Category Mega Drop Down Menu Help

[philip937]

No worries.. I got my "jumping" issue sorted (some silly CSS thing I had neglected), but I would LOVE to see what you've done since it's next level of what I already did.. So do I want you to share????
Ummmmm YES!!!! share share share share.. PURTY PLEASE!!!!

I'm away on business at the mo so don't have access to my computer but keep reminding me and ill grave the code for the category container and post it here for you. PM me if I go quiet and forget!

[DivaVocals]

I'm away on business at the mo so don't have access to my computer but keep reminding me and ill grave the code for the category container and post it here for you. PM me if I go quiet and forget!

I've got my eye on you now mister!!! Consider me on OFFICIALY stalking duty..

Seriously thanks..

[philip937]

Tried to PM you something but your inbox is full ;)

[DivaVocals]

Tried to PM you something but your inbox is full ;)

WHAT??? Let me clear that out now..

[philip937]

as promised, here is what I use, pretty sure you shouldn't need anything else. messy I know but does the job.

I limit the number of categories by 8 in the sql query so if you don't want to just remove.

so to set categories into their columns just set their sort orders, so
sort order 1 = column 1
sort order 2 = column 2 etc

the code obviously doesn't suit all but I got it to do what I needed and so hopefully you can too. :)

enjoy

<li><a href="#" class="drop">Browse Categories</a><!-- Begin 5 columns Item -->
    
    <div class="dropdown_5columns"><!-- Begin 5 columns container -->
        <?php

    $categories_tab_query = "SELECT c.categories_id, cd.categories_name, c.sort_order FROM ".TABLE_CATEGORIES." c, ".TABLE_CATEGORIES_DESCRIPTION . " cd WHERE c.categories_id=cd.categories_id AND c.parent_id= '0' AND cd.language_id='" . (int)$_SESSION['languages_id'] . "' AND c.categories_status='1' ORDER BY c.sort_order, cd.categories_name LIMIT 0, 8;";
    $categories_tab = $db->Execute($categories_tab_query);
    
$countthis = 1;
$columnnumber = 0;

echo '<div class="col_1">';

    while (!$categories_tab->EOF) 
    {




$columnnumber = $columnnumber - $categories_tab->fields['sort_order'];

    //if ($columnnumber < 0 && countthis == "1") {
    //echo '<div class="col_1">';
    
        if ($columnnumber < 0) {
        echo '</div><div class="col_1">';
}

                
        if((int)$cPath == $categories_tab->fields['categories_id']) 
            echo '<h3><a class="topcat" style="font-size:1em;" href="'.zen_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT,'cPath=' . (int)$categories_tab->fields['categories_id']).'">' . $categories_tab->fields['categories_name'];  
        else 
            echo '<h3><a class="topcat" style="font-size:1em;" href="'.zen_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT,'cPath=' . (int)$categories_tab->fields['categories_id']).'">' . $categories_tab->fields['categories_name'];
                echo '</a></h3>';
        
        $subcategories_tab_query="SELECT c.categories_id, cd.categories_name FROM ".TABLE_CATEGORIES." c, ".TABLE_CATEGORIES_DESCRIPTION . " cd WHERE c.categories_id=cd.categories_id AND c.parent_id= '".(int)$categories_tab->fields['categories_id']."' AND cd.language_id='" . (int)$_SESSION['languages_id'] . "' AND c.categories_status='1' ORDER BY c.sort_order, cd.categories_name;";
        $subcategories_tab=$db->Execute($subcategories_tab_query);
        if($subcategories_tab->RecordCount()>0)
        {
            echo '<ul>';
            
                while (!$subcategories_tab->EOF) {

                $cPath_new='cPath=' . $categories_tab->fields['categories_id'] . '_' . $subcategories_tab->fields['categories_id'];
                $cPath_new=str_replace('=0_', '=', $cPath_new);
                echo '<li>'.'<a class="sub-cat" href="' . zen_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT, $cPath_new) . '">'.$subcategories_tab->fields['categories_name'].'</a></li>';
                $subcategories_tab->MoveNext();
                
                }

            echo '</ul>';
        }
        

$columnnumber = $categories_tab->fields['sort_order'];

$countthis = $countthis + 1;

        $categories_tab->MoveNext();
    }
        
?>

    </div>


</div><!-- End 5 columns container -->

[DivaVocals]

as promised, here is what I use, pretty sure you shouldn't need anything else. messy I know but does the job.

I limit the number of categories by 8 in the sql query so if you don't want to just remove.

so to set categories into their columns just set their sort orders, so
sort order 1 = column 1
sort order 2 = column 2 etc

the code obviously doesn't suit all but I got it to do what I needed and so hopefully you can too. :)

enjoy

<li><a href="#" class="drop">Browse Categories</a><!-- Begin 5 columns Item -->
    
    <div class="dropdown_5columns"><!-- Begin 5 columns container -->
        <?php

    $categories_tab_query = "SELECT c.categories_id, cd.categories_name, c.sort_order FROM ".TABLE_CATEGORIES." c, ".TABLE_CATEGORIES_DESCRIPTION . " cd WHERE c.categories_id=cd.categories_id AND c.parent_id= '0' AND cd.language_id='" . (int)$_SESSION['languages_id'] . "' AND c.categories_status='1' ORDER BY c.sort_order, cd.categories_name LIMIT 0, 8;";
    $categories_tab = $db->Execute($categories_tab_query);
    
$countthis = 1;
$columnnumber = 0;

echo '<div class="col_1">';

    while (!$categories_tab->EOF) 
    {




$columnnumber = $columnnumber - $categories_tab->fields['sort_order'];

    //if ($columnnumber < 0 && countthis == "1") {
    //echo '<div class="col_1">';
    
        if ($columnnumber < 0) {
        echo '</div><div class="col_1">';
}

                
        if((int)$cPath == $categories_tab->fields['categories_id']) 
            echo '<h3><a class="topcat" style="font-size:1em;" href="'.zen_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT,'cPath=' . (int)$categories_tab->fields['categories_id']).'">' . $categories_tab->fields['categories_name'];  
        else 
            echo '<h3><a class="topcat" style="font-size:1em;" href="'.zen_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT,'cPath=' . (int)$categories_tab->fields['categories_id']).'">' . $categories_tab->fields['categories_name'];
                echo '</a></h3>';
        
        $subcategories_tab_query="SELECT c.categories_id, cd.categories_name FROM ".TABLE_CATEGORIES." c, ".TABLE_CATEGORIES_DESCRIPTION . " cd WHERE c.categories_id=cd.categories_id AND c.parent_id= '".(int)$categories_tab->fields['categories_id']."' AND cd.language_id='" . (int)$_SESSION['languages_id'] . "' AND c.categories_status='1' ORDER BY c.sort_order, cd.categories_name;";
        $subcategories_tab=$db->Execute($subcategories_tab_query);
        if($subcategories_tab->RecordCount()>0)
        {
            echo '<ul>';
            
                while (!$subcategories_tab->EOF) {

                $cPath_new='cPath=' . $categories_tab->fields['categories_id'] . '_' . $subcategories_tab->fields['categories_id'];
                $cPath_new=str_replace('=0_', '=', $cPath_new);
                echo '<li>'.'<a class="sub-cat" href="' . zen_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT, $cPath_new) . '">'.$subcategories_tab->fields['categories_name'].'</a></li>';
                $subcategories_tab->MoveNext();
                
                }

            echo '</ul>';
        }
        

$columnnumber = $categories_tab->fields['sort_order'];

$countthis = $countthis + 1;

        $categories_tab->MoveNext();
    }
        
?>

    </div>


</div><!-- End 5 columns container -->

You are awesome!!! Thanks for the share.. One question.. Am I reading this correctly.. If I set the category sort order to "1" it will appear in column 1?? It's THAT simple???????

[philip937]

yup.

so if you want three categories in column 1, set them all with a sort order 1 and so on.. that way if you have categories with differnt amounts of sub cats you can fasin them in a way so they fill the drop down box nicely.

i dnt think it will work with negative values as sort orders though, just the way its coded.

[DivaVocals]

yup.

so if you want three categories in column 1, set them all with a sort order 1 and so on.. that way if you have categories with differnt amounts of sub cats you can fasin them in a way so they fill the drop down box nicely.

i dnt think it will work with negative values as sort orders though, just the way its coded.

Nice.. thanks for sharing!!!

[gjh42]

Same principle I used for EZ-Pages Footer Columns, to sort links into columns. One refinement you might try (to be able to sort within columns) is to sort for columns by first digit of sort order. This allows up to 9 per column (with 2-digit sort orders) to be specifically organized within the column.

[lhungil]

Same principle I used for EZ-Pages Footer Columns, to sort links into columns. One refinement you might try (to be able to sort within columns) is to sort for columns by first digit of sort order. This allows up to 9 per column (with 2-digit sort orders) to be specifically organized within the column.

Yup, I can attest this should work well (it does in the EZ-Pages Footer - thx for that module BTW). Doing it this way should also keep the categories sorted if you use one of the categories sideboxes ;)