Category Popular Tags

FAQ

I just placed [popular_category_tags] on a regular page — nothing shows up. What’s wrong?

Nothing is wrong. In version 2.0+ the shortcode automatically falls back to your site-wide most popular tags when it cannot detect a category. If you’re seeing a blank result it means your posts have no tags at all yet. Add tags to some posts and the shortcode will display them.

How do I find a category’s ID?

Go to Posts → Categories, hover over the category name and look at the URL in your browser’s status bar. You will see tag_ID=5 — the number is the category ID. You can also use the preview tool in the Auto Popular Tags tab: select a category from the dropdown and the category-specific shortcode (with the ID already filled in) appears after loading the preview.

What is the difference between Custom Buttons and Auto Popular Tags?

Auto Popular Tags are generated automatically by querying which tags appear most often on posts within a category (or site-wide). The list updates as your content changes (subject to the cache duration).

Custom Buttons are entirely hand-curated. You decide the label, the URL, and the icon. They never change unless you edit them in the admin. Use these when you want precise control — for example, a fixed “Gifts Under £20” button that links to a specific tag or page regardless of what is trending.

How do I show tags for a specific category no matter what page the shortcode is on?

Use the category_id attribute: [popular_category_tags category_id="5"]. This locks the shortcode to that category everywhere it appears.

Can I display the tags automatically without a shortcode?

Yes. Go to Settings → Category Tags → Placement. Enable “Auto-display on category archive pages” and choose a position. You can also enable auto-display on tag archives, author archives, and (if WooCommerce is active) product category pages — all without touching any shortcode or theme file.

What does the “After Title” position do and when should I use it?

“After Title” injects the tags immediately below the category page heading using a small JavaScript snippet that runs when the page loads. Because it targets the heading element in the DOM rather than relying on a specific WordPress action hook, it works on virtually any theme — including those where “Before Posts” or “After Posts” cause layout problems. Use it when the other positions don’t sit in the right place visually.

The tags aren’t updating after I published new posts. Why?

The plugin caches tag query results to avoid running expensive database lookups on every page view. The default cache duration is one day. You can shorten this in Settings → Category Tags → Auto Popular Tags → Cache Duration, or force an immediate refresh by saving the settings page (which clears all caches automatically).

How do I show a different number of tags in one place than another?

Use the count attribute in your shortcode: [popular_category_tags count="10"]. This overrides the default count set in the admin for that specific instance only. The admin default is used whenever count is omitted.

Can I use the plugin in a page builder like Elementor or Divi?

Yes. Both shortcodes ([popular_category_tags] and [cpt_buttons]) work in any shortcode-compatible widget or block. In Elementor use a Shortcode widget; in Divi use a Code module.

Can I add the plugin output to my theme template files directly?

Yes. Use the PHP template functions:

cpt_popular_tags();
cpt_custom_buttons();

Both functions accept an optional $args array. Place them in category.php, archive.php, single.php, or any other template file.

Does the plugin work without WooCommerce?

Completely. WooCommerce support is an optional layer that only activates when WooCommerce is installed and active. If WooCommerce is not present, the plugin behaves identically — the WooCommerce section simply does not appear in the Placement tab.

Does the plugin slow down my site?

No. Tag query results are stored in WordPress transients (database-level cache) for the duration you configure. On cached requests there is no extra database query at all. The only time a query runs is when the cache has expired or been cleared.

My icon images look stretched or blurry. How do I fix this?

Go to Settings → Category Tags → Style and adjust the Icon Size slider to match the natural dimensions of your icon images. Square icons (equal width and height) always produce the cleanest result. The plugin uses object-fit: contain so images are never cropped, but if the icon size is much larger than the source image it may appear soft.

How do I reorder the custom buttons?

In Settings → Category Tags → Custom Buttons, grab the drag handle (the grid icon on the left of each row) and drag the row up or down. Click Save Buttons when done. The new order is reflected everywhere [cpt_buttons] is used.

Can I show only some of my custom buttons in a specific place?

Yes. Each button has a numeric ID shown implicitly by its position. Use the ids attribute to specify which ones to show and in what order: [cpt_buttons ids="2,5,1"]. The ID of each button is assigned when you save — you can find the generated shortcode on the Custom Buttons tab after saving.

The style changes I made aren’t appearing on the front end.

Try these in order: (1) save the Style tab again — this clears the style cache. (2) Hard-refresh your browser (Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R). (3) If you use a caching plugin (WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, etc.) purge its cache after saving. The plugin outputs styles inline and scoped to each button container, so theme stylesheet caching should not interfere, but page-level caches will serve the old HTML until purged.

Is this plugin compatible with multisite?

The plugin stores settings per-site using standard get_option / update_option calls, so it works correctly on WordPress multisite. Each site in the network has its own independent settings and button lists.

Will this plugin affect my site’s SEO?

Tag links rendered by the plugin are standard <a href> elements pointing to your tag archive URLs. They are follow links by default, which means search engines can crawl them. If you want to prevent specific tag archives from being indexed, manage that through your SEO plugin (Yoast, Rank Math, etc.) — it is outside the scope of this plugin.

How do I uninstall the plugin cleanly?

Deactivate the plugin, then click Delete on the Plugins screen. The plugin’s uninstall.php will automatically remove all options (cpt_options, cpt_custom_buttons) and all cached transients from the database. Nothing is left behind.