It would be much faster to simply include this element or rather custom block globally to your Magento store via your layout XML files, and have a condition in this block’s .phtml file that excluded any output on category page.

This is a very simple method that simply looks to our Mage registry and asks the question “Is the current page indeed a current category page or not?”.

php if(!Mage::registry('current_category')):?>
//OUTPUT THE GLOBAL ELEMENTS CODE ON NONE-CATEGORY PAGES
php endif; ?>

Simple as that, of course the correct way would be to include this block globally via your XML layout files, and then remove it via XML (Custom Layout Update) in the backend->catalog->manage categories “Custom Design” tab for each category.

But this method might be faster.

Devin R. Olsen

With that said the, the biggest scenario for this need would be to determine the products parent category in order to perform something unique to the product’s page while viewing product’s page through one category or another.

This is a very simple method that assumes you have the product of question loaded up or rather, you are at the product level of your store in order to obtain some information about the products parent categories.

So here we go.

First you need to gather all the category id’s this product belongs to, so to do this we simply make a new variable called “$catIds” and gather all the category id’s like so:

<?php
$catIds = $_product->getCategoryIds();
?>

Next we simply need to point to the first category in this new “$catIds” variable array like so:

(Remembere the number 0 is = 1 or rather first in an array.)

<?php
$catIds = $_product->getCategoryIds();
$relativeCatId = $catIds[0];
?>

So now that we have gathered our relative parent category id, we can begin to load this category up in order to gather information from it and ultimately create a unique condition for our products page:

<?php
$catIds = $_product->getCategoryIds();
$relativeCatId  = $catIds[0];
$category = Mage::getModel("catalog/category")->load($relativeCatId);
?>

Now that we have loaded up our relative parent category into this new variable called “$category” we can then say, “Grab the category’s name, or even attributes to create some kind of condition.”, like so:

<?php
$catIds = $_product->getCategoryIds();
$relativeCatId   = $catIds[0];
$category =  Mage::getModel("catalog/category")->load($relativeCatId);
?>
<?php if($category->getName()  == "Category One"): ?>
//DO THIS
<?php elseif($category->getName()  == "Category Two"):?>
//DO THAT
<?php endif;?>

And that’s it!

So to recap, all we did was while under a product level, gathered all its parent category id’s into the variable “$catIds”. Once all category id’s we captured, we proceeded to highlight or rather grabbed our first category’s id from the array (0) and used it to load the category up. Once this category was loaded, we could access its attributes or information. We used the category’s information to build a condition and perform something unique to the product page depending on if its being viewed through one category or a completely different category.

Thanks Everyone!

Devin R. Olsen

• Text Field
• Text Area
• Date
• Yes/No
• Multiple Select
• Dropdown
• Price
• Gallery
• Media Image
• Fixed Product Tax

Because there are different types of attributes there are also different ways of obtaining an attributes value. If we were to create a new custom attribute called “theme_color” and the attribute was of a “Text Field” type, we could do something like the following at a product level (meaning a product is loaded) to obtain its value.

<?php
echo $_product->getThemeColor();
?>

$_product is the product of question we have loaded up and ready to work with, and we use “getThemeColor();” because our attribute was named “theme_color”. It’s important to realize that when calling out the value of an attribute with this method, we start with “get” and then capitalize the first letter of each word that is divided by a “_”.

Now this method would give us the value of a simple “Text Field” attribute but what if the attribute was a “Dropdown or a Multiple Select” type? Well if you try to use this “getYourAttributesName()” method on a none “Text Field” or “Textarea” attribute type you will most likely get nothing.

So how do we obtain the value of a “Dropdown or a Multiple Select” attribute type you ask? Well some would argue that you would do so via this method:

<?php
echo $_product->getAttributeText('theme_color');
?>

However, what this would do is return an array of the “Dropdown or Multiple Select” options instead of the value of the selected option you would have set. There is another way to obtain these types of attributes selected value and it looks like this:

<?php
$attributes = $_product->getAttributes();
$themeColor = $attributes['theme_color']->getFrontend()->getValue($_product);
echo $themeColor;
?>

With this method we are simply creating a new variable called “$attributes” and pointing to our “$_product” to then using the “getAttributes()” function to gather all the attributes of this product.

Once we have all the product’s attributes inside of the “$attributes” variable, we make another new variable called “$themeColor”. “$themeColor” then assigns its self to our “$attributes” array that we in turn call out our custom attribute [‘theme_color’].

Once we have pointed to the custom attribute in the “$attributes” array, we simply run through the front end via the function “getFrontend()” and then pull the value down via “getValue($_product)”.

If we then echo our “$themeColor” you should get the value of your custom Drop Down or Multiple Select attribute to do what you will with it.

So to recap:

<?php echo $_product->getThemeColor() ?>

Would get the value of an attribute wholes type is of Text Field or Text Area’s

<?php echo $_product->getAttributeText('theme_color')  ?>

That will not give a value of a Text Field or Text Area attribute type but rather gather an array of all options in a Drop Down or Multiple Select attribute type.

<?php
$attributes = $_product->getAttributes();
$themeColor = $attributes['theme_color']->getFrontend()->getValue($_product);
?>

That will give you the value of any type of attribute, even the value from “Drop Down or Multiple Select” attribute types.

I hope this clears some things up and helps some developers out there .

Thanks!

Devin R. Olsen

Here is the finished code for your new category listing block.

<?php
$cats = Mage::getModel('catalog/category')->load(2)->getChildren();
$catIds = explode(',',$cats);
?>
<ul>
<?php foreach($catIds as $catId): ?>
	<li>
    	<?php
			$category = Mage::getModel('catalog/category')->load($catId);
			echo $category->getName();
			$subCats = Mage::getModel('catalog/category')->load($category->getId())->getChildren();
			$subCatIds = explode(',',$subCats);
		?>
            <?php if(count($subCatIds) > 1):?>
                <ul>
                <?php foreach($subCatIds as $subCat) :?>
                    <li>
                    <?php
                        $subCategory = Mage::getModel('catalog/category')->load($subCat);
                        echo $subCategory->getName();
                    ?>
                    </li>
                <?php endforeach;?>
                </ul>
            <?php endif; ?>
    </li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>

And The XML Block Code:

<block type="catalog/navigation" name="catalog.category" template="catalog/navigation/category.phtml" />

NOTE:
After loading each category you have a whole array of different attributes you can use. If you wanted to make each category listing be a link, simply use the getUrl() function in a similar fashion:

<a href="<?php echo $category->getUrl()?>">
	<?php echo $category->getName()?>
</a>

Enjoy everyone!
Devin R. Olsen

Thanks!
Devin R. Olsen

Enjoy!
Devin R. Olsen

In order to have your localhost be directed as www.localhost.com, go to the bottom of your c:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/host host file and include this:

127.0.0.1    www.localhost.com

Hit save and refresh Apache. Your local host should now be accessible to by going to http://www.localhost.com instead of http://127.0.0.1.

Download XAMPP 1.6.7 (PHP 5.2) Here!

Also you many notice or experince the error I recived when I tried to view the front end for the first time after installing the sample data. Simple goto your localhost folder magento/var/cache/ and delete all the folders in this cache directory. Hit refresh and you should be good to go.

Hope this helps someone out there.

Thanks and Enjoy.

Devin R. Olsen