Nilambar Sharma

<p>Are you frustrated by the lack of customization options in default Category widget in WordPress? Then this plugin is for you. Works in similar fashion but with several customization options. Cheers !</p>


NS Category Widget

very nice plugin does what it says!

good job for dev!

Just what i needed

A plugin to add widget for listing Categories and Taxonomies. Extending Default WordPress Category Widget.

Ethan Lin

<p>Display posts, pages, and terms alphabetically in a Rolodex-, catalog-, or directory-style list with the AlphaListing plugin!</p>
<p>This plugin includes a block and shortcode for the list, along with a widget for linking to the list from any location on a site. If a letter has no associated pages, the widget will display the letter unlinked, while the list page will omit the letter entirely.</p>
<p>Show posts from any single or multiple post types, including built-in posts and pages. Post types from plugins like WooCommerce products are also supported. Alternatively, display terms such as categories or tags.</p>
<p><em>This plugin is based on the original <strong>A-Z Listing</strong> by Lucy (formerly Dani) Llewellyn, which is no longer maintained. Custom templates built for the original plugin may not work reliably with this version. For the most up-to-date example template, see the <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lin87/alphalisting/refs/heads/main/templates/a-z-listing.example.php" rel="nofollow ugc">example template</a>.</em></p>
<h3>Gutenberg Block</h3>
<p>Use the AplhaListing block in most cases, as it provides guidance for configuring various options.</p>
<h3>Shortcode for compatibility and PHP use</h3>
<p>The plugin provides a shortcode for the full AlphaListing, enabling use without modifying theme templates.</p>
<p>Basic usage is as follows:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting]
</code></pre>
<p>To specify a post-type to display instead of <code>page</code> then use, e.g. <code>post</code>:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="posts" post-type="post"]
</code></pre>
<p>To filter the posts by a term from a taxonomy:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="posts" post-type="post" taxonomy="category" terms="my-term-slug"]
</code></pre>
<p>To display pages that are direct children of the page with ID <code>24</code>:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="posts" post-type="page" parent-post="24"]
</code></pre>
<p>To display pages that are children of any depth below the page with ID <code>24</code>:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="posts" post-type="page" parent-post="24" get-all-children="yes"]
</code></pre>
<p>To show terms from a taxonomy instead of posts and pages, e.g. Terms from the <code>Categories</code> taxonomy:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="terms" taxonomy="category"]
</code></pre>
<p>To show terms from the <code>Categories</code> taxonomy that are direct children of the term with ID of <code>42</code>:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="terms" taxonomy="category" parent-term="42"]
</code></pre>
<p>To show terms from the <code>Categories</code> taxonomy that are children of any depth in the tree below the term with ID of <code>42</code>:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="terms" taxonomy="category" parent-term="42" get-all-children="yes"]
</code></pre>
<p>To override the alphabet used by the plugin:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="posts" alphabet="Aa,Bb,Cc,Dd,Ee,Ff,Gg,Hh,Ii,Jj,Kk,Ll,Mm,Nn,Oo,Pp,Qq,Rr,Ss,Tt,Uu,Vv,Ww,Xx,Yy,Zz"]
</code></pre>
<p>To add numbers to the listing:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="posts" numbers="after"]
</code></pre>
<p>The numbers can also be shown before the alphabet:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting display="posts" numbers="before"]
</code></pre>
<p>Group the numbers into a single collection for all posts beginning with a numeral.:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting numbers="after" group-numbers="yes"]
</code></pre>
<p>To group the alphabet letters into a range:</p>
<pre><code>[alphalisting grouping="3"]
</code></pre>
<p>** The arguments are all optional **</p>
<h4>Common options</h4>
<ul>
<li><code>display</code>: specifies whether to display posts or terms from a taxonomy.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>posts</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to either <code>posts</code> or <code>terms</code>.</li>
<li>Any value other than <code>posts</code> or <code>terms</code> will default to displaying posts.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>numbers</code>: appends or prepends numerals to the alphabet.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to either <code>before</code> or <code>after</code>.</li>
<li>Any value other than <code>before</code> or <code>after</code> will default to <strong>appending</strong> numerals to the alphabet.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>grouping</code>: tells the plugin if and how to group the alphabet.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to any positive number greater than <code>1</code> or the value <code>numbers</code>.</li>
<li>Any value other than a positive number or the value <code>numbers</code> will default to disabling all grouping functionality.</li>
<li>When set to a number higher than <code>1</code> the listing will group letters together into ranges.</li>
<li>For example, choosing <code>3</code> groups the Latin alphabet so that <code>A</code>, <code>B</code>, and <code>C</code> become <code>A-C</code>, followed by <code>D-F</code>, <code>G-I</code>, and so on.</li>
<li>When using this setting, if numbers are also shown via the <code>numbers="before"</code> or <code>numbers="after"</code> attribute then they will be shown as a single separate group <code>0-9</code>.</li>
<li>When set to the value <code>numbers</code> it will group numerals into a single group <code>0-9</code>.</li>
<li>This requires the numbers to be displayed via the <code>numbers="before"</code> or <code>numbers="after"</code> attributes.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>group-numbers</code>: tells the plugin to group all items beginning with a numeral into a single collection.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>false</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to <code>true</code>, <code>yes</code>, <code>on</code>, or <code>1</code> to group items beginning with a numeral in a single collection. All other values will keep the default behaviour.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>symbols-first</code>: Tells the plugin to put the unknown alphabet letter (symbols) group before the main alphabet.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>false</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to <code>true</code>, <code>yes</code>, <code>on</code>, or <code>1</code> to put the symbols group before the alphabet. All other values will keep the default behaviour.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>alphabet</code>: overrides the alphabet used by the plugin..
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>If this attribute is not defined, the plugin uses either the untranslated default or a translation from <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/alphalisting" rel="nofollow ugc">glotpress</a> if available for the site’s language, as set in <code>Admin -> Settings -> Site</code> Language.</li>
<li>The current untranslated default is: <code>AÁÀÄÂaáàäâ,Bb,Cc,Dd,EÉÈËÊeéèëê,Ff,Gg,Hh,IÍÌÏÎiíìïî,Jj,Kk,Ll,Mm,Nn,OÓÒÖÔoóòöô,Pp,Qq,Rr,Ssß,Tt,UÚÙÜÛuúùüû,Vv,Ww,Xx,Yy,Zz</code>.</li>
<li>Accepts a single line of letters/symbols, which need to be separated via the comma character <code>,</code>.</li>
<li>Including more than one letter/symbol in each group will display posts starting with any of those under the same section.</li>
<li>The first letter or symbol in each group serves as the group’s heading when displayed on the site.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Posts options</h4>
<ul>
<li><code>post-type</code>: sets the listing to show a specific post-type.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>page</code>.</li>
<li>Multiple post-types may be specified by separating with commas (<code>,</code>) e.g. <code>post-type="page,post"</code>.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>slug</code> of the post-type(s).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>parent-post</code>: sets the parent post that all displayed posts must be descended from.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>ID</code> of the parent post.</li>
<li>Add <code>get-all-children="yes"</code> to also include all descendants of any depth below the parent post.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>exclude-posts</code>: remove these posts from the list.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>Multiple posts may be specified by separating by commas: <code>,</code>.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>ID</code> of the post(s).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>taxonomy</code>: sets the taxonomy containing the terms specified in the <code>terms=""</code> option.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>slug</code> of the taxonomy.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>terms</code>: sets the taxonomy terms for filtering posts.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>The taxonomy must also be specified in <code>taxonomy</code>.</li>
<li>Multiple terms may be specified by separating with commas: <code>,</code>.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>slug</code> of the term(s).</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Terms options</h4>
<ul>
<li><code>taxonomy</code>: sets the taxonomy to display terms from in the listing.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>Multiple taxonomies may be specified by separating with commas: <code>,</code>.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>slug</code> of the taxonomy.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>terms</code>: sets the taxonomy terms to include in the listing.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>The taxonomy must also be specified in <code>taxonomy</code>.</li>
<li>Multiple terms may be specified by separating with commas: <code>,</code>.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>ID</code> of the term(s).</li>
<li>Cannot be used with <code>exclude-terms=""</code>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>exclude-terms</code>: sets the terms to exclude from display.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>The taxonomy must also be specified in <code>taxonomy</code>.</li>
<li>Multiple terms may be specified by separating with commas: <code>,</code>.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>ID</code> of the term(s).</li>
<li>Cannot be used with <code>terms=""</code>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>parent-term</code>: set the parent that all displayed terms must be descended from.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be the <code>slug</code> of the parent term.</li>
<li>Add <code>get-all-children="yes"</code> to also include all descendants of any depth below the parent term.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>get-all-children</code>: when a parent term is chosen this option is used to show all children of any depth or only direct children.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>false</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to <code>true</code>, <code>yes</code>, <code>on</code>, or <code>1</code> to include all children of any depth. Any value other will use the default behaviour of only showing direct children.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>hide-empty-terms</code>: hide terms that have no posts associated.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>false</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to <code>true</code>, <code>yes</code>, <code>on</code>, or <code>1</code> to hide the empty terms. Any other value will use the default behaviour of showing all terms.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Internal-use options for completeness</h4>
<p>** These are intended for internal use by the plugin and should not require any modifications.**</p>
<ul>
<li><code>target</code>: the default target for a listing that doesn’t show any items.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>unset</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to a URL which will be used as the target for the letters’ hyperlinks.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>return</code>: what type of listing to show, either <code>listing</code> or <code>letters</code>.
<ul>
<li>Default value: <code>listing</code>.</li>
<li>May only contain one value.</li>
<li>Must be set to either <code>listing</code> to display the default view, or <code>letters</code> to show only the letters without any items (posts or terms).</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>PHP (expert)</h3>
<h4>Most compatible method</h4>
<p>The best way to use the plugin from PHP is to call <code>do_shortcode( '[alphalisting]' );</code> and save or <code>echo</code> the returned text. The parameter passed to <code>do_shortcode()</code> should be a complete AlphaListing shortcode with parameters as above.</p>
<h3>Multiple Column Output</h3>
<p>Multiple column layout is the default on wide screens. A letter’s group of items must contain at least 15 items to create two or more columns. This is to provide a more aesthetically pleasing view when a list is short with only a few items.</p>
<h3>Templates and Theming</h3>
<p>The plugin allows the site owner, developer, or themer to provide custom templates for the AlphaListing output.</p>
<p>To add a template to a theme, create a file similar to <code>templates/a-z-listing.php</code> from the plugin folder. Place the copy in the theme’s root directory and name it <code>a-z-listing.php</code> or <code>a-z-listing-section.php</code> (with <code>-section</code> as an optional top-level page slug for the section-targeting feature).</p>
<h4>The Loop</h4>
<p>The theme system this plugin implements is <em>very</em> similar to <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop" rel="nofollow ugc">the standard WordPress loop</a>, with a few added bits.</p>
<p>Important functions to include in the template are:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>$a_z_query->the_letters()</code> prints the full alphabet, and links the letters that have posts to their section within the index page.</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->have_letters()</code> returns true or false depending on whether there are any letters left to loop-through. This is part of the Letter Loop.</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->have_items()</code> behaves very similarly to Core’s <code>have_posts()</code> function. It is part of the Item Loop.</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->the_letter()</code> similar to Core’s <code>the_post()</code>, this will set-up the next iteration of the AlphaListing’s Letter Loop. This needs to wrap-around the Item Loop.</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->the_item()</code> similar to Core’s <code>the_post()</code>, this will set-up the next iteration of the AlphaListing’s Item Loop, the same way the normal WordPress Loop works. This needs to be <em>within</em> the Letter Loop.</li>
</ul>
<p>Within the Item Loop, all built-in WordPress Core post-related functions, such as <code>the_content()</code>, can be used. Titles and permalinks have helper functions to accommodate AlphaListing’s display of taxonomy terms (see the next section).</p>
<p>Starting with a copy of the <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lin87/alphalisting/refs/heads/main/templates/a-z-listing.example.php" rel="nofollow ugc">default template</a> is recommended when creating a custom version. The provided template demonstrate the usage of most functions available in the plugin.</p>
<h4>Helper functions</h4>
<p>The plugin supports displaying taxonomy terms as though each term were a post. This means that the WordPress functions related to posts such as <code>the_title()</code> and <code>the_permalink()</code> are unreliable. We have therefore added helper functions which will return or print the correct output for the item.</p>
<p>These helper functions cope with the dual usage of the plugin supporting both <code>WP_Query</code>-based (returning <code>WP_Post</code> objects) and Taxonomy Terms (returning <code>WP_Term</code> objects) listings. These are:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>$a_z_query->the_title()</code> – prints the current item’s Title</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->get_the_title()</code> returns the current item’s Title but does not print it directly</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->the_permalink()</code> prints the current item’s Permalink</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->get_the_permalink()</code> returns the current item’s Permalink but does not print it directly</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->the_item_id()</code> prints the current item’s ID</li>
<li><code>$a_z_query->get_the_item_id()</code> returns the current item’s ID but does not print it directly</li>
</ul>


AlphaListing

Provides an A to Z index page and widget.

NS Category Widget vs AlphaListing