Thanks for the pointers. I think i've fixed error additional_images.php was generating by upgrading to Lat9's Image Handler 5, which contained the additional_images.php with the variables initialised as an array. But due to my very basic knowledge of php i'm still having a bit or trouble re-formatting the category_row.php line so php 7.1. does not generate an error. I tried to emulate the changes between the formatting on the old additional_images and the new one from IH5 but obviously did not do it right as I broke the site and had to restore category_row.php to the default.

I also checked the github repository for this file but the lines in question is in the same format as it looks like that file might not be needed in future versions.
https://github.com/zencart/zencart/b...tegory_row.php


PHP Code:
$list_box_contents[$row][$col] = array('params' => 'class="categoryListBoxContents"' . ' ' . 'style="width:' . $col_width . '%;"',
                                           'text' => '<div class="common-wrap"><a href="' . zen_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT, $cPath_new) . '">' . zen_image(DIR_WS_IMAGES . $categories->fields['categories_image'], $categories->fields['categories_name'], SUBCATEGORY_IMAGE_WIDTH, SUBCATEGORY_IMAGE_HEIGHT) . '<br />' . $categories->fields['categories_name'] . '</a></div>');