Customizing wp_list-categories() [Wordpress Question]

[JimmyP]

Hello,

I posted this issue on the Wordpress.org forums but the help seems to be lacking - people are offering me links to plugins which I think it a bit OTT for something so simple...

Currently wp_list_categories gives me a list like this:

<ul>
  <li><a href="category">Category</a></li>
  <li><a href="category">Category</a></li>
  <li><a href="category">Category</a></li>
</ul>

What I want (for styling purposes) is for each anchor to have a span within like this:

<ul>
  <li><span><a href="category">Category</a></span></li>
  <li><span><a href="category">Category</a></span></li>
  <li><span><a href="category">Category</a></span></li>
</ul>

I don't want to edit any of the includes (within "/wp-includes") because doing so would wipe out my change when I upgrade wordpress in the future...

Any help is appreciated...

In fact, what would be awesome is if I could have a loop like the one for posts ... something like this:

foreach($categories as $category):
// My custom stuff here
endforeach;

I only wish it were that simple.

[Mittineague]

If you only want the span so you can style the cat links, you should be able to do it using the right CSS selector, no hacking or plugin needed. For example, the cat links in my blog look like

<li class="cat-item cat-item-5">
<a href="http://www.mittineague.com/blog/category/scripting/"
 title="View all posts filed under Scripting">Scripting</a>
</li>

so I can style them with

.cat-item a {color: #f00; }

It's the same for your blog

<li class="cat-item cat-item-14">
<a href="http://enhance.qd-creative.co.uk/category/accessibility/"
 title="View all posts filed under Accessibility">Accessibility</a>
</li>

[JimmyP]

I'm okay with styling everything, but unfortunately I need an extra element to work with so I can apply the style required. The link has to have rounded corners and I cannot use the surrounding list-item because I want the entire rounded box to be clickable...

I honestly I am quite surprised the Wordpress team haven't made it easier to do this... They could have made it a parameter for wp_list_categories()! ... Oh well.

[JimmyP]

Don't worry, someone helped me solve it...

Here it is:

<?php global $wpdb;
    $cat_list = $wpdb->get_results(" SELECT t.name,tt.term_id,tt.count FROM $wpdb->term_taxonomy as tt, $wpdb->terms as t WHERE tt.term_id = t.term_id AND tt.count > 0 AND tt.taxonomy = 'category' ORDER BY t.name");
    foreach ($cat_list as $category ) {?>
        <li><a href="<?php echo get_category_link($category->term_id); ?>"><span><?php echo $category->name; ?></span></a></li>
<?php } ?>

[aaronjj]

I would avoid rolling your own SQL statement to help ensure future compatibility. Use the get_categories function instead.

$cat_list = get_categories(); 

[JimmyP]

@aaron Thanks! That seems work perfectly.

Is it possible for me to do the same for "archives"? ... "get_archives()" does not seem to work.