Title: Enhanced Category Pages
Author: cip
Published: <strong>February 16, 2015</strong>
Last modified: July 14, 2016

---

Search plugins

This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**.
It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when
used with more recent versions of WordPress.

![](https://ps.w.org/enhanced-category-pages/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=1101510)

# Enhanced Category Pages

 By [cip](https://profiles.wordpress.org/cip/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/enhanced-category-pages.zip)

 * [Details](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/#installation)
 * [Development](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/)

## Description

**NEW** Version 2.0.0 brings a great new feature: with some magic, if your theme
displays category/term description, then it would be **automatically** enhanced.

Are you ready for more? You can customize the template by creating a `content-ecp.
php` file in your theme of choice.

Enhanced Category Pages allows you to create custom category and term pages by managing
them using a special custom post type.

**Premium code quality** ensured by Codacy static analysis: [grade A](https://www.codacy.com/app/2wit/enhanced-category-pages).

**Features**

 * **NEW** Visual Composer compatible – you can now edit the category using Visual
   Composer
 * **NEW** Genesis Framework compatible
 * WooCommerce compatible – product categories can be enhanced now
 * Easy to use for everyone: users, designers, developers
 * Automatically show enhanced category/term content
 * Customize enhanced category/term content by creating a `content-ecp.php` file
   in your theme of choice
 * Traverse categories using setup_ec_data that allows now category id as parameter
 * Enhance any taxonomy: edit **any taxonomy** term as a custom post
 * Edit category as a custom post – _Enhanced Category_
 * Automatically generates _Enhanced Category_ post type for each category
 * Transparent synchronization of _Enhanced Category_ and it’s corresponding category
 * Add any features available to WordPress custom posts
 * Easy _Enhanced Category_ display on category template using `<?php $GLOBALS['
   enhanced_category']->setup_ec_data(); ?>` (see install section)
 * Internationalization ready

**Future Features**

 * customize _Enhanced Category_ custom post type capabilities via plugin options
 * manual selection on enhanced categories

## Screenshots

 * [[
 * Enhanced Edit link in category list
 * [[
 * Enhanced Edit link in category edit
 * [[
 * Enhanced Category custom post type edit
 * [[
 * Category public view

## Installation

 1. Download plugin archive.
 2. Upload and uncompress it in “/wp-content/plugins/” directory.
 3. Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress.
 4. Use “Enhanced Edit” link to edit the page of the respective category
 5. Category/term description display is automatically enhanced with your content.
 6. Optional: create `content-ecp.php` in your theme folder to customize the display.

**Advanced usage options**

 1. Create `content-ecp.php` in your theme folder to customize the display of the enhanced
    content. The custom post associated with category/term is set up, so all display
    functions for posts are usable.
 2.     ```
        <?php
            global $enhanced_category;
            // if not previously set up, then let setup_ec_data get the current query term/category
            if (empty($categoryId)) {
                $categoryId = null;
            }
    
            // get enhanced category post and set it up as global current post
            $enhanced_category->setup_ec_data($categoryId);
        ?>
    
        <!-- enchanced category page (ECP) content -->
        <article id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class(); ?>>
    
            <div class="post-thumbnail">
                <?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?>
            </div>
    
            <div class="entry-content">
                <?php the_content(); ?>
            </div><!-- .entry-content -->
    
            <?php edit_post_link( __( 'Edit'), '<footer class="entry-footer"><span class="edit-link">', '</span></footer><!-- .entry-footer -->' ); ?>
    
        </article><!-- #post-## -->
        ```
    
 3. Display category/term page. Edit **category/taxonomy template** to show the content
    of the “Enhanced Category” (feel free to adjust to your needs):
 4.     ```
        //in category.php or taxonomy.php or any other place your theme displays the category/term content
        <?php
            global $enhanced_category;
            //get enhanced category post and set it up as global current post
            $enhanced_category->setup_ec_data();
        ?>
        <!-- enhanced category content -->
        <?php the_post_thumbnail("medium"); ?>
    
        <?php get_template_part( 'content', 'page' ); ?>
    
        <!-- custom fields -->
        <?php
            get_post_custom();
        ?>
    
        <?php
            // If comments are open or we have at least one comment, load up the comment template
            if ( comments_open() || get_comments_number() ) :
                comments_template();
            endif;
        ?>
        ```
    
 5. Display a list of categories:
 6.     ```
        //$categories is presumed to be an already fetched array of categories/terms
        foreach($categories as $category) {
            $GLOBALS['enhanced_category']->setup_ec_data($category->term_id);
            the_post_thumbnail('thumbnail');
        }
        ```
    

## FAQ

  How does magic happen?

We use the `category_description` or `get_the_archive_description` filters in order
to replace the plain content with the enhanced one.

  How can I customize the output?

 * `content-ecp.php` and `content-page.php` partial templates are looked for (in
   that order) and the first found is loaded.

  What custom post type is created?

_Enhanced Category_ (safe name: enhancedcategory) custom post type is created and
a post is generated automatically for each category/term.

  What happens if I edit the category fields?

_Enhanced Category_ Post (ECP) is synchronized in both directions with it’s corresponding
category i.e. category name – ECP title, category slug – ECP slug, category description–
ECP excerpt.

  What happens with *Enhanced Category* posts when the plugin is uninstalled?

_Enhanced Category_ posts are deleted when the plugin is deleted using the WordPress
plugin management page. Note: nothing is deleted when the plugin deactivated.

  Can I use it to list any categories/terms?

Yes, you can pass the category/term id to `setup_ec_data` method like this (`$categories`
is presumed to be an already fetched array of categories/terms):

    ```
                    foreach($categories as $category) {
                        $GLOBALS['enhanced_category']->setup_ec_data($category->term_id);
                        the_post_thumbnail('thumbnail');
                    }
    ```

  Why do I get a blank screen after installing the plugin?

_Enhanced Category Post_ (ECP) requires at least PHP 5.3 running on your server.
Contact your hosting to update the PHP version.

## Reviews

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7c264c673a34565e73704089a58093c62577f1a087b092b9c8083a9d1165a7bb?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[Great functionality in 2024](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-functionality-in-2024/)󠁿

 [Khampol](https://profiles.wordpress.org/caseyj/) January 3, 2024

Great function even now in 2024 ~! Thx !

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/41184eff6911930093f029452b1874d6a6a5913c38334076d340dbdd6d2d2491?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[Still great, but showing its age](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/still-great-but-showing-its-age/)󠁿

 [willwenzel](https://profiles.wordpress.org/willwenzel/) January 17, 2019

This is an amazing plugin. I’d gladly pay for an updated version that didn’t break
a bunch of things on the back end, like the wordpress menus and gravity forms. But
I still use it. If you can get it to work, it fixes one of wordpress’ big flaws –
the ability to make your most important archives more than just a list with thumbnails.
Please, Please, Please don’t abandon it! Thanks!

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/57eec168059c988a01a3101b01d5f343b707cf824c4fded6bdba8e01d2cdbaba?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[It’s an old plugin. I expected to be able to edit categories with visual editor](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/its-an-old-plugin-i-expected-to-be-able-to-edit-categories-with-visual-editor/)󠁿

 [](https://profiles.wordpress.org/gik25/) September 29, 2018

It’s an old plugin. I expected to be able to edit categories with visual editor 
but it’s not possible. A nice design of a category is more easily achieved by modifying
the template or it should make easy to associate category with static pages..

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e7ae662ca39d7bbc8f80c5cc06b1d56238dfb04a3d01adcdacd2a91df22897eb?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[Great solution for a common requirement](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-solution-for-a-common-requirement/)󠁿

 [neilpayne](https://profiles.wordpress.org/neilpayne/) August 9, 2017

The ability to add content to a category landing page has been needed on multiple
sites that I’ve created with Wordpress. This makes it easy to meet this need. Thanks
for the plugin!

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d951b7a5917c3cb8a0604e5dd1372f77d041e757234c8cc4ac26435de09efb05?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[Could use some improvements but it works 😉](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/could-use-some-improvements-but-it-works/)󠁿

 [AJ Clarke](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajclarke/) August 5, 2017 1 reply

Overall it’s a good plugin because it does what it says it does 😉 But it’s not 
really coded using the WP coding standards. The code isn’t bad but could be updated
to use best practices – https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/best-practices/
coding-standards/php/ The Visual Composer support works ok, but the plugin doesn’t
load the CSS from the ‘_wpb_shortcodes_custom_css’ custom field so you can’t add
backgrounds, paddings, etc to rows/columns/modules. This is an easy fix which I 
can assist with. Do you have an active Github repo where I can submit a pull-request?
Great work! – AJ

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f7ba921da6d3f43a40ce71a2abeb97c20f72d81ddfa4d2ac3a40a554488f7c31?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[Needs an update](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/needs-an-update-19/)󠁿

 [himarkus1](https://profiles.wordpress.org/himarkus1/) May 10, 2017

It’s not compatible with the last woo-commerce update. it gives Fatal error: Call
to a member function add_new_from_category() on null in /nas/content/staging/xxx/
wp-content/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/classes/ecp/WP_Integration.php on line
248 any help, please…

 [ Read all 23 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/reviews/)

## Contributors & Developers

“Enhanced Category Pages” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ cip ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/cip/)
 *   [ dioneea ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dioneea/)
 *   [ danaila_iulian ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/danaila_iulian/)

“Enhanced Category Pages” has been translated into 1 locale. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/enhanced-category-pages/contributors)
for their contributions.

[Translate “Enhanced Category Pages” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/enhanced-category-pages)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/enhanced-category-pages/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/enhanced-category-pages/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/enhanced-category-pages/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/enhanced-category-pages/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 0.1

 * Initial release.

#### 0.2

 * Make php 5.3 compatible.

#### 1.0

 * Enhance any taxonomy

#### 1.0.1

 * bug fixing

#### 1.0.2

 * setup_ec_data allows now category id as parameter

#### 2.0.0

 * automatically show the enhanced content using `category_description` or `get_the_archive_description`
   filters
 * customize the display of content with `content-ecp.php` theme partial template

#### 2.0.1

 * bug-fix – prevent undesired PHP warning on category_description filter
 * check and update 4.3.1 compatibility

#### 2.1.0

 * WooCommerce product category can be enhanced now

#### 2.1.1

 * Improve code quality

#### 2.1.2

 * Add WordPress 4.4 compatibility

#### 2.1.3

 * Bug fix: correctly handle categories with apostrophes

#### 2.2.0

 * All in One SEO Pack plugin compatibility added

#### 2.2.1

 * Minor bug fix: prevent PHP notice

#### 2.3.0

 * Add Visual Composer compatibility
 * Add Genesis Framework compatibility
 * Bug fix: Woocommerce shop page does not display the description of the first 
   product anymore
 * Bug fix: archive pages were showing the content of the first item

## Meta

 *  Version **2.3.0**
 *  Last updated **10 years ago**
 *  Active installations **2,000+**
 *  WordPress version ** 3.0.1 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **4.5.33**
 *  Languages
 * [English (New Zealand)](https://en-nz.wordpress.org/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/)
   and [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/).
 *  [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/enhanced-category-pages)
 * Tags
 * [categories](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/categories/)[enhanced](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/enhanced/)
   [page](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/page/)[taxonomy](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/taxonomy/)
   [term](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/term/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/enhanced-category-pages/advanced/)

## Ratings

 4.4 out of 5 stars.

 *  [  18 5-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/reviews/?filter=5)
 *  [  1 4-star review     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/reviews/?filter=4)
 *  [  1 3-star review     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/reviews/?filter=3)
 *  [  1 2-star review     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/reviews/?filter=2)
 *  [  2 1-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/reviews/?filter=1)

[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ cip ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/cip/)
 *   [ dioneea ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dioneea/)
 *   [ danaila_iulian ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/danaila_iulian/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/enhanced-category-pages/)

## Donate

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 [ Donate to this plugin ](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=7K3XA4WQ2BUVJ&lc=US&item_name=Enhanced%20Category%20Wordpress%20Plugin&item_number=Support%20Open%20Source&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted)