Trouble With wp_dropdown_categories

  • momspc

    (@momspc)


    16 years, 2 months ago

    I’m extremely new to WordPress so this may be a basic question. However I’m stumped and not sure how to move forward.

    I’m trying to add a drop down list in my sidebar for categories.

    Issue #1: Drop down exists but when I select an option from the drop down nothing happens. I thought I’d be taken to a page with all posts associated to that category.

    Issue #2: Drop down list shows my first category as a default. I’d like it to either a) be blank or b) show some text like ‘Select Category’

    Thanks in advance for help with these issues!

    http://www.momspocketchange.com

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Thread Starter momspc

    (@momspc)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    OK, I figured out the second issue. However I still have no clue on Issue #1.

    Here’s the code I’m using.

    <li>
<h2>Categories</h2>
<?php wp_dropdown_categories('orderby=name&show_option_none=Select Category'); ?>
</li>
    Mark / t31os

    (@t31os_)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    Select boxes don’t send you to a page by default, that’s not standard behaviour…. you’ll need javascript to do that, they’re usually referred to as Jump Menus if i’m not mistaken.

    This was the best example i could find in a very quick google search.
    davesite.com/webstation/js/theory1jump.shtml

    Thread Starter momspc

    (@momspc)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    Ah ha! That would explain why it wasn’t working. 🙂

    I’ll research jump menus then and see if I can find some code I can copy.

    Many thanks!!!

    esmi

    (@esmi)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    What about http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/wp_dropdown_categories#Dropdown_without_a_Submit_Button_using_JavaScript

    Thread Starter momspc

    (@momspc)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    You rock Esmi!

    I copied it and it worked like a charm. All I had to add was the orderby=name function. Yeah!

    As an aside are there any advantages/disadvantages of using Java vs. the other language that most post are written in for Codex docs (don’t know the name of the code for the latter). Is it all compatible?

    I just don’t want to mess up my site because of my coding ignorance.

    esmi

    (@esmi)

    16 years, 2 months ago

    It’s JavaScript – not Java, which is a totally different language. WordPress uses PHP and XHTML. So that’s 3 coding languages and 1 markup language (XHTML) that you know of now. 🙂

    JavaScript is perfectly compatible with PHP and XHTML. The only slight disadvantage to using it is that it is on the user’s machine – not the web server. For various reasons, a small number of people may not have JavaScript available on their computer. So those parts of your site that rely on JavaScript may not work properly for this group.

    Another factor to bear in mind is that, because all of the JavaScript work is carried out on the user’s machine, sites that use a lot of JavaScript may deplete cell phone batteries a lot quicker than sites that that use it sparingly.

    So, generally, whilst you can add site enhancements using JavaScript, it’s probably a good idea to avoid it for basic functionality.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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