# Woo Taxonomy List

Cascading term lists from any taxonomy — a "Shop by Category" block, or a plain list of blog categories.

Found in the Elementor panel under **Dotjuice → Woo Taxonomy List**.

![A grouped category list on the front end](../assets/img/woo-taxonomy-list-frontend.png)
*Screenshot: a sidebar "Shop by Category" block showing two parent terms as headings with their child terms listed and counts in brackets.*

:::note Not just for WooCommerce
Despite the name, this widget works with **any public taxonomy** — product categories, blog categories, tags, or a custom taxonomy. It only appears in the widgets panel when WooCommerce is active, so on a site without WooCommerce it isn't available even for blog categories. Get in touch with support if you need it standalone.
:::

## Two display modes

**Hierarchical mode** (the default) lets you pick specific parent terms and shows each with its children nested beneath — a "Shop by Category" block grouping related subcategories under their parent.

**Flat mode** lists every term in the taxonomy in one simple list — a straightforward "browse all categories" block.

## Content settings — Widget Heading

| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Heading Text** | Optional title above the list. |
| **Heading URL** | Makes the heading a link. Only applies when Heading Text is filled in. |
| **Heading Tag** | H2–H6 or a plain div, so the page keeps a sensible document outline. |

## Content settings — List Settings

![The List Settings section with the taxonomy and parent term pickers](../assets/img/woo-taxonomy-list-controls.png)
*Screenshot: the widget's **List Settings** section showing the Taxonomy dropdown, the Parent Terms multi-select populated with terms, and the Max Depth control.*

| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| **Taxonomy** | Product categories | Which taxonomy to pull terms from. Every public taxonomy on your site is listed. |
| **Show All Terms (Flat)** | Off | Switches to flat mode. |
| **Parent Terms** | — | Hierarchical only. Which parent term(s) to display, each with its children beneath. |
| **Show Parent Term** | On | Hierarchical only. Shows the parent itself as a clickable heading above its children. |
| **Max Depth** | 1 level | Hierarchical only. How many levels of children to show — 1, 2, 3, or all. |
| **Hide Empty Terms** | On | Excludes terms with nothing assigned to them. |
| **Order By** | Name | Name, Count, Slug or Term ID. |
| **Order** | Ascending | Ascending or descending. |

:::tip The Parent Terms list follows the Taxonomy dropdown
Change **Taxonomy** and the **Parent Terms** picker repopulates with terms from the new taxonomy. This cascade only runs inside the Elementor editor — so if you're scripting or importing widget settings, set both fields explicitly rather than expecting the cascade to fill one in.
:::

## Content settings — Display

| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Show Term Count** | Adds the post or product count in brackets after each term. |
| **List Icon** | An optional icon before each term link, given as a CSS icon class (e.g. Font Awesome). |

## Styling

Grouped into sections:

| Section | Covers |
|---|---|
| **Heading** | Typography, colour, spacing |
| **List Container** | Padding, background, border, shadow |
| **Parent Items** / **Parent Link Text** | Hierarchical mode only — the parent row and its link text |
| **List Items** | Marker style (none, disc, circle, square, numbers, letters), spacing, indentation, background, hover background |
| **Link Text** | Typography, colour, hover underline |
| **List Icon** | Size, colour, spacing — only relevant if you've set an icon |

## Setting it up

**A flat list**, e.g. all blog categories:

1. Choose your **Taxonomy**.
2. Turn on **Show All Terms (Flat)**.
3. Style as needed.

**A grouped list**, e.g. "Shop by Category" with subcategories:

1. Choose your **Taxonomy**.
2. Leave flat mode off and select your **Parent Terms**.
3. Set **Max Depth** to how many levels of children you want.
4. Style as needed.

## Good to know

:::caution An incomplete configuration renders nothing on the front end
If your settings don't resolve to any terms — hierarchical mode with no parent terms selected yet is the usual case — the editor shows an explanatory message, but the live site shows **nothing at all**. Confirm the configuration is complete before publishing.
:::

- **Hide Empty Terms is on by default.** A term you expect to see but which has no products assigned won't appear; switch it off if you're building the catalogue out of order.
- Ordering applies within each level, so under a parent the children sort independently of how the parents themselves are ordered.