New sidebar category not showing up bold

I know I've seen the answer to this question elsewhere, but I've searched and searched, and simply can't find it. So I'm asking again...apologies for the duplication.

I have my sidebar category listing set up so that the subcategories always are visible. That works perfectly. However, I've noticed that for each successive category, the subcategories are moved further to the right. It looks a bit odd, and I'd like to be able to line them all up properly. If anyone can help me with that, I'd be very grateful.

Also, and this is the real reason I'm posting this, I just added a new master category. Since they're all in alphabetical order, it's showing up as the first one, which is fine. But it's not bolded, as the others are, and its subcategories are not showing up. I also notice that when I try to access the subdirectories, they aren't displaying properly; will that be fixed when the sidebar issue is fixed?

I remember something about the category ID numbers (102, 125, etc.) being important, but I can't remember where I'm supposed to look for them, so that I can add in the new one.

If anyone can refresh my memory on this, I'd be very grateful. Many thanks, in advance!

Before we can help, we need to know which mods you have installed that affect the categories sidebox. If there is a support thread for the mod, you should ask there.
Seeing the site live will also be essential.

The problem is, I honestly don't remember what mod I installed, because it was a good year ago.

It's an adult site...please don't blame the messenger. I only do the design work. LOL http://www.carnal-pleasures.com/zencart/

It's no mod I recognize... It uses only the stock Zen Cart output code and styling, but the class or module file has apparently been altered to yield subcategories for all (specified) top cats, not just the active one.

You might just try Categories Dressing with the Uncollapsed Categories option. This will automatically show everything, can be styled however you like, and is currently supported if you need help. I'm not really interested in ferreting out the function in a crude mod that leaves the old <a> elements as the only organizing factor for styling.

I found this in my modules/sideboxes folder, under the name YOUR_TEMPLATE, perhaps this is it? If not, then I have no idea.

<?php // // +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ // |zen-cart Open Source E-commerce | // +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ // | Copyright (c) 2004 The zen-cart developers | // | | // | <http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php> | // | | // | Portions Copyright (c) 2003 osCommerce | // +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ // | This source file is subject to version 2.0 of the GPL license, | // | that is bundled with this package in the file LICENSE, and is | // | available through the world-wide-web at the following url: | // | <http://www.zen-cart.com/license/2_0.txt>. | // | If you did not receive a copy of the zen-cart license and are unable | // | to obtain it through the world-wide-web, please send a note to | // | [email protected] so we can mail you a copy immediately. | // +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ // $Id: category_list_box.php 2004/10/29 // require DIR_WS_CLASSES . 'category_list.php'; $main_category_list = new category_list; $main_category_list->category_list(); $row = 0; $box_categories_array = array(); $box_categories_array = $main_category_list->build_list(); require($template->get_template_dir('tpl_category_list_box.php',DIR_WS_TEMPLATE, $current_page_base,'sideboxes'). '/tpl_category_list_box.php'); $title = BOX_HEADING_CATEGORY_LIST; $left_corner = false; $right_corner = false; $right_arrow = false; $title_link = false; require($template->get_template_dir($column_box_default, DIR_WS_TEMPLATE, $current_page_base,'common') . '/' . $column_box_default); ?>

Looks like it's some version of Expanded Category List which was last updated in 2008. The stock categories sidebox has not changed in a long time so it should still be compatible, but if you don't know how to maintain it, better to replace it with something currently supported.

LOL I don't even know where to find it!

I downloaded the Categories Dressing zip and am trying to fight my way through the instructions. What's easy for you geniuses to understand is Sanskrit to me. LOL I have this horrible presentiment that when I die, my purgatory will be to try and decode php for an eternity.........

Okay, I followed the instructions EXACTLY as they were specified...rereading each step several times to make sure I had it right...and lost the entire site. Now what??

BTW...there is no readme_ch_categories.txt file in the zip...but when I tried to activate it in my Layout Boxes Controller, the only thing it did was give a complete listing of EVERY book on the site...not categories and subcategories...and the rest of the site was still missing. So I set it back to OFF.

Okay, I managed to partially fix the problem by turning off the original categories.php box. But I still have a choice between no category sidebar at all, or one that gives way too much information (all the actual books, not the subcategories). How do I fix that?

It may be that one of the Expanded Category List mod files is still active, and feeding a list of all categories and products into tpl_categories.php, where this assemblage might not be handled correctly. According to the description in Plugins (link in post #6 above), the files are:
NEW FILES

category_list.php [probably /includes/classes/ ]
category_list_box_defines.php [probably /includes/languages/english/sideboxes/your_template/ ]
category_list_box.php [probably /includes/modules/sideboxes/your_template/ ]
tpl_category_list_box.php [/includes/templates/your_template/sideboxes/ ]

but the description doesn't say which folders those files are in. The actual download package may/should give more details. If you can find those files, rename them from .php to .test or something to deactivate them, and delete them if/when you are certain you no longer want them.

Categories Dressing in any form does not handle products when installed on a clean site, so something pre-existing must be creating that feed.

I forgot to add readme_ch_categories.txt to the v2.7.3 zip, but it has no real information that is not elsewhere in the instructions.

Almost right. category_list_box_defines.php was under includes\languages\english\extra_definitions\pinkywinky, not \includes\languages\english\sideboxes\pinkywinky. :P

But it's still not working properly. I renamed all four files as .old, and went into my Layout Boxes Controller. It now shows

sideboxes/category_list_box.php ON LEFT 0 0 ON MISSING MISSING

which just can't be good.

When I turned on sideboxes/pinkywinky/ch_categories.php, I lost the entire site again. So I turned it back off, and tried turning on sideboxes/category_list_box.php. This time nothing happened at all (which makes sense if it's missing).

I don't know whether to consider this forward momentum or not...but I sure would appreciate further instructions, because it definitely isn't fixed.

Thank you!!!!!!

Of course, /extra_definitions/, not /sideboxes/ ... that's what happens when you add things at the last minute.

If all the old mod files were renamed, there could be no entry in Layout Boxes Controller. Either there is a copy of one of those files in a default folder as well as the custom folder, or your version of the mod includes some other file not mentioned in the list. Probably the former - I would check /modules/sideboxes/ first.

For the ch_categories, have you made any changes to any files yet? Have you renamed all of the /your_template/ folders, and are you certain that all files are in the correct folders on your server? The base files correctly uploaded will work, so you need to check for what is wrong. Certain define editing mistakes can cause fatal errors.

category_list_box.php is listed in these places:

includes\modules\shipping
includes\modules\sideboxes\pinkywinky
includes\modules\sideboxes\YOUR_TEMPLATE\

I changed each reference to category_list_box.old. That gave me an error message on the Layout Boxes Controller Screen for sideboxes/category_list_box.old. It also did not fix the problem with the sidebox appearing correctly.

I went back and changed sideboxes/pinkywinky/category_list_box.old back to sideboxes/pinkywinky/category_list_box.php, and that got rid of the error message for that line...but turning it on made me lose the entire site again, so I turned it back off.

Yes, I very carefully manually uploaded each file to its proper place, as specified in your readme.txt file.

I haven't even dared to try modifying the ch_categories files yet...I opened and looked at them, and as I don't understand php, it was pretty much all gibberish to me. LOL Sorry!

You don't really need to understand PHP to edit the defines file (the only one you should edit, aside from the stylesheet). You just need to follow the instructions and examples using your category ids and information.

For category_list_box.php to appear in /shipping/ is just weird, as it has nothing to do with that. And you shouldn't have any folders on your server actually named /YOUR_TEMPLATE/; that and the like are placeholders that should have been changed to your actual template name.

Manually uploading files to individual folders always carries a risk of error; it is usually more reliable to copy the whole mod /includes/ folder to the site root (where the site /includes/ folder lives). That way, either it all works or none, and if you see /includes/includes/... you can just delete the extra /includes/ and try again.

Well, I looked at the instructions and they didn't make any sense...not your fault, I just don't understand what each option does. I keep telling myself that it's a learning process. ;-)

The YOUR_TEMPLATE folders are from the original pinkywinky installation a year ago. I did it wrong, then figured out my mistake and corrected it. I suppose I should go through and delete the folders, as they're pretty useless.

The question still remains how to fix this problem. I'm limping along with text links at the top of the page, but I don't want to keep it that way. I've done everything you've said, and don't know what's still going wrong...very frustrating!

Deleting all the YOUR_TEMPLATE folders now. There aren't actually that many.

Going down the list, one folder at a time, I found these items:

I just ran across a copy of category_list_box_defines.php in the includes/languages/english/extra_definitions/classic/ folder, so I changed that to .old. It doesn't appear to have helped, but it didn't hurt anything, either.

Should I rename includes/modules/shipping/category_list_box.old back to .php, or leave it as .old? Ditto for includes/modules/sideboxes/pinkywinky/category_list_box.php. When I leave it as .php, the Layout Boxes screen shows no error, but it doesn't work properly. When I change it to .old, there's an error message that the required file is missing.

I changed the includes/templates/pinkywinky/sideboxes/tpl_category_list_box.php to .old per your instructions, but there's also a file in the same directory called tpl_categories.php. Should I do anything with that? There's also a file with the same name under includes/templates/template_default/sideboxes.

I sure do appreciate your patience as I fight my way through this!!

Delete /includes/modules/shipping/category_list_box.whatever, as it can have no purpose. Likewise any mod files in /classic/ folders, unless you want the mod to be active in Classic.

You might try a search in Tools > Developers Toolkit for categories.php to see if any unexpected files show up. There will be a number of irrelevant instances like /includes/functions/functions_categories.php, /includes/functions/functions_general.php, /includes/languages/english.php, /includes/modules/pages/index/main_template_vars.php, /includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_index_categories.php, or any *document_categories.php; but files that mention a module or tpl_ file may be important.

There should be a tpl_categories.php in both /pinkywinky/ and /template_default/ (Cat Dressing and stock versions).

Okay, I deleted the file. /classic/ had nothing in it except a file called empty.txt so I left that alone.

Developers Toolkit found 11 instances of categories.php:

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/includes/functions/functions_categories.php
Line #8 : * @version $Id: functions_categories.php 14141 2009-08-10 19:34:47Z wilt $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/includes/modules/sideboxes/categories.php
Line #8 : * @version $Id: categories.php 2718 2005-12-28 06:42:39Z drbyte $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/includes/modules/sideboxes/document_categories.php
Line #8 : * @version $Id: document_categories.php 2718 2005-12-28 06:42:39Z drbyte $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/includes/templates/pinkywinky/sideboxes/tpl_categories.php
Line #9 : * @version $Id: tpl_categories.php 4162 2006-08-17 03:55:02Z ajeh $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/includes/templates/template_default/sideboxes/tpl_categories.php
Line #8 : * @version $Id: tpl_categories.php 4162 2006-08-17 03:55:02Z ajeh $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/includes/templates/template_default/sideboxes/tpl_document_categories.php
Line #8 : * @version $Id: tpl_document_categories.php 2975 2006-02-05 19:33:51Z birdbrain $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_index_categories.php
Line #12 : * @version $Id: tpl_index_categories.php 4678 2006-10-05 21:02:50Z ajeh $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/lc_admin/categories.php
Line #6 : * @version $Id: categories.php 19330 2011-08-07 06:32:56Z drbyte $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/lc_admin/includes/languages/english/categories.php
Line #6 : * @version $Id: categories.php 14139 2009-08-10 13:46:02Z wilt $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/lc_admin/includes/languages/english/products_to_categories.php
Line #6 : * @version $Id: products_to_categories.php 18698 2011-05-04 14:50:06Z wilt $

/home/carnal1/public_html/zencart/lc_admin/products_to_categories.php
Line #6 : * @version $Id: products_to_categories.php 18695 2011-05-04 05:24:19Z drbyte $

Which of these should I keep or get rid of?

I'm leaving both instances of tpl_categories.php alone.

You shouldn't have posted the folderpath for your admin - that should be secret. Changing your admin foldername now would be safer. The admin files are all irrelevant; I only searched in Catalog, not Catalog/Admin, so didn't see those to mention them.

Eliminating the irrelevant files, I don't see any in that list that should not be referring to some flavor of "categories.php". If you activate ch_categories.php, do you still get the product list? Can you put it at the bottom of the right column (for minimal site impact) for a few minutes so I can look at it?