Multi-Column Taxonomy List Plugin

Multi-Column Taxonomy List is a plugin that allows you to list your categories, tags, or custom taxonomies into multiple columns.

This plugin is great to use on custom archives index pages to display all categories, tags, and custom taxonomies on a single page. You can also turn the list into links to the RSS feeds for your taxonomies.

Usage

Shortcode attributes

You can implement a new list by adding the shortcode [mctl] to the content of a page. By default, it will output the categories into three columns with a heading of Categories. You can customize the output using attributes in the following format: [mctl taxonomy='post_tag' title='Tags']

• taxonomy: The taxonomy to retrieve terms from
  • Valid values: category, post_tag, custom_taxonomy_name
  • Multiple values not allowed
  • Default: category
• title: Sets the title of the list
  • Valid values: any string
  • Default: Categories
• title_container: HTML element to wrap the title in
  • Valid values: any HTML element
  • Recommended values: h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p
  • Default: h3
• columns: Sets the number of columns to use
  • Valid values: any integer
  • Default: 3
• orderby: Sort terms by name, unique ID, slug, or the count of posts in that term
  • Valid values: name, id, slug, count
  • Default: name
• order: Sort order for the terms (either ascending or descending)
  • Valid values: ASC, DESC
  • Default: ASC
• alpha_grouping: Output the first letter of each alphabetical grouping
  • Valid values: 0, 1
  • Default: 0
• show_count: Toggles the display of the current count of posts in each term. 0 is false/off and 1 is true/on
  • Valid values: 0, 1
  • Default: 0
• exclude: Exclude one or more terms from the results.
  • Valid values: unique IDs, separated by commas. (ex: exclude='12,13,22')
  • Default: no default
• parent: Get direct children of this term
  • Valid values: any integer
  • Multiple values not allowed
  • Default: no default
• child_of: Get all descendents of this term
  • Valid values: any integer
  • Multiple values not allowed
  • Default: 0
• rss: Turns the list into links to RSS feed of term. 0 is false/off and 1 is true/on
  • Valid values: 0, 1
  • Default: 0
• rss_image: Use a custom image RSS image icon when rss is on.
  • Valid values: full URL to image
  • Default: /wp-includes/images/rss.png
• number: Max number of terms to display
  • Valid values: any integer
  • Default: display all terms
• like: Return terms that begin with this value
  • Valid values: any string
  • Default: no default
• search: Return terms that contain the ‘search’ string
  • Valid values: any string
  • Default: no default

Template tag

Alternatively, you can implement a new list by adding the the template tag <?php multi_column_tax_list(); ?> anywhere in the code of your theme. Just like the shortcode, by default it will output the categories into three columns with a heading of Categories. You can customize the output using a string of parameters in the following format: <?php multi_column_tax_list( 'taxonomy=post_tag&title=Tags' ); ?>

Refer to the above attributes for customizations.

1. Upload multi-column-taxonomy-list to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
3. Create a new page and add the shortcode [mctl] to the content.

Alternatively, you can add <?php multi_column_tax_list(); ?> anywhere in your theme.

See the Usage section for more examples and a list of parameters.

1. 

   List of categories and tags added to a Page via shortcode

2. 

   List of category RSS feeds

Does this work with custom taxonomies I have created?

Yes! To use your custom taxonomy that you have registered with register_taxonomy, simply add the taxonomy=custom_taxonomy_name attribute.

I’m not seeing any output with my custom taxonomy

If you are having problems seeing any output with your custom taxonomy, it’s usually one of two things:

1. You set public => false when you registered the taxonomy. It needs to be true: public => true
2. There are no posts assigned to that taxonomy.

How do I customize the CSS?

If you want to customize the appearance of the lists using your own CSS, here’s how to do it:

1. Add this code to your theme’s functions.php file: add_filter( 'mctl_css', '__return_false' );
2. Copy everything from css/multi-column-taxonomy-list.css into your theme’s style.css
3. Change the CSS properties in your theme’s style.css as needed

How do I display my terms with an alphabetical grouping?

All you need to do is add the following property to the shortcode: alpha_grouping=1

Version 1.5 – Jan 28, 2014

• Fix bug where get_term_link may return an error

Version 1.4 – May 28, 2013

• Add alphabetical grouping option
• Add ‘child_of’ and ‘search’ parameters
• Fix bug where variables were not initially set

Version 1.3 – Sep 28, 2011

• Add new shortcode attribute: like. Display items that begin with a certain value.

Version 1.2 – Jul 13, 2011

• Fix bug causing extra closing ul to output
• Add new shortcode attribute: number

Version 1.1 – May 4, 2011

• Add new shortcode attributes: parent, rss, and rss_image

Version 1.0 – Apr 12, 2011

• Plugin launch!