[Resolved] Question about Using Static Pages as Category Archives

[Paul]

Hi there, I understand this is possible (Using Static Pages as Category Archives) and I’ve seen the following post (https://docs.wpshowposts.com/article/use-static-pages-as-category-archives/).

With the code in that forum post, all the category archive pages will become static pages. My question is how to only make specific category pages a static page? I want to customize only 1 category page by using a static page (not all category pages).

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks, Paul

[Fernando]

Hi Paul,

You can modify your code to something like this:

add_filter('request', function( array $query_vars ) {
    if ( is_admin() ) {
        return $query_vars;
    }

    if ( isset( $query_vars['category_name'] ) && 'my-category-slug' === $query_vars['category_name'] ) {
        $pagename = $query_vars['category_name'];

        $query_vars = array( 'pagename' => "$pagename" );
    }

    return $query_vars;
} );

Kindly replace my-category-slug with you Category’s slug.

Hope this helps!

[Paul]

Thanks so much! That worked well. What would the code be if I want to the same thing but with more than 1 category (but not all the categories)?

Thanks!

[Fernando]

You would need something like this:

add_filter('request', function( array $query_vars ) {
    if ( is_admin() ) {
        return $query_vars;
    }

    $targets = array(
        'my-category-slug',
        'my-category-slug-2',
        'my-category-slug-3',
    );

    if ( isset( $query_vars['category_name'] ) && in_array( $query_vars['category_name'], $targets ) ) {
        $pagename = $query_vars['category_name'];

        $query_vars = array( 'pagename' => "$pagename" );
    }

    return $query_vars;
} );

Kindly replace my-category-slug, my-category-slug-2, my-category-slug-3 with the slugs, and you may also add more if necessary.

Hope this helps!

[Lionel]

Hello, I tried the code above and it works perfect for our parent categories. But we also have some sub categories that we would like to replace with static pages. Is there a way to make this work for our sub categories?

Thanks!

[David]

Hi there,

how many sub-categories are you dealing with ? As the simplest solution would be to include the sub-category slugs in $targets array.

[Lionel]

Hi, There is a few… around 10 sub-categories… I’ve added them to the array..

But the issue i think is in WordPress when I go to create a static page with the same slug name as the sub-category, wordpress adds a “-2” to the pages slug.

So for example…

Existing subcategory is: https://www.mysite.com/christmas/decorations/

When I create a new static page it gets auto renamed to: https://www.mysite.com/christmas/decorations-2

Any Ideas?

[Fernando]

WordPress doesn’t allow identical slugs which is why a -2 is added. Can you try changing the slug of your sub categories in Posts > Categories in your dashboard.

Then, rebuild permalinks by going to Settings > Permalinks, and hitting Save.

Then create your new static pages.

[Lionel]

Hello,

I renamed the subcategory slug and it worked!

But is there another way to solve this, without having to rename subcategories? (this is a LIVE site with hundreds of posts)

I tried to rename again back to the original name, but it added the “-2” again to the static page.

Thanks for your help!

[David]

We don’t have an answer for that.
You may find some bright spark on StackExchange that has a way to overcome that issue.

[Author]

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