# A-Z Listing
- **Contributors:** diddledan
- **Donate link:** [Donate](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=N7QFVVD4PZVFE)
- **Tags:** a to z, a-z, archive, listing, widget, index
- **Requires at least:** 3.5
- **Tested up to:** 4.8
- **Stable tag:** 1.7.2
- **License:** GPLv2 or later
- **License URI:** http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Provides an A to Z index page and widget. The widget links to the index page at the appropriate letter.

## Description

[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/bowlhat/wp-a-z-listing.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/bowlhat/wp-a-z-listing)

This plugin provides a widget which aggregates all pages into an A to Z listing. The widget includes just
the letters as links to the A-Z Index page. Also provided is an implementation for the A-Z Index page.
If a letter doesn't have any pages then the widget will display the letter unlinked; likewise the index page
will omit the display for that letter entirely.

Both the Widget and Index page can be section-targeted or global-targeted. i.e. they can limit their output
to displaying only the pages below a single top-level parent page or they can display the entirety of the
site's pages.

*By default* the widget and index page become section-targeted by including them on pages below a top-level page:
e.g. if your site layout has:

    home
    section1
        section1a
        section1b
        a-z
    section2
        section2a
        section2b
        a-z

then placing the widget onto either section1, section1a or section1b will target the widget to displaying only children of section1.
placing the a-z index on a child of section1 will likewise limit the index page to display only children of section1.

Likewise for section2, section2a and section2b.

## Installation

This section describes how to install the plugin and get it working.

1. Upload the `a-z-listing` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory
1. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
1. Place `<?php the_a_z_listing(); ?>` in your templates for the index page output (see the **php** section of this document for details) or use the `a-z-listing` shortcode (see the **shortcode** section of this document for details).
1. Add the A-Z Site Map widget to a sidebar or use `<?php the_a_z_widget( null, array( 'post' => get_page( $id ) ) ); ?>` in your templates (see the **php** section of this document for details).

## Shortcode

The plugin supplies a shortcode for the full A-Z listing allowing use without modifying your theme's templates.

Basic usage is as follows:

    [a-z-listing]

To specify a post-type to display instead of `page` then use, e.g. `Posts`:

    [a-z-listing post-type="post"]

To show terms from a taxonomy instead of posts and pages, e.g. Terms from the `Categories` taxonomy:

    [a-z-listing taxonomy="category"]

The arguments are all optional.

* `post-type` sets the listing to show a specific post-type.
  * Default value: page
  * You may specify any number of multiple post-types separated by commas, e.g. `post-type="page,post"`

### Multi Column Output

If you want the multi-column output support, you need to copy the file `a-z-listing-multi-column.example.php` from the plugin inside the `templates` directory to your theme. The file needs to also be renamed to `a-z-listing.php` when copied to your theme. The **Templates and Theming** section of this Document details the functions used within templates and The Loop process this plugin follows.

## Templates and Theming

The plugin allows the site owner, developer, or themer to provide custom templates for the A-Z Listing output.

*NOTE: These functions have changed name and method of access in 1.0.0. We have dropped the `_a_z_` moniker in the function name and within the template file they are accessed via the `$a_z_listing` object.* The former function names are still accessible, but are largely deprecated.

To add a template to your theme, you need a file similar to the `templates/a-z-listing.php` file in the plugin folder. Your copy needs to be placed within your theme at the theme root directory and called `a-z-listing.php` or `a-z-listing-section.php` (where `-section` is an optional top-level page slug for the section-targeting feature).

### The Loop

The theme system this plugin implements is *very* similar to the standard WordPress loop, with a few added bits.

Important functions to use in your template are as follows:

* `$a_z_query->the_letters()` prints the full alphabet, and links the letters that have posts to their section within the index page.
* `$a_z_query->have_letters()` returns true or false depending on whether there are any letters left to loop-through. This is part of the Letter Loop.
* `$a_z_query->have_items()` this behaves very similarly to Core's `have_posts()` function. It is part of the Item Loop.
* `$a_z_query->the_letter()` similar to Core's `the_post()`, this will set-up the next iteration of the A-Z Listing's Letter Loop. This needs to wrap-around the Item Loop.
* `$a_z_query->the_item()` similar to Core's `the_post()`, this will set-up the next iteration of the A-Z Listing's Item Loop, the same way the normal WordPress Loop works. This needs to be _within_ the Letter Loop.

When you are within the Item Loop you can utilise all in-built WordPress Core post-related functions such as `the_content()`. Note that titles and permalinks have helper functions to cope with the A-Z Listing showing taxonomy terms (see the next section).

I advise that you start with a copy of the default template or the multi-column template when customizing your own version. The supplied templates show the usage of most of the functions this plugin provides.

### Helper functions

The plugin supports displaying taxonomy terms as though each term were a post. This means that the WordPress functions related to posts such as `the_title()` and `the_permalink()` are unreliable. We have therefore added helper functions which will return or print the correct output for the item.

*NOTE: These functions have changed name and method of access in 1.0.0. We have dropped the _a_z_ moniker in the function name and within the template file they are accessed via the `$a_z_listing` object.* The previous function names are still accessible, but are largely deprecated.

These helper functions cope with the dual usage of the plugin supporting both `WP_Query`-based (returning `WP_Post` objects) and Taxonomy Terms (returning `WP_Term` objects) listings. These are:

* `$a_z_query->the_title()` - prints the current item's Title
* `$a_z_query->get_the_title()` returns the current item's Title but does not print it directly
* `$a_z_query->the_permalink()` prints the current item's Permalink
* `$a_z_query->get_the_permalink()` returns the current item's Permalink but does not print it directly

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do I show posts of a different post-type (not pages) or multiple post-types (e.g. posts AND pages)

This can be achieved using the shortcode or PHP.

**Shortcode method**

    [a-z-listing post-type="your-post-type-slug"]

*Multiple types*

For multiple post-types just separate them with a comma.

    [a-z-listing post-type="type1-slug,type2-slug"]

**PHP method**

PHP code needs to be added to your theme files, and cannot be used as post or page content in the way that a shortcode can.

    <?php
    the_a_z_listing( array(
        'post_type' => 'your-post-type-slug'
    ) );
    ?>

*Multiple post-types*

    <?php
    the_a_z_listing( array(
        'post_type' => array( 'type1-slug', 'type2-slug' )
    ) );
    ?>

*NOTE*

The argument to `the_a_z_listing()` is an [array](http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php) and takes the same parameters as [WP_Query](https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query)

*The code above needs to be within a php block which is denoted by the `<?php` and `?>` pair. Depending on your theme, you might not need the opening and closing php tags shown in the above snippet; if that is the case, you are free to omit them in your code.*

### How do I show posts from a specific category only

This can be achieved using the shortcode or PHP.

**Shortcode method**

    [a-z-listing taxonomy="taxonomy-slug" terms="term-slug"]

*Multiple terms*

For multiple terms just separate them with a comma.

    [a-z-listing taxonomy="taxonomy-slug" terms="term1-slug,term2-slug"]

**PHP method**

PHP code needs to be added to your theme files, and cannot be used as post or page content in the way that a shortcode can.

    <?php
    the_a_z_listing( array(
        'tax_query' => array(
            'taxonomy' => 'your-taxonomy-slug',
            'field' => 'slug',
            'terms' => array( 'term1-slug', 'term2-slug' )
        )
    ) );
    ?>

Any number of terms can be added to the `terms` [array](http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php), including one or none.

The argument to `the_a_z_listing()` is an [array](http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php) and takes the same parameters as [WP_Query](https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query)

*The code above needs to be within a php block which is denoted by the `<?php` and `?>` pair. Depending on your theme, you might not need the opening and closing php tags shown in the above snippet; if that is the case, you are free to omit them in your code.*

### How do I show terms from a taxonomy instead of posts

This can be achieved using the shortcode or PHP.

**Shortcode method**

    [a-z-listing taxonomy="taxonomy-slug" display="terms"]

The taxonomy parameter takes a single taxonomy's slug, e.g. `category` or `post_tag`.

The `display="terms"` attribute is required to display taxonomy terms instead of posts.

**PHP method**

PHP code needs to be added to your theme files, and cannot be used as post or page content in the way that a shortcode can.

    <?php
    the_a_z_listing( 'taxonomy-slug' );
    ?>

The argument to `the_a_z_listing()` is a [string](http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php) and contains the slug of a single taxonomy, e.g. `category` or `post_tag`.

*The code above needs to be within a php block which is denoted by the `<?php` and `?>` pair. Depending on your theme, you might not need the opening and closing php tags shown in the above snippet; if that is the case, you are free to omit them in your code.*

### How do I remove section targeting or limit which sections are available?

In your theme's functions.php add the following code:

    <?php
    add_filter( 'a-z-listing-sections', '__return_empty_array' );
    ?>

This filter can also be used, by removing entries which are standard $post variables, to limit which top-level pages are used as section identifiers.

*If there is code already in your functions.php then add just the lines between `<?php` and `?>` on the line directly after the very first instance of `<?php`.*

### I am not using the short-code so the styles are not working, can I still use the in-built styles without the short-code?

Yes you can. This needs the following code added to your theme's functions.php. We purposely only display the stylesheet on pages where the short-code is active.

    <?php
    add_action( 'wp', 'a_z_listing_force_enable_styles', 99 );
    ?>

*If there is code already in your functions.php then add just the lines between `<?php` and `?>` on the line directly after the very first instance of `<?php`.*

The sidebar widget styling also works in a similar manner, and will also respond to the same code above to forcibly enable it.

You can add code which detects the page which the user is browsing and only enable the override on that page so that network requests are kept to a minimum (this is the same reason we detect usage of the short-code).

    <?php
    add_action( 'wp', 'your_override_wrapper_function', 99 );
    function your_override_wrapper_function() {
        if ( ! is_page( 'your-a-z-listing-page-slug-or-ID' ) ) { // ID is numeric, slug is a string.
            return; // we don't want to run for anything except the page we're interested in.
        }
        a_z_listing_force_enable_styles(); // this is the page we want, so run the function to enqueue the styles.
    }
    ?>

*If there is code already in your functions.php then add just the lines between `<?php` and `?>` on the line directly after the very first instance of `<?php`.*

### How do I disable the in-built styling?

In your theme's functions.php add the following code:

    <?php
    add_filter( 'a-z-listing-add-styling', '__return_false' );
    ?>

*If there is code already in your functions.php then add just the lines between `<?php` and `?>` on the line directly after the very first instance of `<?php`.*

## Screenshots

### 1. An example of the index listing page.
![An example of the index listing page.](https://ps.w.org/a-z-listing/assets/screenshot-1.png)

### 2. The Widget is shown here.
![The Widget is shown here.](https://ps.w.org/a-z-listing/assets/screenshot-2.png)

## Changelog

### 1.7.2
* Bugfix: Previous release broke the shortcode

### 1.7.1
* Add additional filters allowing for hyphens or underscores to be used when defining. The readme.txt incorrectly used then-unsupported names with hyphens in examples so now we support both.
* Add numbers="before" and numbers="after" in shortcode

### 1.7.0
* Add support for taxonomy term listings to the shortcode
* Add support for filtering by taxonomy terms to the shortcode

### 1.6.5
* Regression fix for widget accessing WP_Post object as array

### 1.6.4
* Bugfix for accessing array as object PHP Warning. Reported by @babraham76

### 1.6.3
* Bugfix for multi column example and styling - if you tried using the multi column before but had problems, try using the new example file.
  To manually patch your a-z-listin.php template, add the following to the top, underneath the php block which sets the number of columns:
    <style>
        .letter-section > div {
            width: calc( 100% / <?php echo esc_html( $a_z_listing_colcount ); ?> );
        }
    </style>

### 1.6.2
* Bugfix for more complex templates - accessing post thumbnails failed.

### 1.6.1
* Regression fix: Notice was emitted by PHP about invalid variable. This was cosmetic only, and had no impact on functionality.

### 1.6.0
* Fix bug of case sensitity in listings order
* Better warning of deprecated functions when called by other plugins or themes

### Previous
See the file called `changelog.md` for the full release history.