wordpress wp_list_categories problem - wordpress

Question

I need to make something like wp_list_categories that shows categories that are empty but only if they have children categories that have posts in them. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks

Answer 1

You can probably do this with a Walker, but I tried it the old-fashioned way.
$categories = get_categories();
// First index all categories by parent id, for easy lookup later
$cats_by_parent = array();
foreach ($categories as $cat) {
$parent_id = $cat->category_parent;
if (!array_key_exists($parent_id, $cats_by_parent)) {
$cats_by_parent[$parent_id] = array();
}
$cats_by_parent[$parent_id][] = $cat;
}
// Then build a hierarchical tree
$cat_tree = array();
function add_cats_to_bag(&$child_bag, &$children)
{
global $cats_by_parent;
foreach ($children as $child_cat) {
$child_id = $child_cat->cat_ID;
if (array_key_exists($child_id, $cats_by_parent)) {
$child_cat->children = array();
add_cats_to_bag($child_cat->children, $cats_by_parent[$child_id]);
}
$child_bag[$child_id] = $child_cat;
}
}
add_cats_to_bag($cat_tree, $cats_by_parent[0]);
// With this real tree, this recursive function can check for the cats you need
function has_children_with_posts(&$children)
{
$has_child_with_posts = false;
foreach ($children as $child_cat) {
$has_grandchildren_with_posts = false;
if (isset($child_cat->children)) {
// Here is our recursive call so we don't miss any subcats
if (has_children_with_posts($child_cat->children)) {
$has_grandchildren_with_posts = true;
}
}
if (0 < intval($child_cat->category_count)) {
$has_child_with_posts = true;
} else if ($has_grandchildren_with_posts) {
// This is a category that has no posts, but does have children that do
$child_cat->is_empty_with_children = true;
var_dump($child_cat->name);
}
}
return $has_child_with_posts;
}
has_children_with_posts($cat_tree);