Categories
You can create taxonomies for your entries, users, and assets using Categories.
# Category Groups
Before you can create categories, you must create Category Groups to contain them. Each Category Group lets you define the following:
- Category Group name
- Category Group handle (how you’ll refer to the Category Group in your templates)
- Maximum number of levels you can nest categories in the group
- The format of the category URI
- Which template should load if a category’s URL is accessed
- Which fields categories in the group should have
To create a new category group, go to Settings → Categories and click “New Category Group”.
After you create at least one category group, you will be able to create categories for that group.
# Category Field Layout
Each Category Group can have its own Field Layout, which allows you to customize the data that’s associated with each category in the group. By default, every category will have a Title field (the category name).
You can also add additional fields using all of the available field types in Craft. If a field doesn’t yet exist, you must first create it via Settings → Fields. The new field will then be available to assign to the Field Layout of your Category Group.
# Creating and Editing Categories
When there’s at least one category group, Categories will appear in the primary control panel navigation. Clicking it will take you to the category index. From there, you can choose a category group from the sidebar, and add/reorder/delete categories within it:
Select the “Structure” sort to work with a drag-and-drop hierarchy:
Double-clicking a category’s status icon opens a slideout for quickly editing that category’s details:
You can also click a category’s title to visit its edit page just like an entry.
When you create a category, you have the following options:
- Fill out the category fields (if you didn’t define any then the only field available will be Title)
- Edit the slug (it’s automatically populated based on the title).
- Choose a Parent category. The new category will have a hierarchical relationship with its parent. This is helpful for creating taxonomies with multiple levels. You also have the option of creating a new category while assigning the Parent.
You can only nest categories up to the level specified in the Max Level field Category Group settings. If it’s empty, the nesting level is unlimited.
# Assigning Categories
To assign categories to things (entries, assets, users, etc.), you must first create a Categories field.
Each Categories field is connected to a single category group. Whatever you attach the field to will be able to create relations to any of the categories within that group.
# Querying Categories
You can fetch categories in your templates or PHP code using category queries.
Once you’ve created a category query, you can set parameters on it to narrow down the results, and then execute it by calling .all()
. An array of Category (opens new window) objects will be returned.
See Element Queries to learn about how element queries work.
# Example
We can display a navigation for all the categories in a category group called “Topics” by doing the following:
- Create a category query with
craft.categories()
. - Set the group parameter on it.
- Fetch the categories with
.all()
. - Loop through the categories using a nav tag to create the navigation HTML.
{# Create a category query with the 'group' parameter #}
{% set myCategoryQuery = craft.categories()
.group('topics') %}
{# Fetch the categories #}
{% set categories = myCategoryQuery.all() %}
{# Display the navigation #}
<ul>
{% nav category in categories %}
<li>
<a href="{{ category.url }}">{{ category.title }}</a>
{% ifchildren %}
<ul>
{% children %}
</ul>
{% endifchildren %}
</li>
{% endnav %}
</ul>
To maintain the exact order you see in the control panel, add orderBy('lft ASC')
to your query:
{% set myCategoryQuery = craft.categories()
.group('topics')
.orderBy('lft ASC') %}
# Parameters
Category queries support the following parameters:
Param | Description |
---|---|
afterPopulate | Performs any post-population processing on elements. |
ancestorDist | Narrows the query results to only categories that are up to a certain distance away from the category specified by ancestorOf. |
ancestorOf | Narrows the query results to only categories that are ancestors of another category in its structure. |
andRelatedTo | Narrows the query results to only categories that are related to certain other elements. |
anyStatus | Removes element filters based on their statuses. |
asArray | Causes the query to return matching categories as arrays of data, rather than Category (opens new window) objects. |
cache | Enables query cache for this Query. |
clearCachedResult | Clears the cached result (opens new window). |
dateCreated | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ creation dates. |
dateUpdated | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ last-updated dates. |
descendantDist | Narrows the query results to only categories that are up to a certain distance away from the category specified by descendantOf. |
descendantOf | Narrows the query results to only categories that are descendants of another category in its structure. |
fixedOrder | Causes the query results to be returned in the order specified by id. |
group | Narrows the query results based on the category groups the categories belong to. |
groupId | Narrows the query results based on the category groups the categories belong to, per the groups’ IDs. |
hasDescendants | Narrows the query results based on whether the categories have any descendants in their structure. |
id | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ IDs. |
ignorePlaceholders | Causes the query to return matching categories as they are stored in the database, ignoring matching placeholder elements that were set by craft\services\Elements::setPlaceholderElement() (opens new window). |
inReverse | Causes the query results to be returned in reverse order. |
leaves | Narrows the query results based on whether the categories are “leaves” (categories with no descendants). |
level | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ level within the structure. |
limit | Determines the number of categories that should be returned. |
nextSiblingOf | Narrows the query results to only the category that comes immediately after another category in its structure. |
offset | Determines how many categories should be skipped in the results. |
orderBy | Determines the order that the categories should be returned in. (If empty, defaults to dateCreated DESC , or the order defined by the category group if the group or groupId params are set to a single group.) |
positionedAfter | Narrows the query results to only categories that are positioned after another category in its structure. |
positionedBefore | Narrows the query results to only categories that are positioned before another category in its structure. |
preferSites | If unique is set, this determines which site should be selected when querying multi-site elements. |
prevSiblingOf | Narrows the query results to only the category that comes immediately before another category in its structure. |
relatedTo | Narrows the query results to only categories that are related to certain other elements. |
search | Narrows the query results to only categories that match a search query. |
siblingOf | Narrows the query results to only categories that are siblings of another category in its structure. |
site | Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in. |
siteId | Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in, per the site’s ID. |
siteSettingsId | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ IDs in the elements_sites table. |
slug | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ slugs. |
status | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ statuses. |
title | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ titles. |
trashed | Narrows the query results to only categories that have been soft-deleted. |
uid | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ UIDs. |
unique | Determines whether only elements with unique IDs should be returned by the query. |
uri | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ URIs. |
with | Causes the query to return matching categories eager-loaded with related elements. |
# afterPopulate
Performs any post-population processing on elements.
# ancestorDist
Narrows the query results to only categories that are up to a certain distance away from the category specified by ancestorOf.
{# Fetch categories above this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.ancestorOf(myCategory)
.ancestorDist(3)
.all() %}
# ancestorOf
Narrows the query results to only categories that are ancestors of another category in its structure.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | above the category with an ID of 1. |
a Category (opens new window) object | above the category represented by the object. |
{# Fetch categories above this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.ancestorOf(myCategory)
.all() %}
This can be combined with ancestorDist if you want to limit how far away the ancestor categories can be.
# andRelatedTo
Narrows the query results to only categories that are related to certain other elements.
See Relations (opens new window) for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.
{# Fetch all categories that are related to myCategoryA and myCategoryB #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.relatedTo(myCategoryA)
.andRelatedTo(myCategoryB)
.all() %}
# anyStatus
Removes element filters based on their statuses.
{# Fetch all categories, regardless of status #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.anyStatus()
.all() %}
# asArray
Causes the query to return matching categories as arrays of data, rather than Category (opens new window) objects.
{# Fetch categories as arrays #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.asArray()
.all() %}
# cache
Enables query cache for this Query.
# clearCachedResult
Clears the cached result (opens new window).
# dateCreated
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ creation dates.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
'>= 2018-04-01' | that were created on or after 2018-04-01. |
'< 2018-05-01' | that were created before 2018-05-01 |
['and', '>= 2018-04-04', '< 2018-05-01'] | that were created between 2018-04-01 and 2018-05-01. |
{# Fetch categories created last month #}
{% set start = date('first day of last month')|atom %}
{% set end = date('first day of this month')|atom %}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.dateCreated(['and', ">= #{start}", "< #{end}"])
.all() %}
# dateUpdated
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ last-updated dates.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
'>= 2018-04-01' | that were updated on or after 2018-04-01. |
'< 2018-05-01' | that were updated before 2018-05-01 |
['and', '>= 2018-04-04', '< 2018-05-01'] | that were updated between 2018-04-01 and 2018-05-01. |
{# Fetch categories updated in the last week #}
{% set lastWeek = date('1 week ago')|atom %}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.dateUpdated(">= #{lastWeek}")
.all() %}
# descendantDist
Narrows the query results to only categories that are up to a certain distance away from the category specified by descendantOf.
{# Fetch categories below this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.descendantOf(myCategory)
.descendantDist(3)
.all() %}
# descendantOf
Narrows the query results to only categories that are descendants of another category in its structure.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | below the category with an ID of 1. |
a Category (opens new window) object | below the category represented by the object. |
{# Fetch categories below this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.descendantOf(myCategory)
.all() %}
This can be combined with descendantDist if you want to limit how far away the descendant categories can be.
# fixedOrder
Causes the query results to be returned in the order specified by id.
If no IDs were passed to id, setting this to true
will result in an empty result set.
{# Fetch categories in a specific order #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.id([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
.fixedOrder()
.all() %}
# group
Narrows the query results based on the category groups the categories belong to.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
'foo' | in a group with a handle of foo . |
'not foo' | not in a group with a handle of foo . |
['foo', 'bar'] | in a group with a handle of foo or bar . |
['not', 'foo', 'bar'] | not in a group with a handle of foo or bar . |
a CategoryGroup (opens new window) object | in a group represented by the object. |
{# Fetch categories in the Foo group #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.group('foo')
.all() %}
# groupId
Narrows the query results based on the category groups the categories belong to, per the groups’ IDs.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | in a group with an ID of 1. |
'not 1' | not in a group with an ID of 1. |
[1, 2] | in a group with an ID of 1 or 2. |
['not', 1, 2] | not in a group with an ID of 1 or 2. |
{# Fetch categories in the group with an ID of 1 #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.groupId(1)
.all() %}
# hasDescendants
Narrows the query results based on whether the categories have any descendants in their structure.
(This has the opposite effect of calling leaves.)
{# Fetch categories that have descendants #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.hasDescendants()
.all() %}
# id
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ IDs.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | with an ID of 1. |
'not 1' | not with an ID of 1. |
[1, 2] | with an ID of 1 or 2. |
['not', 1, 2] | not with an ID of 1 or 2. |
This can be combined with fixedOrder if you want the results to be returned in a specific order.
# ignorePlaceholders
Causes the query to return matching categories as they are stored in the database, ignoring matching placeholder elements that were set by craft\services\Elements::setPlaceholderElement() (opens new window).
# inReverse
Causes the query results to be returned in reverse order.
{# Fetch categories in reverse #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.inReverse()
.all() %}
# leaves
Narrows the query results based on whether the categories are “leaves” (categories with no descendants).
(This has the opposite effect of calling hasDescendants.)
{# Fetch categories that have no descendants #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.leaves()
.all() %}
# level
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ level within the structure.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | with a level of 1. |
'not 1' | not with a level of 1. |
'>= 3' | with a level greater than or equal to 3. |
[1, 2] | with a level of 1 or 2 |
['not', 1, 2] | not with level of 1 or 2. |
{# Fetch categories positioned at level 3 or above #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.level('>= 3')
.all() %}
# limit
Determines the number of categories that should be returned.
# nextSiblingOf
Narrows the query results to only the category that comes immediately after another category in its structure.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches the category… |
---|---|
1 | after the category with an ID of 1. |
a Category (opens new window) object | after the category represented by the object. |
{# Fetch the next category #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
.nextSiblingOf(myCategory)
.one() %}
# offset
Determines how many categories should be skipped in the results.
{# Fetch all categories except for the first 3 #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.offset(3)
.all() %}
# orderBy
Determines the order that the categories should be returned in. (If empty, defaults to dateCreated DESC
, or the order defined by the category group if the group or groupId params are set to a single group.)
{# Fetch all categories in order of date created #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.orderBy('dateCreated ASC')
.all() %}
# positionedAfter
Narrows the query results to only categories that are positioned after another category in its structure.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | after the category with an ID of 1. |
a Category (opens new window) object | after the category represented by the object. |
{# Fetch categories after this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.positionedAfter(myCategory)
.all() %}
# positionedBefore
Narrows the query results to only categories that are positioned before another category in its structure.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | before the category with an ID of 1. |
a Category (opens new window) object | before the category represented by the object. |
{# Fetch categories before this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.positionedBefore(myCategory)
.all() %}
# preferSites
If unique is set, this determines which site should be selected when querying multi-site elements.
For example, if element “Foo” exists in Site A and Site B, and element “Bar” exists in Site B and Site C,
and this is set to ['c', 'b', 'a']
, then Foo will be returned for Site B, and Bar will be returned
for Site C.
If this isn’t set, then preference goes to the current site.
{# Fetch unique categories from Site A, or Site B if they don’t exist in Site A #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.site('*')
.unique()
.preferSites(['a', 'b'])
.all() %}
# prevSiblingOf
Narrows the query results to only the category that comes immediately before another category in its structure.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches the category… |
---|---|
1 | before the category with an ID of 1. |
a Category (opens new window) object | before the category represented by the object. |
{# Fetch the previous category #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
.prevSiblingOf(myCategory)
.one() %}
# relatedTo
Narrows the query results to only categories that are related to certain other elements.
See Relations (opens new window) for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.
{# Fetch all categories that are related to myCategory #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.relatedTo(myCategory)
.all() %}
# search
Narrows the query results to only categories that match a search query.
See Searching (opens new window) for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.
{# Get the search query from the 'q' query string param #}
{% set searchQuery = craft.app.request.getQueryParam('q') %}
{# Fetch all categories that match the search query #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.search(searchQuery)
.all() %}
# siblingOf
Narrows the query results to only categories that are siblings of another category in its structure.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | beside the category with an ID of 1. |
a Category (opens new window) object | beside the category represented by the object. |
{# Fetch categories beside this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.siblingOf(myCategory)
.all() %}
# site
Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in.
The current site will be used by default.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
'foo' | from the site with a handle of foo . |
['foo', 'bar'] | from a site with a handle of foo or bar . |
['not', 'foo', 'bar'] | not in a site with a handle of foo or bar . |
a craft\models\Site (opens new window) object | from the site represented by the object. |
'*' | from any site. |
If multiple sites are specified, elements that belong to multiple sites will be returned multiple times. If you only want unique elements to be returned, use unique in conjunction with this.
{# Fetch categories from the Foo site #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.site('foo')
.all() %}
# siteId
Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in, per the site’s ID.
The current site will be used by default.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | from the site with an ID of 1 . |
[1, 2] | from a site with an ID of 1 or 2 . |
['not', 1, 2] | not in a site with an ID of 1 or 2 . |
'*' | from any site. |
{# Fetch categories from the site with an ID of 1 #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.siteId(1)
.all() %}
# siteSettingsId
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ IDs in the elements_sites
table.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
1 | with an elements_sites ID of 1. |
'not 1' | not with an elements_sites ID of 1. |
[1, 2] | with an elements_sites ID of 1 or 2. |
['not', 1, 2] | not with an elements_sites ID of 1 or 2. |
{# Fetch the category by its ID in the elements_sites table #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
.siteSettingsId(1)
.one() %}
# slug
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ slugs.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
'foo' | with a slug of foo . |
'foo*' | with a slug that begins with foo . |
'*foo' | with a slug that ends with foo . |
'*foo*' | with a slug that contains foo . |
'not *foo*' | with a slug that doesn’t contain foo . |
['*foo*', '*bar*'] | with a slug that contains foo or bar . |
['not', '*foo*', '*bar*'] | with a slug that doesn’t contain foo or bar . |
{# Get the requested category slug from the URL #}
{% set requestedSlug = craft.app.request.getSegment(3) %}
{# Fetch the category with that slug #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
.slug(requestedSlug|literal)
.one() %}
# status
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ statuses.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
'enabled' (default) | that are enabled. |
'disabled' | that are disabled. |
['not', 'disabled'] | that are not disabled. |
{# Fetch disabled categories #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.status('disabled')
.all() %}
# title
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ titles.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
'Foo' | with a title of Foo . |
'Foo*' | with a title that begins with Foo . |
'*Foo' | with a title that ends with Foo . |
'*Foo*' | with a title that contains Foo . |
'not *Foo*' | with a title that doesn’t contain Foo . |
['*Foo*', '*Bar*'] | with a title that contains Foo or Bar . |
['not', '*Foo*', '*Bar*'] | with a title that doesn’t contain Foo or Bar . |
{# Fetch categories with a title that contains "Foo" #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.title('*Foo*')
.all() %}
# trashed
Narrows the query results to only categories that have been soft-deleted.
# uid
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ UIDs.
{# Fetch the category by its UID #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
.uid('xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx')
.one() %}
# unique
Determines whether only elements with unique IDs should be returned by the query.
This should be used when querying elements from multiple sites at the same time, if “duplicate” results is not desired.
{# Fetch unique categories across all sites #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
.site('*')
.unique()
.all() %}
# uri
Narrows the query results based on the categories’ URIs.
Possible values include:
Value | Fetches categories… |
---|---|
'foo' | with a URI of foo . |
'foo*' | with a URI that begins with foo . |
'*foo' | with a URI that ends with foo . |
'*foo*' | with a URI that contains foo . |
'not *foo*' | with a URI that doesn’t contain foo . |
['*foo*', '*bar*'] | with a URI that contains foo or bar . |
['not', '*foo*', '*bar*'] | with a URI that doesn’t contain foo or bar . |
{# Get the requested URI #}
{% set requestedUri = craft.app.request.getPathInfo() %}
{# Fetch the category with that URI #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
.uri(requestedUri|literal)
.one() %}
# with
Causes the query to return matching categories eager-loaded with related elements.
See Eager-Loading Elements (opens new window) for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.