Plugin: Category Image(s)

• c2c_the_category_image() basically extends the functionality of WordPress’s core function the_category() to add the ability to display a category image instead of the category name in the link to the category archive. The function with its $image_extension argument defaulted to ” could be a drop-in replacement for the_category().
• As is done the_category(), the image or text for each category is also a link back to that category’s archive.
• If $image_extensions is defined, but no image is found for the category, then nothing is displayed for that category.
• The images must be given a nice-name version of the category name. This means all non-alphanumeric characters must be stripped from the name, all letters made lowercase, and all spaces replaced with ‘-‘. For example:
  Category name ==> Nice-name to use for filename :
  WordPress ==> wordpress
  Scott’s Plugins ==> scotts-plugins
• The number of category links/images displayed can be limited via the $limit argument
• Category a image <img> tags are defined with class="catimage" for stylesheet manipulation
• No global site-specific settings need to be configured.
• Must be run inside “the loop.”

1. Download the file category-images.zip and unzip it into your wp-content/plugins/ directory.
   -OR-
   Copy and paste the the code ( category-images.phps ) into a file called category-images.php, and put that file into your wp-content/plugins/ directory.
2. Activate the plugin from your WordPress admin ‘Plugins’ page.
3. Create category image (.png unless you specify the extension in your call to c2c_the_category_image()) for each category you wish to have an image for, placing the image into the wp-content/images/ directory (unless you specify another location in your call to c2c_the_category_image()). Remember to give the filename the nice-name version of the category name (see note above).
4. Modify your index.php at a point within “the loop” to make use of the function (assuming, of course, you’ve already defined categories and assigned posts to them). The simplest use would be to replace the index.php call to the_category() with c2c_the_category_image()

function c2c_get_category_image($category,
    $image_extensions='png gif jpg'
    $image_dir='/wp-content/images/')

This is a helper function that retrieves the URL of the image for a specified category. Returns ” if no image was found:

• $category : array for a single category
• $image_extensions : (optional) a space-separated list of image extensions to consider for use for the image(s) to be displayed, in the order they are to be considered; if defined as ” then no image is retrieved and the category name is displayed instead (a la the_category()); default is ‘png gif jpg’
• $image_dir : (optional) the directory in which to look for the image(s); default is ‘/wp-content/images/”

function c2c_the_category_image($seperator='', $parents='', 
        $image_extensions='png gif jpg', 
        $image_dir='/wp-content/images/',
        $use_name_if_no_image=false, 
        $start_from='begin', $limit=999)

This function does the actual display of the post’s category image(s):

• $separator : (optional) text to insert between each image to be displayed (examples: ‘, ‘; ‘<br />’); if defined as ” (which it is by default), then like the_category(), it will display the image(s) in an unordered list.
• $parent : (optional) honestly, I’m not quite sure if/when this argument is ever used or what it’s meant for, but I’ve taken it into account; default is ”
• $image_extensions : (optional) a space-separated list of image extensions to consider for use for the image(s) to be displayed, in the order they are to be considered; if defined as ” then no image is retrieved and the category name is displayed instead (a la the_category()); default is ‘png gif jpg’
• $image_dir : (optional) the directory in which to look for the image(s); default is ‘/wp-content/images/”
• $use_name_if_no_image: (optional) if no image for a category is found, should the name be shown instead?; default is ‘false
• $start_from : (optional) display images starting from the ‘begin’ or the ‘end’; default is ‘begin’
• $limit : (optional) the maximum number of images to display for a post; default is ‘999’

• You can opt to treat only certain categories as having a graphical representation by defining an image for them but not creating images for the non-graphically represented categories (as in you can have a subset of categories that dictate what image to be displayed for the post)
• You can take advantage of the $image_extension and/or $image_dir arguments to display different category icons under different contexts, i.e. if showing a $single post, choose to use a ‘png’ image, otherwise use ‘gif’; or locate your images in different directories ‘/wp-content/images/cat-images/small/’ and ‘/wp-content/images/cat-images/large/’ and decide on context where to get the image(s) from:
  

  
  // In showing the post singularly, then use a larger image, else use a small image
  <?php
  if ($single) {
     c2c_the_category_image('', '', 'gif', '/wp-content/images/cat-images/large/');
  } else {
     c2c_the_category_image('', '', 'gif', '/wp-content/images/cat-images/small/'); 
  }
  ?>
  

  
  

  
  // Show all images in a comma-separated line
  <?php c2c_the_category_image(', '); ?>
  

• WordPress Support Forums announcement of Category Image(s)

• 17 May 2005: v1.2 released — Compatibility fix for WP1.5.1
• 23 Mar 2005: v1.1 released — Same as v1.0 but compatible with WP1.5+
  • Change to accommodate new get_category_link() arguments
• 23 Mar 2005: v1.0 released — Last version compatible with WP1.2. Changes include:
  • Added argument $use_name_if_no_image=false to allow showing cat name if no image was located
  • Tweaks to update c2c_the_category_image() with changes made to the_category() (mostly rel= stuff)
  • Changed default category images directory from /wp-images/ to /wp-content/images/
• 12 Oct 2004 : v0.92 released — Fixed a pair of typos that prevented images from showing
• 23 Sep 2004 : v0.91 released —
  • Now supports listing multiple image extensions
  • Prepended all functions with “c2c_” to avoid potential function name collision with other plugins or future core functions… NOTE: If you are upgrading from an earlier version of the plugin, you’ll need to change your calls from the_category_image() to c2c_category_image()
  • changed from BSD-new license to MIT license
• 27 Jun 2004 : v0.9 released to the public