wp_dropdown_categories( string|array $args = '' )

Display or retrieve the HTML dropdown list of categories.


Description

The ‘hierarchical’ argument, which is disabled by default, will override the depth argument, unless it is true. When the argument is false, it will display all of the categories. When it is enabled it will use the value in the ‘depth’ argument.


Parameters

$args

(string|array) (Optional) Array or string of arguments to generate a categories drop-down element. See WP_Term_Query::__construct() for information on additional accepted arguments.

  • 'show_option_all'
    (string) Text to display for showing all categories.
  • 'show_option_none'
    (string) Text to display for showing no categories.
  • 'option_none_value'
    (string) Value to use when no category is selected.
  • 'orderby'
    (string) Which column to use for ordering categories. See get_terms() for a list of accepted values. Default 'id' (term_id).
  • 'pad_counts'
    (bool) See get_terms() for an argument description. Default false.
  • 'show_count'
    (bool|int) Whether to include post counts. Accepts 0, 1, or their bool equivalents. Default 0.
  • 'echo'
    (bool|int) Whether to echo or return the generated markup. Accepts 0, 1, or their bool equivalents. Default 1.
  • 'hierarchical'
    (bool|int) Whether to traverse the taxonomy hierarchy. Accepts 0, 1, or their bool equivalents. Default 0.
  • 'depth'
    (int) Maximum depth. Default 0.
  • 'tab_index'
    (int) Tab index for the select element. Default 0 (no tabindex).
  • 'name'
    (string) Value for the 'name' attribute of the select element. Default 'cat'.
  • 'id'
    (string) Value for the 'id' attribute of the select element. Defaults to the value of $name.
  • 'class'
    (string) Value for the 'class' attribute of the select element. Default 'postform'.
  • 'selected'
    (int|string) Value of the option that should be selected. Default 0.
  • 'value_field'
    (string) Term field that should be used to populate the 'value' attribute of the option elements. Accepts any valid term field: 'term_id', 'name', 'slug', 'term_group', 'term_taxonomy_id', 'taxonomy', 'description', 'parent', 'count'. Default 'term_id'.
  • 'taxonomy'
    (string|array) Name of the category or categories to retrieve. Default 'category'.
  • 'hide_if_empty'
    (bool) True to skip generating markup if no categories are found. Default false (create select element even if no categories are found).
  • 'required'
    (bool) Whether the <select> element should have the HTML5 'required' attribute. Default false.

Default value: ''


Return

(string) HTML content only if 'echo' argument is 0.


Source

File: wp-includes/category-template.php

function wp_dropdown_categories( $args = '' ) {
	$defaults = array(
		'show_option_all'   => '',
		'show_option_none'  => '',
		'orderby'           => 'id',
		'order'             => 'ASC',
		'show_count'        => 0,
		'hide_empty'        => 1,
		'child_of'          => 0,
		'exclude'           => '',
		'echo'              => 1,
		'selected'          => 0,
		'hierarchical'      => 0,
		'name'              => 'cat',
		'id'                => '',
		'class'             => 'postform',
		'depth'             => 0,
		'tab_index'         => 0,
		'taxonomy'          => 'category',
		'hide_if_empty'     => false,
		'option_none_value' => -1,
		'value_field'       => 'term_id',
		'required'          => false,
	);

	$defaults['selected'] = ( is_category() ) ? get_query_var( 'cat' ) : 0;

	// Back compat.
	if ( isset( $args['type'] ) && 'link' == $args['type'] ) {
		_deprecated_argument( __FUNCTION__, 'WP-3.0.0',
			/* translators: 1: "type => link", 2: "taxonomy => link_category" */
			sprintf( __( '%1$s is deprecated. Use %2$s instead.' ),
				'<code>type => link</code>',
				'<code>taxonomy => link_category</code>'
			)
		);
		$args['taxonomy'] = 'link_category';
	}

	$r = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
	$option_none_value = $r['option_none_value'];

	if ( ! isset( $r['pad_counts'] ) && $r['show_count'] && $r['hierarchical'] ) {
		$r['pad_counts'] = true;
	}

	$tab_index = $r['tab_index'];

	$tab_index_attribute = '';
	if ( (int) $tab_index > 0 ) {
		$tab_index_attribute = " tabindex=\"$tab_index\"";
	}

	// Avoid clashes with the 'name' param of get_terms().
	$get_terms_args = $r;
	unset( $get_terms_args['name'] );
	$categories = get_terms( $r['taxonomy'], $get_terms_args );

	$name = esc_attr( $r['name'] );
	$class = esc_attr( $r['class'] );
	$id = $r['id'] ? esc_attr( $r['id'] ) : $name;
	$required = $r['required'] ? 'required' : '';

	if ( ! $r['hide_if_empty'] || ! empty( $categories ) ) {
		$output = "<select $required name='$name' id='$id' class='$class' $tab_index_attribute>\n";
	} else {
		$output = '';
	}
	if ( empty( $categories ) && ! $r['hide_if_empty'] && ! empty( $r['show_option_none'] ) ) {

		/**
		 * Filters a taxonomy drop-down display element.
		 *
		 * A variety of taxonomy drop-down display elements can be modified
		 * just prior to display via this filter. Filterable arguments include
		 * 'show_option_none', 'show_option_all', and various forms of the
		 * term name.
		 *
		 * @since WP-1.2.0
		 *
		 * @see wp_dropdown_categories()
		 *
		 * @param string       $element  Category name.
		 * @param WP_Term|null $category The category object, or null if there's no corresponding category.
		 */
		$show_option_none = apply_filters( 'list_cats', $r['show_option_none'], null );
		$output .= "\t<option value='" . esc_attr( $option_none_value ) . "' selected='selected'>$show_option_none</option>\n";
	}

	if ( ! empty( $categories ) ) {

		if ( $r['show_option_all'] ) {

			/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/category-template.php */
			$show_option_all = apply_filters( 'list_cats', $r['show_option_all'], null );
			$selected = ( '0' === strval($r['selected']) ) ? " selected='selected'" : '';
			$output .= "\t<option value='0'$selected>$show_option_all</option>\n";
		}

		if ( $r['show_option_none'] ) {

			/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/category-template.php */
			$show_option_none = apply_filters( 'list_cats', $r['show_option_none'], null );
			$selected = selected( $option_none_value, $r['selected'], false );
			$output .= "\t<option value='" . esc_attr( $option_none_value ) . "'$selected>$show_option_none</option>\n";
		}

		if ( $r['hierarchical'] ) {
			$depth = $r['depth'];  // Walk the full depth.
		} else {
			$depth = -1; // Flat.
		}
		$output .= walk_category_dropdown_tree( $categories, $depth, $r );
	}

	if ( ! $r['hide_if_empty'] || ! empty( $categories ) ) {
		$output .= "</select>\n";
	}
	/**
	 * Filters the taxonomy drop-down output.
	 *
	 * @since WP-2.1.0
	 *
	 * @param string $output HTML output.
	 * @param array  $r      Arguments used to build the drop-down.
	 */
	$output = apply_filters( 'wp_dropdown_cats', $output, $r );

	if ( $r['echo'] ) {
		echo $output;
	}
	return $output;
}


Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
WP-4.6.0 Introduced the required argument.
WP-4.2.0 Introduced the value_field argument.
WP-2.1.0 Introduced.