Magento: Display sub-category list

Question

Hi there, I'm building a Magento store and want to be able to display a list of categories and have each category link to its own page.

I have a 'Brands' category with an ID of 42 and I want to display a list of the sub-categories and ensure that each one links to the designated URL key in the CMS.

Has anyone had experience of doing this with Magento?

Thank you.

Answer 1

This question requires a long answer. I will point you to the right places.

1) Best solution is to use the free extension. I haven't tried it, but it will suit the purpose. You will have to do some CSS to achieve the right look and feel.

http://www.magentocommerce.com/extension/1562/magento-easy-catalog-images Demo: http://extension01.templates-master.com/gb/electronics.html

2) I do not trust in modules as it might become difficult to upgrade if the vendor decided to stop supporting it. I have used the information from the following forum thread to create a vew sites. Have a look... Might not be straight forward. You might have to make some copies of core files to the local directory.

http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/3770/P30/

Hopefully this will be of help to you :)

Answer 2

If you're comfortable editing your theme, this code snippet will bring you a list of all sub-categories of the current category (from the session, so this should work anywhere in your theme). I typically use this in app/design/frontend/default/*theme_name*/template/catalog/category/view.phtml

<?php
$_category  = $this->getCurrentCategory(); 
$collection = Mage::getModel('catalog/category')->getCategories($_category->entity_id);
$helper     = Mage::helper('catalog/category');
?>

<ul>
    <?foreach ($collection as $cat):?>
      <?php if($_category->getIsActive()):?>
             <?php 
                     $cur_category = Mage::getModel('catalog/category')->load($cat->getId());
                  $_img = $cur_category->getImageUrl();  
             ?>
          <li>
        <a href="<?php echo $helper->getCategoryUrl($cat);?>">
             <img src="<?php echo $_img?>" title="$cat->getName()"/>
             <cite><?php echo $cat->getName();?></cite>
        </a>
       </li>
      <?php endif?>
    <?php endforeach;?>
</ul>

Answer 3

I made this little video on how I create custom category listing blocks with Magento. I am sure there are better ways of achieving this or even something I could have done better, but it’s just my method. I only created this it in hopes that it helps explain somethings to some people out there.

Magento Custom Category Listing Block

Thanks!

Answer 4

after looking at all the solutions on the magento site, i found that wookiehangover's solution above worked and took about 8 seconds to implement.

creates a UL that you can style. thanks.

Answer 5

Thanks! Works a treat.