Drop-down ‘categories’ (..or taxonomies, I guess!)

Hi @hj

I think it might be good to watch all our videos to understand more of the different types of content for WordPress:
Grow: https://docs.pods.io/videos/grow-beyond-posts-pages-introduction-pods-framework/
Plan: https://docs.pods.io/videos/plan-before-you-build-information-architecture-content-strategy/
Build: https://docs.pods.io/videos/build-anything-with-pods-hands-on-workshop-using-the-pods-framework/

WordPress taxonomies show up as checkboxes, not a selectbox.
In your specific case I think mountains could be taxonomies. Though depending on what you want to show in those pages you could also use a Post type for that.

Cheers, Jory

Hi Jory,

Thanks for replying!

I watched all the videos that Pods docs referred me to at OS Training – https://www.ostraining.com/class/pods/ – twice!! Also watched a 40 minute video of talk by Jim True. I guess this of one of these things I just can’t get my head around!

Yes, I thought that Mountains might be taxonomies – but there’s no ‘content’ to go in these taxonomies, if that’s what they are; they’re just a category to me, under which to group various nesting sites. So I could view all nesting sites on Swallow Hill, for example. I guess that means that an entry for a site on Swallow Hill has to be checked or selected from a dropdown of ‘mountains’. That’s What I’m trying to achieve. And I want that dropbox to be in the ‘flow’ of the entry form, not off to one side in a separate sidebar box.

It’s hard to say what the ‘mountains’ are. To me they’re just separate geographic areas under which to group posts or entries – mountains is a category, with each distinct mountain being a sub category! They don’t have any content, they’re just inert identifiers. And thus I find it difficult to view them as Post types.

As I say, it’s just one these things I have difficulty getting my head around!

regards
H.

Hi @hj,

Understandable. In that case I’d advice you to just try different configurations and see where it leads you in terms of templates, data-structures and their advantages and limitations.
This isn’t something you learn overnight if you are new to this.
IMO, the best way to learn is to do :).

Cheers! Jory

Thanks for message, Jory.

Yes, I certainly will have a go! I just thought to ask as someone might have the quick answer..saving inordinate amounts of time. The problem with experimenting is that if you don’t succeed it becomes harder to identify what you’re doing wrong! That leads to frustration and, eventually, just kicking the whole thing into touch. I wouldn’t really want to do that because I think Pods has a lot of promise…at least I think it has. But without some ‘success’ it just becomes another burden on time!

Oh well…onwards and upwards!

regards
H.

p.s. I admire that Jim True can get up and talk for 1hr 40Mins in an instructional video – credit where due. But really, it’s too much! How on earth can I take in 1hr 40mins worth of instructions? Phew…. It would be great if the video had a timeline sheet with it so you could jump directly to different sections; as it stands you don’t know what’s coming!

Hello @hj

Correct, the “problem” with experimenting is that it could cost you loads of extra time. But see it like this.
Your current issue isn’t understanding Pods, but understanding WordPress architecture.

By experimenting, and with that especially when doing something “wrong”, you learn a great deal.
It’s simply impossible to learn this by copy/pasting answers from the community without understanding why and how they work.

This is also the reason those video’s take so long. There is a LOT of information to be covered, especially for beginners. Sure, we could make a crash course of 20 minutes but by doing that our support channels will overflow (which we cannot handle) because such a video wouldn’t cover enough ground for a lot of projects.
One page I refer to a lot is: https://docs.pods.io/faqs/what-can-you-build-with-pods/

Hope you understand and good luck with your project!

Cheers, Jory

Hi Jory,

Well, you’re right in a way. But on the other hand there’s only so much time I can devote to ‘understanding WordPress architecture’. It’s not my job and I’ve plenty of work to do.

I have experimented a bit. I’ve not solved the mountain thing yet, but I have set up a custom post type with fields – it allows me to make entries and I have made three test entries. As individual records (viewed via the permalink shown in the admin) each entry displays just fine. I then tried to make a ‘list’ page where all records could be listed – for this I made a new page called ‘Nest List’ and created a small thml table which included the Pods tags…

<table style="border: 1px solid #d51a2b;">
<thead>
<tr style="background-color: #e4f0f5; font-size: +2; padding-left: 15px;">
<th style="padding-left: 15px;" rowspan="4"><strong>Nest Site</strong></th>
<th rowspan="2"><strong>Mountain</strong></th>
<th rowspan="2">Location</th>
<th rowspan="2">Altitude</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr style="padding-left: 15px;">
<th style="padding-left: 15px;" scope="row">{@post_title}</td>
<td>{@mountain}</td>
<td>{@location}</td>
<td>{@altitude}</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

I can call my Nest List page and it displays the html table, no problem. But none of the data is displayed – each row is just filled with the tag code..@post_type, @location etc etc. It’s not pulling the data from the custom posts, despite these custom posts existing and displaying fine on their own.

Mystified? You bet!

cheers
hj

Hello @hj,

For list pages you should use the archives (taxonomies and the post type archive).
If you wish you include them on a page then you could use a shortcode with the correct parameters to output the list templates.
More about taxonomies: https://www.ads-software.com/support/article/taxonomies/
Shortcode documentation: https://docs.pods.io/displaying-pods/pods-shortcode/

Shortcode example: [pods name="your_pod" template="template name"]

Cheers, Jory

Hi Jory,

Well, Pods told me that if I clicked the ‘enable archive page’, in the advanced options of the Edit Pod UI, it would “create an archive page with a list of items of this custom post type”.

So I enabled that (checked the box) and saved the pod. The archive page created had this shortcode on it:

`[pods field=”post_title”]<br />’

When the page is viewed, it just says ‘Pod not found’. ???

THAT is why I tried to creat my own list using magic tags.

—-

In other news (!) I have created a dropdown for my mountain areas ?? Created a taxonomy ‘mountain’ and then created new mountain area (x4). I then created a new field in the Nests pod and related it to (relationship) ‘mountain’.

Frankly I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing, but I have got the dropdown! Whether these dropdown items represent searchable categories or sub-categories I have absolutely no idea!

regards
HJ