Description not showing on Category Pages

Support
#1

Hi there. I need to create descriptions for my category pages. I entered some test copy, but nothing shows up on my category page.

https://realdreaminterpretation.com/category/animals-in-dreams/

I tried the code below, but it didn’t help. I use Ethos, is that the issue?

function add_category_description() {
if(is_archive()) { ?>


<div class=“x-container max width”

<?php echo category_description(); ?>


<?php
}
}
add_action( ‘x_after_view_integrity__landmark-header’, ‘add_category_description’,99999 );
#2

Hi Jesamine,

Thank you for writing in, on your code, please update this line:

x_after_view_integrity__landmark-header

To this:

x_after_view_ethos__landmark-header

Hope it helps,
Cheers!

#3

Hi, thanks for responding so quickly. I can see the description now, but my site background renders it invisible:
https://realdreaminterpretation.com/category/animals-in-dreams/

Is there a way I can set the category page to “full width”? That would correct this issue. I can’t see any options for setting up the page format.

Thanks so much for your help!

#4

Hey @Jesamine,

By “full width”, do you mean cover your background like this?

In that case, you need to override the site container background for your archive pages and the CSS selector for that is .archive .site . Here’s a sample code that should be placed in Theme Options > CSS.

.archive .site {
    background: white;
}

Hope that helps.

#5

Hi there! Well, technically, I meant this, where you can’t see the sidebar - but that was only because I didn’t know about the option you gave me, which I think I would prefer! :thinking: I’ll give it a try.

Just in case, is there an option for the full width/no sidebar format?

You guys are the best. You are always so helpful.

#6

Okay, gave it try and sure enough I can see it, but the text isn’t showing up “formatted”.

Looks like this on the page: (https://realdreaminterpretation.com/category/animals-in-dreams)

Looks like this in my editor:

#7

Your site’s currently down. Please check.

Thanks.

#8

It’s up for me - after cache purge. That message showed up for me when I accidentally put the CSS into the .php file. Is it a caching issue on your end?

thanks for looking!

#9

Hi Jesamine,

Please remove the CSS code you have added in the PHP file as it is not meant to be added there.

Once the fatal error issue is sorted, please give us the admin details of your site in a Secure Note so that we can check it further.

Thank you.

#10

I removed that code immediately - over 2 hours ago. When I went back into the .php, the code is gone. I get the same error when I login incognito. I have no idea why it’s still “in the code”.

Anyway, I backtracked, erased, and re-did it. I think it’s up and running again.

#11

Sorry but the error persists. You might have left over CSS code in there.

The FTP credentials does not work also.

Thanks.

#12

Well, that was a fiasco! The problem was actually not with my functions.php, it was a deeper php caching issue that affected all of my sites. The problem is finally fixed now, but I am not sure I am up for trying this again.

Thanks for your help.

#13

Glad it’s sorted out, @Jesamine. I don’t personally recommend working with code either unless if the user is an experienced web developer. This is the reason why soon, you might be able to build a custom archive page without coding. This was mentioned in our previous status report. You can read more about the Layout Builder at https://theme.co/apex/forum/t/status-report-july-31-2018/39909

Regarding the category description, I’ve just tested in my staging site and it outputs the HTML correctly unlike in your site. This means that there’s something in your site stripping the HTML in the archive description. Regretfully, this is not a feature of X and Pro. Category Description is not supported by our themes so we could not troubleshoot issues that’s connected to this. You will need to consult with a third party developer.

Thank you for understanding.

#14

I will look into the other options, though I am not afraid of “working with the code”, even though I am not “an experienced web developer”. The problem was not introduced by anything I did, it was only uncovered by something did - which was a simple mistake. The problem was a php caching issue on my server side and had nothing to do with my site itself. There was no left over CSS anywhere, or anything else like that. I have worked on the custom code on all 5 of my sites, for years without issue.

I don’t mean to sound defensive, but your comment made it sound like something I did in my code broke my site. That issue was eventually going to be revealed, one way or another. I don’t want people to be afraid of taking code “fixes” from Themeco because the advice I get here is almost always solid.

And actually, you do recommend working with code, every time you offer code fixes on this forum.

#15

Hi Jesamine,

Sorry about that, Christian does not mean that something on your code broke your site, what he meant is he personally does not recommend custom coding because it might cause a conflict/issue when the WordPress, Theme, or Plugin made an update in the future (which it does often than not). So we always recommend a native feature of our Theme if it is available.

Ok lets, go back to the Archive page, you can make the archive page full-width by navigating to Theme Options > Blog and set the Layout option to Fullwidth, there is 2 Layout option in there the second one is the one for archives.



Hope that helps,
Cheers!

#16

Thanks for the clarification. So, I have gone back through the process, made the necessary php and css code changes and now I have what I need to create my category archive landing page. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

I still have a strange glitch on the category description section.
https://realdreaminterpretation.com/category/dream-meaning/

Here are some screen shots.

View Source:

It is as if there is something going on in the “top section” only - something that has “stripped” the headings only. For example, if I bold the text, that works.

If you see the screen shots, you’ll see that once I have gone further down in the page, that issue disappears.

Hopefully, this is not outside of the scope of support. If it is, I guess I can insert a big image or a lot of space before I start with my content.

#17

Previously, I thought it’s something in your server that is stripping HTML. Thanks to your screenshot, I saw the broken HTML which is most probably the cause of the issue. The container div was not closed. Please check for HTML errors in the custom codes or areas where you’ve placed HTML.

Sorry about my response previously. I did not mean anything bad. In fact, I only want the best for customers. I recommended with good intentions.

I do understand also that we give custom code here. I post code also if it’s necessary and simple. But, please note that those codes were not meant to be supported nor maintained. They were meant to help users get started extending our products. That means if an issue arises from the use of custom code, it is the responsibility of the user to fix it or forward it to a third party developer.

I understand this might sound offensive again but I hope you’ll understand our side also. Please see our Terms.

Thank you for understanding.

#18

Thanks for the HTML code error note. It’s only happening on archive pages for some reason - and again - only at the top of the page.

I’m not sure how to look for it but I will see if I can work it out.

#19

You’re most welcome and let us know. I checked and I still seeing the broken HTML code. And it’s due to this code

function add_category_description() {
if(is_archive()) { ?>

<div class="x-container max width"
<?php echo category_description(); ?> <?php }}add_action( 'x_after_view_integrity__landmark-header', 'add_category_description',99999 );

Try something like this

function add_category_description() {
if(is_archive()) { ?>

<div class="x-container max width">
<?php echo category_description(); ?> <?php }}add_action( 'x_after_view_integrity__landmark-header', 'add_category_description',99999 );

Thanks!

#20

Thanks Rad! I finally had a chance to to close that div container. Once I saw the code sample, I knew exactly where to go and fix it.

IT WORKS!! Thanks a lot everyone. I really needed this category landing page for my site structure.

all the best…