PHP - Hierarchical Nested Categories Navigation

I have been going in circles about how to handle the issue that I have come up with and was hoping that someone could provide a different method. Basically I want to be able to create an infinite number of categories and allow them to be assigned to other categories then making them subcategories/sub sub categories if you will. My initial plan was to use a method I have used before by just saving the parent id of the subcategories and recursively going through the data. However, I am not to fond of this because of the inefficiency that it provides. I did some research and found that method is called the "Adjacency List". I also found another way to do it called "Nested Sets" which seems to be much more efficient but its a little harder to understand / maintain. I was hoping that someone here could offer alternatives to both of these methods that will allow me to keep the efficiency of "Nested Sets" but providing the ease of use / maintenance of the "Adjacency List".

Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi,

I am am looking to develop further the code below. This code allows me to display a left navigation bar with Main Links and then if you click a Main link, that link is listed first in the list and its' submenu appears below. For the majority of links in the navigation bar this is fine. But for about 2 of the Main links this basic navigation is not suitable.

I need the navigation for 2 of the links to offer more depth. So, for example, if you click Accessories in:

Shoes
Trousers
Shirts
Accessories

Looks like this if Accessories is clicked:

Accessories
Belts
Cuff Links
Wallets
Shoes
Trousers
Shirts

Looks like this if belts is clicked (Main link name changed and submenu changed):

Accessories - Belts
Brown leather
Black Leather
Multicolour Designs
All casual
All formal
Shoes
Trousers
Shirts

Looks like this is Brown Leather is clicked:

Brown Leather Belts
Armani Brown Leather Belt 32"
Armani Brown Leather Belt 34"
Hugo Boss Brown Leather Belt 32"
Hugo Boss Brown Leather Belt 34"
Shoes
Trousers
Shirts


Currently the code does not allow for this depth in the navigation bar. Any ideas how it could be done? Do I need additional tables for each subcategory. How do I ensure the category clicked does not appear in the rest of the navigation bar, as in the code I have at the moment?

Currently the code is:


$res = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM categories");
while($row = mysql_fetch_array($res)) {
  $cats[$row['categoryid']] = $row['categoryname'];
}
if(isset($_GET['category'])) {
 $selcat = $_GET['category'];
}
if(isset($_GET['product'])) {
 $prod_info = mysql_fetch_array(mysql_query("SELECT * FROM products WHERE productid = ".$_GET['product']));
 //Prod_Info now gets stored for use in the main display.
 $selcat = $prod_info['categoryid'];
}
if(isset($selcat)) {
  echo "<a href='categorylist.php?category=".$selcat."'>".$cats[$selcat]."</a>";
  unset($cats[$selcat]); //Gets rid of it for later.
  $res = mysql_query("SELECT productid,name FROM products WHERE categoryid = ".$selcat);
  while($row = mysql_fetch_array($res)) {
   echo "<a href='product.php?product=".$row['productid']."'>".$row['name']."</a>";
  }
}
foreach($cats AS $key => $cat)  {
  echo "<a href='categoryview.php?category=".$key."'>".$cat."</a>";
}



Thank you for looking at this post,

Matt.

I have two tables, one called Categories and one called SubCategories. Each subcategory needs to be displayed under its parent category in a HTML table.

So I have this code, but I don't know how to list each Sub-Category under each Category in a HTML table.

<?php

require ('includes/initialize.php');

require 'classes/database.class.php';


$sql = "SELECT * FROM Categories, SubCategories WHERE Categories.ID = SubCategories.CatID";

$Result = $database->Query($sql);
 
$Data = $database->Fetch($Result);

?>

Hi guys

I need help writing a php script

I have a table 'categories'

with fields
'id' 'cat_name' 'parent_id'

the 'parent_id' is just an the id field..

I want to create a way to have unlimited sub categories

so I can have

categorie -> sub-categories
categories  -> sub-categories  -> sub-categories
categories -> products

How can i make unlimited sub categories when i have this mysql fields: id, name, parent


Code: [Select]
$query = "SELECT * FROM cats";
$result = mysql_query($query);
while ($var = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
  echo $var['name'];
  // now i need here some code for sub cats, but sub cat in subcat :(
}
Can someone help me?

Hello dear friends,

If i've the following ( categories - gifts )

<?PHP
$sql ="select *  from  categories";
$result= mysql_query($sql);
while($line= mysql_fetch_array($result)){
$qryrow="select * from gifts where gifts='$line[1]'";
}
?>

it means select category and its gifts

now my question how to view it all in table for example if i add

Code: [Select]
<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%">
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<?php echo "". $line[1].""; ?>
</TD>
</TR>
</TBODY>
</TABLE>
it will show me like this
 

How can i make it like this



my problem how to make table like this and where to put the php variable  .. 

thanks

Hi there, I have a piece of code that takes all posts with the category of 'model' and puts it on the models page. It then displays the post as a gallery using fancy box. The problem is I want all posts with the category of 'faces' to go on the faces page, but at the moment they are appearing on both pages. Here is the code I have. Any help will guarantee a donation as I am at my wits end trying to figure this out.

Code: [Select]
<?php
  global $post;

  $args = array(
    'numberposts'     => 8,
    'offset'          => 0,
    'category'        => 'models',
    'orderby'         => 'post_date',
    'order'           => 'DESC',
    'post_type'       => 'post',
    'post_status'     => 'publish' );

  $posts_array = get_posts( $args );
  $x = 1; // track model
  foreach( $posts_array as $post ) {
    setup_postdata($post); ?>
    <div id="model-thumb">
<?php
    $arg2 = array( 'post_type' => 'attachment', 'numberposts' => -1, 'order' => 'ASC', 'post_status' => null, 'post_parent' => $post->ID );
    $attachments = get_posts($arg2);
    if ($attachments) {
        $i = 1; // track images
        foreach ( $attachments as $attachment ) {
            $image_attributes = wp_get_attachment_image_src( $attachment->ID, 'full' );
            if ($i == 1) { // Get thumbnail info to display with second image
                $img1src = $image_attributes[0];
                $img1w = $image_attributes[1];
                $img1h = $image_attributes[2];
            } elseif ($i == 2) { // Display thumbnail with link to second image
?>
           <a class="allModels" rel="gallery<?php echo $x; ?>" href="<?php echo $image_attributes[0]; ?>" 
?><img src="<?php echo $img1src; ?>" width="<?php echo $img1w; ?>" height="<?php echo $img1h; ?>"/></a><br /><p><?php the_content();?></p></div>

<?php
            } else { // Other images
?>
                <div style="display:none;"><a class="allModels" rel="gallery<?php echo $x; ?>" href="<?php echo $image_attributes[0]; ?>"><img src="<?php echo $image_attributes[0]; ?>" width="<?php echo $image_attributes[1]; ?>" height="<?php echo $image_attributes[2]; ?>"/></a></div>

<?php
            }
            $i++; // Increase image count
        }
    }

    $x++; // Increase model count
  }

?>

I have made a custom post type for products, and am using a custom taxonomy for the product categories. The thing that I am wondering about is that sometimes a product category is a parent, and sometimes a child, but sometimes both. For instance, if you have a top level category named shoes, then you might have a sub category named Nike. However, Nike also has shirts, so you could say that shoes and shirts were both subcategories of Nike. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like there is no real parent to child relationship, but they are both parents and both children of each other. How do you handle this type of situation?

Hi,

So i'm having a little trouble trying to simplify some code I already have.

Code: [Select]
$result = mysql_query("SELECT images, cat_id FROM image_cat");

while ($row=mysql_fetch_array($result))
{
$cat_id=$row['cat_id'];
echo $cat_id;
$imgresult = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM images WHERE cat_id='".$cat_id."'");
while ($col=mysql_fetch_array($imgresult))
{
echo $col['img_id'];
}
}

Okay, so this works, however i'm sure I can bring it together under one query, though i'm truly stumped as to how?
I thought I could do a simple join:

Code: [Select]
$result = mysql_query("SELECT image_cat.cat_id, images.img_id WHERE image_cat.cat_id=images.image_cat");

This works, but repeats the image category on each loop. I could remove this via php if statements, but there must be a simpler/mysql solution.

If it doesn't make any sense I need to get

Img cat 1
-img 1
-img 2

img cat 2
-img 3
-img 4

etc etc

That join will give

img cat 1
-img 1
img cat 1
-img 2
img cat 2
-img 3

Hope that makes sense?? And any help would be amazing!
Thanks.

Hi all am haiving abit of a problem am trying to query 6 categories with 6 games each.With the code i done is only showing one cat with 6 games. How can i fix this ?. If you go to games-flash.co.uk you will see at the bottom of the home page that only one cat shows.   php code.

     <div class="catgames">

Hello, New to php&mysql here and need a little help.  I want to make category list with sub-categories and sub-sub-categories. The goal is when I load website I will see full list with master(root)categories . Then when I click some categories should load sub-category and if I click on sub-category should load sub-sub-category. Something like this:

Computers
     -> Motherboards
             -> Model 1
             -> Model 2
             -> etc.
Monitors
     -> Model 1
     -> Model 2

As you can see max level of sub-category will be 2+root.  Here is the perfect example what I want to do http://3docean.net/category   I don't understand(know) also how exactly will look my database table? How to store categories and sub-categories.   I don't want someone to write full code etc as I want to learn it but will be great if you guys can show me some good tutorial how to make it mostly database structure.   Thank you in advance!   p.s.  Sorry for my English!  

If i have a list of categories like:
1. Billboards and advertisement section
  1(a)City Clock
    1(a)(i)Application fee  (has columns for approved price and proposed price)
    1(a)(ii)Advertisement Per year (has columns for approved price and proposed price)

  1(b)Billboards
    1(b)(i)Application fee for construction (has columns for approved price and proposed price)
    1(b)(ii)Charge per year without advertisement (has columns for approved price and proposed price)

  1(c)Something here.....
    1(c)(i) something here...(has columns for approved price and proposed price)
    1(c)(ii)something here...(has columns for approved price and proposed price)
    1(c)(iii) something here... (has columns for approved price and proposed price)
     e.t.c

THEN SOME CATEGORIES LOOK LIKE:category 2
2. Category name
  2(a)something here..(has columns for approved price and proposed price)
  2(b)something here..
    2(b)(i)something here..(has columns for approved price and proposed price)
    2(b)(ii)something here..(has columns for approved price and proposed price)



NOW: i have categories without sub categories and others with sub-sub categories , a main category doesn't does have a column for prices ( or lets just say other columns) , a sub category WITHOUT its sub category will have columns for prices, if a sub category has its sub category, then its subcategory should have columns for prices (this is where my problem is - how do i handle such a situation in php Mysql?? )

I have two tables subcat and category

structure
subcat
id_subcat|id_of_cat|subcat_name| and for
 main categories
ID_cat|cat_name|

now what I want to display them as
Main category
subcategory1
subcategory2
Main category2
subcategoryX
etc...

Here's the code I'm using but doesn't work,it doesn't display anything.

<?php
$query = "
SELECT ID_cat, id_subcat, subcat_name, cat_name 
  FROM subcat, category 
  WHERE ID_cat=id_subcat";
$result = mysql_query($sql);
 
$lastCat = null;
while($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
  # Check if you need to print the category_name
  if($lastCat != $row['ID_cat']) {
# Not the same category as the last one!
# Print it and save the ID
$lastCat = $row['ID_cat'];
echo "<br />". $row['ID_cat'];
  }
 
  # Print the sub category
  echo "<br />". $row['subcat_name'];
}
?>

Hi,

I have been working on an eCommerce platform for the last few months. Its almost complete but I need to do one thing and thats to only display sub categories if products exist in them.

This is the site craftgo.me (development site),

and this is how the categories are produced for a category page. ie. http://www.craftgo.me/category.php?cat_id=96

Code: [Select]
if($_GET['cat_id']) {
$parents_id = $_GET['cat_id'];
$cat_num_rows_sql = "SELECT category_id, parent_id FROM mccategories WHERE parent_id = '$parents_id'";
$cat_num_rows_result = mysql_query($cat_num_rows_sql);
$cat_row_count = mysql_num_rows($cat_num_rows_result);

if($cat_row_count == '0'){
$current_cat_parent_sql = "SELECT parent_id FROM mccategories WHERE category_id = '$cat_id'";
$current_cat_parent_result = mysql_query($current_cat_parent_sql);
$cat_parent_row = mysql_fetch_array($current_cat_parent_result);
$parent_id = $cat_parent_row['parent_id'];
} else {
$parent_id = $_GET['cat_id'];
}
}



$catsql = "SELECT category_id, category_name FROM mccategories WHERE cat_showing = '0' AND parent_id = '$parent_id' ORDER BY category_name";
$catresult = mysql_query($catsql);
while($catrow = mysql_fetch_array($catresult)) {

$category_id = $catrow['category_id'];
$cat_name = $catrow['category_name'];

echo '<li><a href="category.php?cat_id=' . $category_id . '">' . $cat_name . '</a></li>';
}

In the mcproducts table the category id for each product is under 'product_category'


Im not even sure where to start to make this work, but if anyone could give me a pointer, that would be super.

Many thanks
Eoin

Hey all,

I have a relationship where a zone has many posts and a category has many zones but a zone can also have many categories. The zones are basically parts of a page, such as the main area and sidepanel stored in database as records with name fields such as 'panel' and 'main'. There's a serious flaw right now and I would like to know the best solution to address it. Right now I access the posts of a zone of a category like this:

Code: [Select]
$category->zone->get()->post->get();

The above ends up displaying all the posts in the database for any given category because when category is selected, it searches for the associating zones, and then selects all posts related to those zones, which is wrong. i want to select all posts of the zones associated with that particular category.

Current database:

Code: [Select]
posts
id zone_id

zones
id name

categories_zones
id zone_id category_id

categories
id

What should I do? Add a category_id column to the posts table and relate the post directly to the category as well as directly to the zones table so the post table would have two foreign keys: category_id and zone_id

Would this be the most effective thing to do given my requirements?

Thanks for response.