code in style.css

    .sidebar-box ul.children {
    list-style: none;
    margin-left: 0;
    margin-top: 0px;
    padding-left: 20px;
    text-indent: 0em;
    }

    Now it has the indent as I wanted.

    Thanks once again for your support.
    Best Regards,
    B

    Hi there, I think I got the answer:

    Retrieve from: http://monoooki.net/blog/wordpress/656

    The Function:

    <?php
    function get_cat_slug($cat_id) {
    	$cat_id = (int) $cat_id;
    	$category = &get_category($cat_id);
    	return $category->slug;
    }
    ?>
Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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