By default the WordPress category widget does not show empty categories. Recently a new user asked us if it was possible to display empty categories in WordPress widget to help with his local development. In this article, we will show you how to display empty categories in WordPress widgets.
First thing you need to do is add this simple code snippet in your child theme‘s functions.php file or a site specific plugin.
add_filter( 'widget_categories_args', 'wpb_force_empty_cats' );
function wpb_force_empty_cats($cat_args) {
$cat_args['hide_empty'] = 0;
return $cat_args;
}
This code hooks up our custom function wpb_force_empty_cats to widget_categories_args filter. Inside our function we have modified the option hide_empty and set it to false.
That’s all, you can now drag and drop categories widget to any sidebar or widget ready area on your WordPress site. The category widget will now display empty categories as well.
If you’re working on a local development environment, then we recommend that you add some dummy content to your website for testing purposes.
Also don’t forget to check out our guide on how categories and tags work in WordPress.
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Thanks…Its working fine……!!!
Hello and thank you. I tried this and it worked but I found out I was searching for something little different. You know when you set it the way that only one line is shown – when I set it that ways it still doen not show the empty cats. You know what I mean? If yes can you help?
Best wishes from Germany, Cologne
Nice and simple, but I wonder what’s the purpose to show empty categories. Is there any other reason except local development?
nesting categories inside of empty categories
You’re right. We can use empty categories for grouping other categories.
Nice & Thanks