Category Icon for WordPress

1 Nov

Apparently in the version of WordPress I’m using, the ability to easily pass the category_id to the index page is broken. This is a shame because I needed it to display an icon for the category each post belongs to. A little judicious searching reveals the

get_the_category()

function, which you can extract the category_id from easily. This is how I did it:

So, we basically treat the function as an array and extract the appropriate key – in this case

category_id

From this point on, because I have a fixed number of categories that I know will never change, I compare the values and set a variable called

$headclass

which I then use in my tag attribute like so:

<h1 class="" >Some Heading

So, its now a simple matter to assign a style declaration for each possible category icon:

If you wanted to make this more dynamic (if you regularly added and removed categories for example) you could rename your images and classes for each category id number.

2 Responses to “Category Icon for WordPress”

  1. thomas February 24, 2005 at 11:04 #

    I’ve found interesting your approach to category and images. I’ve got a troubles I’ve fallen into that I would like to solve.

    How can I associate an icon to each category in my category listing (on the right of my side menu)?

    I’ve searched for hacks or examples but i’ve found nothing.

    I would like to associate a specific icon to each category, already in the category listing.

    may you help me about it?

  2. Kev February 24, 2005 at 11:54 #

    Hi Thomas,

    I never found an answer to this either. I did see some hacks in the WordPress forums but they didn’t work for me.

    In the end I decided to hardcode the image in the links for my category menu – not an ideal solution but all I could think to do in the end.

    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

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