How to use a template tag

You can put that in your theme’s sidebar.php or you can use the Category Widget.

If you switch to the WordPress Default theme, and you have NO widgets configured, then the sidebar.php of that theme will display the list of categories using wp_list_categories.

<?php wp_list_categories( $args ); ?> where is this defined??

In the database

Use https://wingrep.com to search the WordPress files for the actual function. As niningsky said, the categories themselves are in the terms tables of your database.

So if i want to use it where do i put the array and where do i put the function above??

Take a look at the WordPress Default theme’s wp-content/themes/default/sidebar.php for an example of that in the sidebar.

Also the Category Widget will give you a list of categories.

Related:
Stepping Into Template Tags
Stepping Into Templates
Template Hierarchy

Yes but i want it on a page where my archive links are but i dont know which php file governs that

did you read the link you were given about template heirarchy? It lays it out there for you

Sorry i’ve been asking the wrong question im using Dagon Design Sitemap Generator to create a browse page to browse through all catergories however what happens is that blogs are listed under the catergories but i want it to only show catergories and im not sure how to do this

Just fixed it used sidebar.php in the archive.php to create my thing

thanks