Category Management

Organize content with hierarchical categories

Overview

The Categories module provides a hierarchical taxonomy system for organizing content, blog posts, clients, projects, and testimonials throughout the Grupo Mecsa CMS.

Key Features

Hierarchical Structure

Create parent-child relationships for nested categories

Multi-Purpose

Use categories across multiple modules (content, blog, clients)

Blog Integration

Mark categories specifically for blog posts

CRUD Operations

Full create, read, update, and delete functionality

Category Structure

Each category includes:

• ID: Auto-incrementing identifier
• Name: Category display name
• Parent (id_padre): Optional parent category for hierarchy
• Blog Flag (categoria_blog): Boolean indicating if category is for blog posts

{
  "id": 5,
  "name": "Web Development",
  "id_padre": 2,
  "categoria_blog": false,
  "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z"
}

Creating Categories

1. Navigate to Categories

   Access Categorías from the sidebar menu.

2. Click 'New Category'

   Click the “Crear Categoría” button.

3. Enter Category Details

   Fill in the required fields:

   • Name: Category display name
   • Parent Category (optional): Select from existing categories
   • Blog Category (checkbox): Mark if this category is for blog posts
4. Submit Form

   The system will generate the next ID and create the category.

Hierarchical Categories

Categories support unlimited nesting levels:

categorias.php

function buildChildrenMap(array $items) {
    $map = [];
    foreach ($items as $it) {
        $parent = isset($it['id_padre']) && $it['id_padre'] !== null ? $it['id_padre'] : '';
        if (!isset($map[$parent])) $map[$parent] = [];
        $map[$parent][] = $it;
    }
    // Sort alphabetically
    foreach ($map as &$list) {
        usort($list, function($a, $b){
            return strcasecmp($a['name'] ?? '', $b['name'] ?? '');
        });
    }
    return $map;
}

function renderOptionsRecursive($map, $parent = '', $level = 0) {
    if (!isset($map[$parent])) return;
    foreach ($map[$parent] as $it) {
        $prefix = str_repeat('   ', $level);
        echo '<option value="' . htmlspecialchars($it['id']) . '">' . 
             $prefix . htmlspecialchars($it['name']) . '</option>';
        renderOptionsRecursive($map, $it['id'], $level + 1);
    }
}

Example Hierarchy

Services (id: 1)
  ├── Web Development (id: 2)
  │   ├── Frontend (id: 5)
  │   └── Backend (id: 6)
  └── Design (id: 3)
      ├── UI/UX (id: 7)
      └── Branding (id: 8)
Industries (id: 4)
  ├── Healthcare (id: 9)
  └── Finance (id: 10)

Blog Categories

Categories can be marked specifically for blog posts:

categorias.php

$nuevaCategoria = [
    'id' => $nuevoId,
    'name' => $nombre,
    'categoria_blog' => isset($_POST['categoria_blog']) ? true : false
];

Blog categories appear in the category dropdown when creating or editing blog posts.

Parent Category Selection

When creating a category, you can optionally select a parent:

categorias.php

if (isset($_POST['id_padre']) && $_POST['id_padre'] !== '') {
    $id_padre = intval($_POST['id_padre']);
    $nuevaCategoria['id_padre'] = $id_padre;
} else {
    $nuevaCategoria['id_padre'] = null;
}

• No parent: Leave dropdown empty (creates root category)
• With parent: Select from hierarchical dropdown

Editing Categories

1. Select Category

   Click the edit button on the category you want to modify.

2. Update Fields

   Modify:

   • Category name
   • Parent category assignment
   • Blog flag
3. Save Changes

   Submit the form to update the database.

Changing a category’s parent will affect the hierarchy. Verify that content using this category still makes sense after the reorganization.

Deleting Categories

Deleting a category that has children will orphan those child categories. Consider reassigning children before deletion.

Categories used by content, blog posts, clients, or projects should not be deleted without first reassigning those items.

Database Table

Table Name: categoria-servicios

Column	Type	Description
id	integer	Primary key
name	text	Category name
id_padre	integer	Parent category ID (nullable)
categoria_blog	boolean	Blog category flag
created_at	timestamptz	Creation timestamp

Module Integration

Categories are used by:

• Content (contenido) - Organize content items
• Blog (posts) - Classify blog posts
• Clients (clientes) - Group clients by industry/type
• Projects (Proyectos) - Categorize project types
• Testimonials (testimoniales) - Organize testimonials by category

Pagination

categorias.php

$page = intval($_GET['page'] ?? 1);
$perPage = intval($_GET['rowsPerPage'] ?? 10);
$offset = ($page - 1) * $perPage;

$res_cat_paged = supabase_request('GET', 
    "$table_name?select=*,categoria_blog&order=id.desc&limit=$perPage&offset=$offset"
);

Best Practices

Plan your category structure before adding content. A well-organized hierarchy makes content management easier.

Use descriptive, concise names that clearly indicate the category’s purpose.

Limit hierarchy depth to 3-4 levels for better usability.

Mark blog-specific categories with the blog flag to keep them separate from general content categories.

Next Steps

Content

Use categories in content management

Blog

Apply categories to blog posts