This thread is established to support Category Tab Simple Dropdown Menu version 1.3.9.

To start, this contribution was not authored by me. Version 1.3.9 is a rewrite of the original contribution.

The first step was to create a modified tpl_modules_categories_tabs.php because:

  • Some classes and IDs used in the file were already used in the main stylesheet. This did not create a problem unless a custom template's stylesheet had a change to one of those classes or IDs. Changing the div tags precludes another stylesheet from hijacking the file''s settings.


  • Missing elements in the embedded css style call forced the need for <br /> tags in the tpl or the list would not wrap. However, those tags had to be outside the <li> tags which caused html to fail validation.

The second step was to create a separate stylesheet_catTabsMenu.css because:

  • The css was included in the contribution's php file which was delivered to the browser in a div. This caused the resultant html to fail validation.


  • The css did not include all calls needed to properly adjust the display of the menu items.


  • The css required partly on class or id tags already existing in a standard Zen Cart install. This could cause a conflict in the case of template customization.

This contribution will do the following:

  • List all top-level categories with either the sub-categories or products under them.


  • Validate the html and css with a standard installation of Zen Cart.

This contribution will NOT do the following:

  • List any sub-sub-categories of a top category. For example, in the case of Watches >> Ladies >> Gold, the contribution would show only Watches with Ladies in the dropdown menu.


  • List top-level category products linked to that category. For example, a top-level category of All Ladies Watches with all the products linked from other categories would not show any items in the dropdown menu.

Items that still need to be addressed:

  • The addition of sub-sub-categories in the dropdown menus.


  • The inclusion of linked products in a category's products dropdown.

Please Note: Any changes you wish to make to the "look" of the menu(s) should be done in the stylesheet. Any style changes done in the tpl file will probably cause it to fail html validation.

Of course, as with any Zen Cart file located in the CUSTOM directory, you can make changes to the included as you see fit.