Relative Categories Feature

[kiranetph]

Under Sections-Categories, what does "Relative categories" do and what is the impact / functionality of selecting other categories here?
How are the fields note, num_current and num_alll in #__js_res_categories be used ?

[andiamine]

1. Relative Categories Functionality

Current Status: Partially Implemented (Data Storage Only)

• What it does: The "Relative Categories" tab allows administrators to link/associate other categories with the current category. When categories are selected, they are saved in the database with their ID, title, and path information.
• What it DOESN'T do: Currently, this feature has no active functionality. The selected relative categories are stored but never used for:
  • Filtering or displaying records
  • Combining category content
  • Cross-category navigation
  • Any visible impact on the frontend

Bottom Line: This appears to be a placeholder feature for future development or custom implementations. The infrastructure exists to store the relationships, but no code currently uses them.

2. Database Fields Explanation

relative_cats field

• Status: ✅ Actively used for storage only
• Purpose: Stores JSON-encoded array of related categories
• Impact: None currently - data is saved but not utilized

note field

• Status: ❌ Not used
• Purpose: Intended for administrative notes/comments about categories
• Impact: None - field exists in database but no code reads/writes to it

num_current field

• Status: ✅ Actively used
• Purpose: Stores count of records directly in this category (excluding subcategories)
• Impact:
  • Used to display record counts in category listings
  • Controls whether empty categories are shown/hidden
  • Visible in category modules and templates

num_all field

• Status: ⚠️ Defined but minimally used
• Purpose: Intended to store total record count including subcategories
• Impact: Limited - referenced in templates but not actively maintained/updated

The Relative Categories feature is not ready for production use. If you need this functionality, it would require custom development to:

1. Implement the actual logic for using relative categories
2. Define the specific behavior (e.g., should records from relative categories be displayed together?)
3. Update the counting mechanisms if needed

For now, you can safely ignore the Relative Categories tab as it has no effect on your site's functionality.