Working with Stash, Context and Categories in ExpressionEngine

Question

I'm hoping there is a way to use Stash Context with Categories, for example, like so:

{exp:channel:entries channel="channel-name" dynamic="no" disable="member_data|pagination"}
    {exp:stash:append_list name='list' parse_tags="yes" save="yes" scope="site" context='{categories}{category_name}{/categories}'}
        {stash:this_title}{title}{/stash:this_title}
        {categories}
            {stash:this_category_name}
                {category_name}
            {/stash:this_category_name}
        {/categories}
    {/exp:stash:append_list}
{/exp:channel:entries}


{exp:stash:get_list name="list" parse_tags="yes" parse_conditionals="yes" context="{this_category_name}"}                   
    <div>
        all my stash variables and html etc.
    </div>
{/exp:stash:get_list}

I know I can do the following though, this would mean that someone would have to edit the template each time a category was added.

{exp:stash:get_list name="list" parse_tags="yes" parse_conditionals="yes" context="category1"}                  
    <div>
        all my stash variables and html etc.
    </div>
{/exp:stash:get_list}


{exp:stash:get_list name="list" parse_tags="yes" parse_conditionals="yes" context="category2"}                  
    <div>
        all my stash variables and html etc.
    </div>
{/exp:stash:get_list}

With that said, my question is: is there anyway to dynamically use Stash context and ExpressionEngine categories?

Normally I set the context in the get_list via a segment though, this is on a single page for a jQuery accordion so not go there. Again, trying to avoid hardcoding the categories one by one for cases when a new category is added by client. Not sure it's possible or not. — Natetronn, Oct 23 '12 at 22:56

Justin Kimbrell · Answer 1 · 2012-10-23T23:24:39.917

The problem you are having comes down to the exp:channel:entries loop running multiple iterations, which then uses Stash to set an associative array of values. Once the channel:entries is compete, you have an array of {this_category_name} variables, so it's never actually set like a regular variable.

So you really have a few options:

Use a URI segment, since those are parsed early.
Use the exp:stash:set tag to set a snippet type variable which can be parsed later on the page.
Hardcode the values

Here is my code, which I have tested and can confirm works 100% on my end. 1 caveat, if your entries have multiple categories this will break. I believe this will use the first category set within the iteration.

Note, be sure to use the process="end" parameters to manipulate the parse order, otherwise you will end up with a blank screen.

{exp:channel:entries channel="your-channel" dynamic="no" disable="member_data|pagination"}
    {exp:stash:append_list name='list' parse_tags="yes" save="yes" scope="site" context='{categories}{category_name}{/categories}'}
        {stash:this_title}{title}{/stash:this_title}
        {categories}
            {stash:this_category_name}
                {category_name}
            {/stash:this_category_name}

            {exp:stash:set name="test_var" type="snippet"}{category_name}{/exp:stash:set}
        {/categories}
    {/exp:stash:append_list}
{/exp:channel:entries}

{exp:stash:parse process="end"}

    {exp:stash:get_list name="list" parse_tags="yes" parse_conditionals="yes" context="{test_var}" process="end"}
        <div>
            all my stash variables and html etc.
        </div>
    {/exp:stash:get_list}

{/exp:stash:parse}

I will add, that there is likely a much better way to tackle your problem. The logic of what you are trying to do doesn't really add up. I was merely attempting to answer your questions about Stash and if it could do it vs. being the best way.

Thanks Justin for the effort made on this, really appreciate it! — Natetronn, Oct 24 '12 at 06:59

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 23 '12 at 22:55

4

Any reason why you need to use context? I guess I'm not clear on how you are trying to use get_list to output the data. Would something like this achieve what you need to do?

answered Oct 23 '12 at 22:55

Trevor Davis

411
3
8

There may be a way to do it with match against though, I'm not sure. The point of context in get_list (and in append_list for that matter) is to allow me to loop through entries from certain categories. My second block of code works though, each category is hard coded meaning that if a new category is added then I will have to add said new category to the template as well ie. another get_list with said category's name in the context param. Which isn't a big deal though, I like hands off if at all possible. – Natetronn Oct 23 '12 at 23:06
Justin Kimbrell of couse was right on about everything he said though, it was the link from Trevor which ultimately lead the way to getting this done correctly and why I chose it as the right answer hoping it will help others in the future. I did however run into a possible bug with matrix tag pairs inside the categories tag pairs which you can read more about in my two replies here: http://devot-ee.com/add-ons/support/stash/viewthread/4021#25588 – Natetronn Oct 24 '12 at 06:59

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 23 '12 at 22:46

1

Maybe you need to wrap your whole append_list tag in {categories}{/categories} rather than running it as a parameter of the stash tag?

That said, it could also be a parsing order issue so you might need exp:stash:parse in there somewhere too.

answered Oct 23 '12 at 22:46

Tyssen

1,569
16
35

Working with Stash, Context and Categories in ExpressionEngine

3 Answers3