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Categories

Craft supports user-managed, hierarchical taxonomies for content via categories.

Categories are one of Craft’s built-in element types, and are represented throughout the application as instances of craft4:craft\elements\Category.

With the release of Craft 4.4, we began consolidating features of other element types into entries.

As part of that process, we introduced a console command that can automate the conversion of categories to structure sections:

php craft entrify/categories myCategoryGroupHandle

Read more about this transition on our blog.

Category Groups

Every category belongs to a category group, which defines…

  • …a name;
  • …a handle (used when referencing the group in queries and templates);
  • …the maximum number of levels categories can be nested, within the group;
  • …the format of category URIs;
  • …which template should be rendered when a category’s URL is accessed;
  • …which fields categories in the group should have;

To create a new category group, go to Settings → Categories and click New Category Group.

Category Field Layout

Each category group has its own field layout, which allows you to customize the data that’s associated with each category in the group. By default, every category will have a Title field (the category name). Any available field type can be added to a category group’s field layout.

Creating and Editing Categories

When you’ve defined at least one category group, Categories will appear in the control panel’s primary navigation. Clicking it will take you to the category index. From there, you can choose a category group <Poi label="1" target="categoryIndex" id="groups" /> from the sidebar, and add/reorder/delete categories within it:

url="https://my-craft-project.ddev.site/admin/categories/flavors"
:link="false"
caption="A category index representing coffee flavor profiles."
id="categoryIndex"
:poi="{
    groups: [30, 20.6],
    structure: [76.2, 9],
    statusIcon: [45, 64],
}">

Select the “Structure” <Poi label="2" target="categoryIndex" id="structure" /> sort option to view and manipulate the categories’ hierarchy. Double-click any element <Poi label="3" target="categoryIndex" id="statusIcon" /> to open a slideout.

You can also click a category’s title to visit its edit page just like an entry.

When you create a category, you have the following options:

  • Fill out the category fields (if you didn’t define any, the only field available will be Title)
  • Edit the slug (it’s automatically populated based on the title).
  • Choose a Parent category. The new category will have a hierarchical relationship with its parent. This is helpful for creating taxonomies with multiple levels. You also have the option of creating a new category while assigning the Parent.

You can only nest categories up to the level specified in the Max Level field Category Group settings. If it’s empty, the nesting level is unlimited.

Assigning Categories

To assign categories to things (entries, assets, users, etc.), you must first create a Categories field.

Each Categories field is connected to a single category group. Whatever you attach the field to will store relations to categories selected from that group.

Querying Categories

You can fetch categories in your templates or PHP code using category queries.

{# Create a new category query #}
{% set myCategoryQuery = craft.categories() %}

// Create a new category query
$myCategoryQuery = \craft\elements\Category::find();

Once you’ve created a category query, you can set parameters on it to narrow down the results, and then execute it by calling .all(). An array of Category objects will be returned.

Example

We can display a navigation for all the categories in a category group called “Topics” by doing the following:

  1. Create a category query with craft.categories().
  2. Set the group parameter on it.
  3. Fetch the categories with .all().
  4. Loop through the categories using a nav tag to create the navigation HTML.
{# Create a category query with the 'group' parameter #}
{% set myCategoryQuery = craft.categories()
  .group('topics') %}

{# Fetch the categories #}
{% set categories = myCategoryQuery.all() %}

{# Display the navigation #}
  {% nav category in categories %}
    <li>
      <a href="{{ category.url }}">{{ category.title }}</a>
      {% ifchildren %}
        <ul>
          {% children %}
        </ul>
      {% endifchildren %}
    </li>
  {% endnav %}

To maintain the exact order you see in the control panel, add orderBy('lft ASC') to your query:

{% set myCategoryQuery = craft.categories()
  .group('topics')
  .orderBy('lft ASC') %}

Elements Related to a Category

When you’ve attached a categories field to another type of element, you can query for those elements when you have a reference to a category.

For example, if we were building a blog with dedicated “Topic” (category) pages, we might build a query like this to look up posts:

{% set posts = craft.entries()
  .relatedTo({
    targetElement: category,
    field: 'topics',
  })
  .all() %}

Parameters

Category queries support the following parameters:

| Param | Description | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ancestorDist | Narrows the query results to only categories that are up to a certain distance away from the category specified by ancestorOf. | ancestorOf | Narrows the query results to only categories that are ancestors of another category in its structure. | andNotRelatedTo | Narrows the query results to only categories that are not related to certain other elements. | andRelatedTo | Narrows the query results to only categories that are related to certain other elements. | andWith | Causes the query to return matching categories eager-loaded with related elements, in addition to the elements that were already specified by with. | asArray | Causes the query to return matching categories as arrays of data, rather than Category objects. | cache | Enables query cache for this Query. | canonicalsOnly | Narrows the query results to only canonical elements, including elements that reference another canonical element via canonicalId so long as they aren’t a draft. | clearCachedResult | Clears the cached result. | dateCreated | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ creation dates. | dateUpdated | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ last-updated dates. | descendantDist | Narrows the query results to only categories that are up to a certain distance away from the category specified by descendantOf. | descendantOf | Narrows the query results to only categories that are descendants of another category in its structure. | eagerly | Causes the query to be used to eager-load results for the query’s source element and any other elements in its collection. | fixedOrder | Causes the query results to be returned in the order specified by id. | getFieldLayouts | Returns the field layouts that could be associated with the resulting elements. | group | Narrows the query results based on the category groups the categories belong to. | groupId | Narrows the query results based on the category groups the categories belong to, per the groups’ IDs. | hasDescendants | Narrows the query results based on whether the categories have any descendants in their structure. | id | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ IDs. | ignorePlaceholders | Causes the query to return matching categories as they are stored in the database, ignoring matching placeholder elements that were set by craft\services\Elements::setPlaceholderElement(). | inBulkOp | Narrows the query results to only categories that were involved in a bulk element operation. | inReverse | Causes the query results to be returned in reverse order. | language | Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in, based on their language. | leaves | Narrows the query results based on whether the categories are “leaves” (categories with no descendants). | level | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ level within the structure. | limit | Determines the number of categories that should be returned. | nextSiblingOf | Narrows the query results to only the category that comes immediately after another category in its structure. | notRelatedTo | Narrows the query results to only categories that are not related to certain other elements. | offset | Determines how many categories should be skipped in the results. | orderBy | Determines the order that the categories should be returned in. (If empty, defaults to dateCreated DESC, elements.id, or the order defined by the category group if the group or groupId params are set to a single group.) | positionedAfter | Narrows the query results to only categories that are positioned after another category in its structure. | positionedBefore | Narrows the query results to only categories that are positioned before another category in its structure. | preferSites | If unique is set, this determines which site should be selected when querying multi-site elements. | prepForEagerLoading | Prepares the query for lazy eager loading. | prepareSubquery | Prepares the element query and returns its subquery (which determines what elements will be returned). | prevSiblingOf | Narrows the query results to only the category that comes immediately before another category in its structure. | relatedTo | Narrows the query results to only categories that are related to certain other elements. | render | Executes the query and renders the resulting elements using their partial templates. | search | Narrows the query results to only categories that match a search query. | siblingOf | Narrows the query results to only categories that are siblings of another category in its structure. | site | Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in. | siteId | Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in, per the site’s ID. | siteSettingsId | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ IDs in the elements_sites table. | slug | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ slugs. | status | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ statuses. | title | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ titles. | trashed | Narrows the query results to only categories that have been soft-deleted. | uid | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ UIDs. | unique | Determines whether only elements with unique IDs should be returned by the query. | uri | Narrows the query results based on the categories’ URIs. | wasCountEagerLoaded | Returns whether the query result count was already eager loaded by the query's source element. | wasEagerLoaded | Returns whether the query results were already eager loaded by the query's source element. | with | Causes the query to return matching categories eager-loaded with related elements. | withCustomFields | Sets whether custom fields should be factored into the query. | withProvisionalDrafts | Causes the query to return provisional drafts for the matching elements, when they exist for the current user.

ancestorDist

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are up to a certain distance away from the category specified by ancestorOf.

::: code

{# Fetch categories above this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .ancestorOf(myCategory)
  .ancestorDist(3)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories above this one
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->ancestorOf($myCategory)
    ->ancestorDist(3)
    ->all();

:::

ancestorOf

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are ancestors of another category in its structure.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | above the category with an ID of 1. | a Category object | above the category represented by the object.

::: code

{# Fetch categories above this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .ancestorOf(myCategory)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories above this one
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->ancestorOf($myCategory)
    ->all();

:::

::: tip This can be combined with ancestorDist if you want to limit how far away the ancestor categories can be. :::

andNotRelatedTo

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are not related to certain other elements.

See Relations for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

::: code

{# Fetch all categories that are related to myCategoryA and not myCategoryB #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .relatedTo(myCategoryA)
  .andNotRelatedTo(myCategoryB)
  .all() %}

// Fetch all categories that are related to $myCategoryA and not $myCategoryB
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->relatedTo($myCategoryA)
    ->andNotRelatedTo($myCategoryB)
    ->all();

:::

andRelatedTo

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are related to certain other elements.

See Relations for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

::: code

{# Fetch all categories that are related to myCategoryA and myCategoryB #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .relatedTo(myCategoryA)
  .andRelatedTo(myCategoryB)
  .all() %}

// Fetch all categories that are related to $myCategoryA and $myCategoryB
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->relatedTo($myCategoryA)
    ->andRelatedTo($myCategoryB)
    ->all();

:::

andWith

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Causes the query to return matching categories eager-loaded with related elements, in addition to the elements that were already specified by with.

.

asArray

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Causes the query to return matching categories as arrays of data, rather than Category objects.

::: code

{# Fetch categories as arrays #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .asArray()
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories as arrays
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->asArray()
    ->all();

:::

cache

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Enables query cache for this Query.

canonicalsOnly

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only canonical elements, including elements that reference another canonical element via canonicalId so long as they aren’t a draft.

Unpublished drafts can be included as well if drafts(null) and draftOf(false) are also passed.

clearCachedResult

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Clears the cached result.

dateCreated

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ creation dates.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | '>= 2018-04-01' | that were created on or after 2018-04-01. | '< 2018-05-01' | that were created before 2018-05-01. | ['and', '>= 2018-04-04', '< 2018-05-01'] | that were created between 2018-04-01 and 2018-05-01. | now/today/tomorrow/yesterday | that were created at midnight of the specified relative date.

::: code

{# Fetch categories created last month #}
{% set start = date('first day of last month')|atom %}
{% set end = date('first day of this month')|atom %}

{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .dateCreated(['and', ">= #{start}", "< #{end}"])
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories created last month
$start = (new \DateTime('first day of last month'))->format(\DateTime::ATOM);
$end = (new \DateTime('first day of this month'))->format(\DateTime::ATOM);

$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->dateCreated(['and', ">= {$start}", "< {$end}"])
    ->all();

:::

dateUpdated

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ last-updated dates.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | '>= 2018-04-01' | that were updated on or after 2018-04-01. | '< 2018-05-01' | that were updated before 2018-05-01. | ['and', '>= 2018-04-04', '< 2018-05-01'] | that were updated between 2018-04-01 and 2018-05-01. | now/today/tomorrow/yesterday | that were updated at midnight of the specified relative date.

::: code

{# Fetch categories updated in the last week #}
{% set lastWeek = date('1 week ago')|atom %}

{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .dateUpdated(">= #{lastWeek}")
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories updated in the last week
$lastWeek = (new \DateTime('1 week ago'))->format(\DateTime::ATOM);

$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->dateUpdated(">= {$lastWeek}")
    ->all();

:::

descendantDist

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are up to a certain distance away from the category specified by descendantOf.

::: code

{# Fetch categories below this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .descendantOf(myCategory)
  .descendantDist(3)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories below this one
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->descendantOf($myCategory)
    ->descendantDist(3)
    ->all();

:::

descendantOf

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are descendants of another category in its structure.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | below the category with an ID of 1. | a Category object | below the category represented by the object.

::: code

{# Fetch categories below this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .descendantOf(myCategory)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories below this one
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->descendantOf($myCategory)
    ->all();

:::

::: tip This can be combined with descendantDist if you want to limit how far away the descendant categories can be. :::

eagerly

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Causes the query to be used to eager-load results for the query’s source element and any other elements in its collection.

fixedOrder

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Causes the query results to be returned in the order specified by id.

::: tip If no IDs were passed to id, setting this to true will result in an empty result set. :::

::: code

{# Fetch categories in a specific order #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .id([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
  .fixedOrder()
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories in a specific order
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->id([1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
    ->fixedOrder()
    ->all();

:::

getFieldLayouts

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Returns the field layouts that could be associated with the resulting elements.

group

Narrows the query results based on the category groups the categories belong to.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 'foo' | in a group with a handle of foo. | 'not foo' | not in a group with a handle of foo. | ['foo', 'bar'] | in a group with a handle of foo or bar. | ['not', 'foo', 'bar'] | not in a group with a handle of foo or bar. | a CategoryGroup object | in a group represented by the object.

::: code

{# Fetch categories in the Foo group #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .group('foo')
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories in the Foo group
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->group('foo')
    ->all();

:::

groupId

Narrows the query results based on the category groups the categories belong to, per the groups’ IDs.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | in a group with an ID of 1. | 'not 1' | not in a group with an ID of 1. | [1, 2] | in a group with an ID of 1 or 2. | ['not', 1, 2] | not in a group with an ID of 1 or 2.

::: code

{# Fetch categories in the group with an ID of 1 #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .groupId(1)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories in the group with an ID of 1
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->groupId(1)
    ->all();

:::

hasDescendants

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on whether the categories have any descendants in their structure.

(This has the opposite effect of calling leaves.)

::: code

{# Fetch categories that have descendants #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .hasDescendants()
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories that have descendants
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->hasDescendants()
    ->all();

:::

id

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ IDs.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | with an ID of 1. | 'not 1' | not with an ID of 1. | [1, 2] | with an ID of 1 or 2. | ['not', 1, 2] | not with an ID of 1 or 2.

::: code

{# Fetch the category by its ID #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
  .id(1)
  .one() %}

// Fetch the category by its ID
$category = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->id(1)
    ->one();

:::

::: tip This can be combined with fixedOrder if you want the results to be returned in a specific order. :::

ignorePlaceholders

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Causes the query to return matching categories as they are stored in the database, ignoring matching placeholder elements that were set by craft\services\Elements::setPlaceholderElement().

inBulkOp

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that were involved in a bulk element operation.

inReverse

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Causes the query results to be returned in reverse order.

::: code

{# Fetch categories in reverse #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .inReverse()
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories in reverse
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->inReverse()
    ->all();

:::

language

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in, based on their language.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 'en' | from sites with a language of en. | ['en-GB', 'en-US'] | from sites with a language of en-GB or en-US. | ['not', 'en-GB', 'en-US'] | not in sites with a language of en-GB or en-US.

::: tip Elements that belong to multiple sites will be returned multiple times by default. If you only want unique elements to be returned, use unique in conjunction with this. :::

::: code

{# Fetch categories from English sites #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .language('en')
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories from English sites
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->language('en')
    ->all();

:::

leaves

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on whether the categories are “leaves” (categories with no descendants).

(This has the opposite effect of calling hasDescendants.)

::: code

{# Fetch categories that have no descendants #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .leaves()
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories that have no descendants
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->leaves()
    ->all();

:::

level

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ level within the structure.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | with a level of 1. | 'not 1' | not with a level of 1. | '>= 3' | with a level greater than or equal to 3. | [1, 2] | with a level of 1 or 2. | [null, 1] | without a level, or a level of 1. | ['not', 1, 2] | not with level of 1 or 2.

::: code

{# Fetch categories positioned at level 3 or above #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .level('>= 3')
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories positioned at level 3 or above
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->level('>= 3')
    ->all();

:::

limit

Defined by yii\db\QueryTrait

Determines the number of categories that should be returned.

::: code

{# Fetch up to 10 categories  #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .limit(10)
  .all() %}

// Fetch up to 10 categories
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->limit(10)
    ->all();

:::

nextSiblingOf

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only the category that comes immediately after another category in its structure.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches the category… | - | - | 1 | after the category with an ID of 1. | a Category object | after the category represented by the object.

::: code

{# Fetch the next category #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
  .nextSiblingOf(myCategory)
  .one() %}

// Fetch the next category
$category = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->nextSiblingOf($myCategory)
    ->one();

:::

notRelatedTo

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are not related to certain other elements.

See Relations for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

::: code

{# Fetch all categories that are related to myEntry #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .notRelatedTo(myEntry)
  .all() %}

// Fetch all categories that are related to $myEntry
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->notRelatedTo($myEntry)
    ->all();

:::

offset

Defined by yii\db\QueryTrait

Determines how many categories should be skipped in the results.

::: code

{# Fetch all categories except for the first 3 #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .offset(3)
  .all() %}

// Fetch all categories except for the first 3
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->offset(3)
    ->all();

:::

orderBy

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Determines the order that the categories should be returned in. (If empty, defaults to dateCreated DESC, elements.id, or the order defined by the category group if the group or groupId params are set to a single group.)

::: code

{# Fetch all categories in order of date created #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .orderBy('dateCreated ASC')
  .all() %}

// Fetch all categories in order of date created
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->orderBy('dateCreated ASC')
    ->all();

:::

positionedAfter

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are positioned after another category in its structure.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | after the category with an ID of 1. | a Category object | after the category represented by the object.

::: code

{# Fetch categories after this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .positionedAfter(myCategory)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories after this one
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->positionedAfter($myCategory)
    ->all();

:::

positionedBefore

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are positioned before another category in its structure.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | before the category with an ID of 1. | a Category object | before the category represented by the object.

::: code

{# Fetch categories before this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .positionedBefore(myCategory)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories before this one
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->positionedBefore($myCategory)
    ->all();

:::

preferSites

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

If unique is set, this determines which site should be selected when querying multi-site elements.

For example, if element “Foo” exists in Site A and Site B, and element “Bar” exists in Site B and Site C, and this is set to ['c', 'b', 'a'], then Foo will be returned for Site B, and Bar will be returned for Site C.

If this isn’t set, then preference goes to the current site.

::: code

{# Fetch unique categories from Site A, or Site B if they don’t exist in Site A #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .site('*')
  .unique()
  .preferSites(['a', 'b'])
  .all() %}

// Fetch unique categories from Site A, or Site B if they don’t exist in Site A
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->site('*')
    ->unique()
    ->preferSites(['a', 'b'])
    ->all();

:::

prepForEagerLoading

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Prepares the query for lazy eager loading.

prepareSubquery

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Prepares the element query and returns its subquery (which determines what elements will be returned).

prevSiblingOf

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only the category that comes immediately before another category in its structure.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches the category… | - | - | 1 | before the category with an ID of 1. | a Category object | before the category represented by the object.

::: code

{# Fetch the previous category #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
  .prevSiblingOf(myCategory)
  .one() %}

// Fetch the previous category
$category = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->prevSiblingOf($myCategory)
    ->one();

:::

relatedTo

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are related to certain other elements.

See Relations for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

::: code

{# Fetch all categories that are related to myCategory #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .relatedTo(myCategory)
  .all() %}

// Fetch all categories that are related to $myCategory
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->relatedTo($myCategory)
    ->all();

:::

render

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Executes the query and renders the resulting elements using their partial templates.

If no partial template exists for an element, its string representation will be output instead.

search

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that match a search query.

See Searching for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

::: code

{# Get the search query from the 'q' query string param #}
{% set searchQuery = craft.app.request.getQueryParam('q') %}

{# Fetch all categories that match the search query #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .search(searchQuery)
  .all() %}

// Get the search query from the 'q' query string param
$searchQuery = \Craft::$app->request->getQueryParam('q');

// Fetch all categories that match the search query
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->search($searchQuery)
    ->all();

:::

siblingOf

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that are siblings of another category in its structure.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | beside the category with an ID of 1. | a Category object | beside the category represented by the object.

::: code

{# Fetch categories beside this one #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .siblingOf(myCategory)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories beside this one
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->siblingOf($myCategory)
    ->all();

:::

site

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in.

The current site will be used by default.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 'foo' | from the site with a handle of foo. | ['foo', 'bar'] | from a site with a handle of foo or bar. | ['not', 'foo', 'bar'] | not in a site with a handle of foo or bar. | a craft\models\Site object | from the site represented by the object. | '*' | from any site.

::: tip If multiple sites are specified, elements that belong to multiple sites will be returned multiple times. If you only want unique elements to be returned, use unique in conjunction with this. :::

::: code

{# Fetch categories from the Foo site #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .site('foo')
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories from the Foo site
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->site('foo')
    ->all();

:::

siteId

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Determines which site(s) the categories should be queried in, per the site’s ID.

The current site will be used by default.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | from the site with an ID of 1. | [1, 2] | from a site with an ID of 1 or 2. | ['not', 1, 2] | not in a site with an ID of 1 or 2. | '*' | from any site.

::: code

{# Fetch categories from the site with an ID of 1 #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .siteId(1)
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories from the site with an ID of 1
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->siteId(1)
    ->all();

:::

siteSettingsId

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ IDs in the elements_sites table.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 1 | with an elements_sites ID of 1. | 'not 1' | not with an elements_sites ID of 1. | [1, 2] | with an elements_sites ID of 1 or 2. | ['not', 1, 2] | not with an elements_sites ID of 1 or 2.

::: code

{# Fetch the category by its ID in the elements_sites table #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
  .siteSettingsId(1)
  .one() %}

// Fetch the category by its ID in the elements_sites table
$category = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->siteSettingsId(1)
    ->one();

:::

slug

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ slugs.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 'foo' | with a slug of foo. | 'foo*' | with a slug that begins with foo. | '*foo' | with a slug that ends with foo. | '*foo*' | with a slug that contains foo. | 'not *foo*' | with a slug that doesn’t contain foo. | ['*foo*', '*bar*'] | with a slug that contains foo or bar. | ['not', '*foo*', '*bar*'] | with a slug that doesn’t contain foo or bar.

::: code

{# Get the requested category slug from the URL #}
{% set requestedSlug = craft.app.request.getSegment(3) %}

{# Fetch the category with that slug #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
  .slug(requestedSlug|literal)
  .one() %}

// Get the requested category slug from the URL
$requestedSlug = \Craft::$app->request->getSegment(3);

// Fetch the category with that slug
$category = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->slug(\craft\helpers\Db::escapeParam($requestedSlug))
    ->one();

:::

status

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ statuses.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 'enabled' (default) | that are enabled. | 'disabled' | that are disabled. | ['not', 'disabled'] | that are not disabled.

::: code

{# Fetch disabled categories #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .status('disabled')
  .all() %}

// Fetch disabled categories
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->status('disabled')
    ->all();

:::

title

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ titles.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 'Foo' | with a title of Foo. | 'Foo*' | with a title that begins with Foo. | '*Foo' | with a title that ends with Foo. | '*Foo*' | with a title that contains Foo. | 'not *Foo*' | with a title that doesn’t contain Foo. | ['*Foo*', '*Bar*'] | with a title that contains Foo or Bar. | ['not', '*Foo*', '*Bar*'] | with a title that doesn’t contain Foo or Bar.

::: code

{# Fetch categories with a title that contains "Foo" #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .title('*Foo*')
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories with a title that contains "Foo"
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->title('*Foo*')
    ->all();

:::

trashed

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results to only categories that have been soft-deleted.

::: code

{# Fetch trashed categories #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .trashed()
  .all() %}

// Fetch trashed categories
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->trashed()
    ->all();

:::

uid

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ UIDs.

::: code

{# Fetch the category by its UID #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
  .uid('xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx')
  .one() %}

// Fetch the category by its UID
$category = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->uid('xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx')
    ->one();

:::

unique

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Determines whether only elements with unique IDs should be returned by the query.

This should be used when querying elements from multiple sites at the same time, if “duplicate” results is not desired.

::: code

{# Fetch unique categories across all sites #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .site('*')
  .unique()
  .all() %}

// Fetch unique categories across all sites
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->site('*')
    ->unique()
    ->all();

:::

uri

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Narrows the query results based on the categories’ URIs.

Possible values include:

| Value | Fetches categories… | - | - | 'foo' | with a URI of foo. | 'foo*' | with a URI that begins with foo. | '*foo' | with a URI that ends with foo. | '*foo*' | with a URI that contains foo. | 'not *foo*' | with a URI that doesn’t contain foo. | ['*foo*', '*bar*'] | with a URI that contains foo or bar. | ['not', '*foo*', '*bar*'] | with a URI that doesn’t contain foo or bar.

::: code

{# Get the requested URI #}
{% set requestedUri = craft.app.request.getPathInfo() %}

{# Fetch the category with that URI #}
{% set category = craft.categories()
  .uri(requestedUri|literal)
  .one() %}

// Get the requested URI
$requestedUri = \Craft::$app->request->getPathInfo();

// Fetch the category with that URI
$category = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->uri(\craft\helpers\Db::escapeParam($requestedUri))
    ->one();

:::

wasCountEagerLoaded

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Returns whether the query result count was already eager loaded by the query's source element.

wasEagerLoaded

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Returns whether the query results were already eager loaded by the query's source element.

with

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Causes the query to return matching categories eager-loaded with related elements.

See Eager-Loading Elements for a full explanation of how to work with this parameter.

::: code

{# Fetch categories eager-loaded with the "Related" field’s relations #}
{% set categories = craft.categories()
  .with(['related'])
  .all() %}

// Fetch categories eager-loaded with the "Related" field’s relations
$categories = \craft\elements\Category::find()
    ->with(['related'])
    ->all();

:::

withCustomFields

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Sets whether custom fields should be factored into the query.

withProvisionalDrafts

Defined by craft\elements\db\ElementQuery

Causes the query to return provisional drafts for the matching elements, when they exist for the current user.