How to link directly to first subpage of a parent page

  • I have a page menu with a structure like this:
    Animals
    – Cats
    – Dogs
    Cars
    – Opel
    – Ford

    In my template I thus have a main menu like this:
    Animals
    Cars

    When I click on Animals it should lead directly to the first subpage, Cats and not to the main page Animals, because the Animals page itself is empty, only a placeholder so I can create a submenu in another part of the page.

    How can I do that without hardcoding?

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Cathy Mitchell

    (@multitalentedmommy)

    You can search for a custom pages widget in the extend>>plugins screen. Or you can enter this inside the loop in the page.php template.
    `<?php
    $children = wp_list_pages(‘title_li=&child_of=’.$post->ID.’&echo=0′);
    if ($children) { ?>

      <?php echo $children; ?>

    <?php } ?>`
    This will display your subpages when the parent page is clicked on. Unfortunately there will be a 2 level menu. Another click is required to pick the first page. If you want pages in a particular order- use posts, and use the plugin – “In Series”

    Thread Starter Jack

    (@moxie)

    OK. thanks. I will try your suggestions ??

    I am also searching for a solution to the problem described above (like: “if parent page is empty show next/first child of it”). Btw – this is not about ‘wp_list_pages’.

    How can I do that with(out) hardcoding?

    Thanks in advance!

    Here’s some rough code that’ll build a top-level list that links parent categories to their first child. Use this as a basis for things, and you can step-through children to build a nested list if you’d like by removing the “number=1” bit:

    <?php
          $parents = get_pages('&sort_column=menu_order,post_title&child_of=0&parent=0');
          $current = $post;

          while($current->post_parent) {
            $current = get_post($current->post_parent);
          }

          foreach ($parents as $parent_index => $parent) {
            if ($parent->post_title == 'Home') continue;

            $first_child = get_pages('&sort_column=menu_order,post_title&number=1&child_of=' . $parent->ID . '&parent=' . $parent->ID);
            $parent_link = get_page_link($parent->ID);

            if ($first_child) {
              $child       = $first_child[0];
              $parent_link = get_page_link($child->ID);
            }

            if ($current->ID == $parent->ID) {
              echo '<li class="current"><a href="' . $parent_link . '">' . $parent->post_title . '</a></li>' . "\r\n";
            } else {
              echo '<li><a href="' . $parent_link . '">' . $parent->post_title . '</a></li>' . "\r\n";
            }
          }
        ?>

    And the sample output from the code above:

    <ul>
  <li><a href="https://www.somesite.com/about-us/history/">About Us</a></li>
  <li class="current"><a href="https://www.somesite.com/products/by-category/">Products</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://www.somesite.com/custom-orders/">Custom Orders</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://www.somesite.com/design-ideas/">Design Ideas</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://www.somesite.com/deliveries/">Deliveries</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://www.somesite.com/promotions-coupons/">Promotions + Coupons</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://www.somesite.com/contact-us/">Contact Us</a></li>
</ul>

    Assuming you have the following page setup:

    • About Us
    • History
    • Products
    • By Category
    • Custom Orders
    • Design Ideas
    • Deliveries
    • Promotions + Coupons
    • Contact Us

    Thanks a lot!

    I simply rounded the follwing out:
    if (empty($parent->post_content) and $first_child)

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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