Create a Category Page Listing all Your Posts

I wanted to create a page in WordPress for all my categories and which using my plugin, inserting the following shortcode: [catlist name=%category%] where %category% is the category name. I asked chatgpt.com for help. I have the List Category Plugin installed.

 (https://wordpress.org/plugins/list-category-posts/) 

ChatGPT said:

ChatGPT

In WordPress, you can automate the creation of a page that lists posts from all categories using a plugin like List Category Posts, which seems like you're already using based on the shortcode you provided ([catlist name=%category%]). However, dynamically inserting the category name into the shortcode for each category on a single page requires a bit more customization. Here’s a step-by-step approach to achieve this:

Step 1: Create a Custom Page Template

Access Your Theme Directory: Use an FTP client or the File Manager in your hosting control panel to navigate to your theme's folder, usually located in wp-content/themes/your-theme-name/.

Create a New PHP File: Create a new PHP file for your custom page template. You might name it page-categories.php.

Add Template Name Header: At the top of your new file, add the following PHP code to define it as a custom page template

<?php /* Template Name: All Categories Page */ get_header(); ?>

Step 2: Insert PHP Code to List Categories

In your custom page template, you'll use WordPress functions to fetch and list all categories, and then dynamically insert each category into the shortcode. Below the header, add this PHP code:

<div id="primary" class="content-area">
    <main id="main" class="site-main">
    <?php
    $categories = get_categories();
    foreach ($categories as $category) {
        echo '<h2>' . $category->name . '</h2>';
        echo do_shortcode('[catlist name="' . $category->slug . '"]');
    }
    ?>
    </main><!-- #main -->
</div><!-- #primary -->

This script does the following:

Fetches all the categories.

Loops through each category.

Prints the category name as a header.

Uses do_shortcode to process the catlist shortcode for each category by slug.

Step 3: Use the Custom Page Template

Create a New Page: Go to your WordPress admin dashboard, create a new page, and name it appropriately (e.g., "All Categories").

Select Your Custom Template: In the Page Attributes section, select "All Categories Page" from the Template dropdown menu.

Publish the Page: Publish your new page.

Step 4: Test Your Page

Visit the page you created on your live site to ensure that it displays all categories correctly and lists posts under each category as expected.

This solution automates the process within the confines of your WordPress theme and should serve the purpose of listing posts by category dynamically on a single page.

Here is the result: https://jeffcannon.us/all-categories/