[isotope_category] Category management in Isotope

**Ben_360fusion** · 06/30/2011, 16:16

We have developed a module for managing categories in Isotope:

http://www.contao.org/extension-list...000009.en.html

This extension adds category management into Isotope. The new category system allows a shop admin to create a category structure without having to edit the site structure. This module essentially creates and manages the site structure, any changes also made to through the site structure will be reflected in the categories module.

The product details page is also modified so the file tree only shows pages in the categories list and not all the pages in the site structure. There is also a add to homepage tickbox for showing items on the homepage, initial page needs to be used for this.

Insert tags can be placed in a module in the page layout to pull in category title and description, this saves admins having to add a heading or description in an article.

Place this in a module for category title: {{env:

age_title}}
Place this in a module for the category description: {{isotope_category_description}}

This module requires the initial page checkbox from the Google sitemap module. It uses this as a reference to list all categories after the homepage.

You cannot add existing site structure pages to this module so is only really ideal for new websites built using isotope.

Report any bugs or request features here: http://www.contao-forge.org/projects/isotopecategory

**winanscreative** · 06/30/2011, 22:59

Nice job, Ben. This will come in handy! I'll definitely check it out...

**Ben_360fusion** · 07/01/2011, 23:05

Thanks Blair, Let me know how you get on.

Ben

**thyon** · 08/08/2011, 15:25

I've tried this on a vanilla 2.9.5 install and then installing isotope 2.10 stable and then your latest version. As I save a category, I get an error.

Code:

Fatal error: Uncaught exception Exception with message Query error: Column 'pid' cannot be null (INSERT INTO tl_article (pid, sorting, tstamp, author, inColumn, title, alias, published) VALUES (NULL, 128, 1312809858, '1', 'main', 'Health Insurance', 'health', 1)) thrown in /usr/home/trusure/public_html/trusure.co.za/system/libraries/Database.php on line 642
#0 /usr/home/trusure/public_html/trusure.co.za/system/libraries/Database.php(589): Database_Statement->query()
#1 /usr/home/trusure/public_html/trusure.co.za/system/modules/isotope_category/dca/tl_iso_category.php(339): Database_Statement->execute()
#2 /usr/home/trusure/public_html/trusure.co.za/system/drivers/DC_Table.php(1765): tl_iso_category->generatePage(Object(DC_Table))
#3 /usr/home/trusure/public_html/trusure.co.za/system/modules/backend/Backend.php(234): DC_Table->edit()
#4 /usr/home/trusure/public_html/trusure.co.za/contao/main.php(101): Backend->getBackendModule('iso_setup')
#5 /usr/home/trusure/public_html/trusure.co.za/contao/main.php(304): Main->run()
#6 {main}

**Ben_360fusion** · 08/08/2011, 17:28

Thanks for letting me know. We'll look into it.

Have you set the home page as the 'initial page'? not sure if this would be the error message you get if it hasn't been set.

**thyon** · 08/08/2011, 18:05

yes. That was it, but in my case the home page wouldn't make sense, as the categories don't follow after the home page. In your case, the new pages are always created above the current one, e.g. after the intitial page. Perhaps you can look at doing something similar to webShop, where they have a category system that is either part of the site structure or seperate or both.

**Ben_360fusion** · 08/09/2011, 09:58

Yes, we have thought about that. This was the simplest way to get this working for the client we needed it for.

We needed to be able to specify where it goes in the site tree and by setting an initial page this is a good marker.

We may need to develop a custom navigation module just for the shop categories that can then be placed on the website independantly from the main or other navigation module. we could add options to hide categories from the other navigation modules.

**wotanskrieg** · 02/09/2012, 10:52

If I use this, than in product list module "Current Product's Categories" it shows all products from store. This happens if you have on product reader "Related products from category". Without this extension everything works fine.

Regards.