Are you wondering why your empty categories aren‘t showing up in your WordPress sidebar widgets? You‘re not alone. By default, WordPress hides categories with no posts assigned to them. But there are plenty of situations where you might actually want those empty categories to appear.
Maybe you‘re setting up a new site and want to give readers a preview of the topics you‘ll be covering soon. Or perhaps you have a multi-author site and want to display all available categories for writers to submit to. Whatever your reason, don‘t worry – showing empty categories in WordPress is easy!
In this post, I‘ll guide you through two simple methods to display empty categories in your sidebar or widget areas:
- Using a plugin (no code required!)
- Editing your theme files (some HTML/PHP knowledge needed)
I‘ll provide step-by-step instructions and screenshots for each approach, so you can follow along and implement the solution that works best for your site.
But first, let‘s cover a bit more about what empty categories are and when it makes sense to show them.
What Are Empty Categories in WordPress?
An empty category is simply a category you‘ve created in your WordPress dashboard that doesn‘t have any posts assigned to it yet. If you go to Posts > Categories, you‘ll see a list of all your categories with the number of posts in each one in parentheses:
See those categories with "(0 posts)"? Those are your empty categories. By default, WordPress doesn‘t display them in your category widget or archive pages. The reasoning is that you generally don‘t want to clutter your site with a bunch of categories that don‘t have any content in them.
However, there are a few scenarios where showing empty categories can enhance your site structure and user experience:
🆕 You‘re launching a new site. If you‘ve set up your categories in advance but haven‘t populated them with posts yet, displaying the empty categories gives visitors a peek at your upcoming content and site organization.
👥 You have a multi-author or guest post site. Showing the full array of categories, even if some are empty, lets potential contributors know what topic areas they can write for. It can encourage them to submit a post in an unrepresented category.
🗂️ You‘re using a complex category hierarchy. Maybe you have multiple levels of parent and child categories to group your posts. In this case, you might want to show the complete category tree, even if not every tier has posts in it yet.
🗺️ You want a category "map." Some sites like to have a dedicated page listing all their categories as a kind of table of contents for the site. With empty categories visible, this page can serve as a comprehensive directory of current and future topic coverage.
So if any of those use cases resonate with you, read on to learn how to unhide those empty categories!
Method 1: Use a Plugin to Show Empty Categories (No Code!)
If you‘re not comfortable editing your theme files or just want a quick and easy solution, installing a plugin is the way to go. There are a few plugins that specialize in customizing category display, including options to show or hide empty categories. Here are a couple solid choices:
Show Empty Categories Plugin
Show Empty Categories does exactly what it says – it displays categories with no posts assigned in your sidebar category widget. Simply install and activate the plugin, and voila! Your empty categories will automatically appear in the widget.
One nice feature of this plugin is that it lets you choose whether to show or hide the post counts next to each category name. So if you don‘t want the "(0 posts)" to appear for your empty categories, you can toggle that off in the plugin settings.
To set that up:
- Install and activate the plugin
- Go to Settings > Show Empty Categories
- Check or uncheck the "Show post counts" box
- Save the changes
The only downside is that this plugin only affects empty categories in the built-in Category widget. It won‘t impact other widgets or plugins that display a category list. But if that widget is your main use case, it‘s a great solution.
Ultimate Category Excluder Plugin
Ultimate Category Excluder is a more robust plugin that gives you fine-grained control over which categories appear in various places throughout your site. In addition to showing/hiding empty categories, you can create "exclusion groups" to hide specific categories from different areas like the sidebar, post editor, archives, and RSS feeds.
The plugin adds a new menu item in your WordPress admin called "Category Exclusion." From there, simply select which categories you want to exclude from each area, or leave them all checked to display everything – including empty categories.
One advantage of this plugin is that it will apply the empty category display to any widget or content that uses the standard WordPress category functions. So it catches some additional areas the previous plugin doesn‘t.
The main disadvantage is that you have to be careful not to accidentally hide categories you want to be visible. Be sure to double-check all the settings before saving.
Both of these plugins make it super simple to show empty categories without having to touch a line of code. But if you‘re up for a little under-the-hood tinkering, you can also achieve the same result by editing your theme files directly. Let‘s go over how to do that next.
Method 2: Edit Your Theme to Show Empty Categories
If you‘re feeling a bit more adventurous (or don‘t want to add another plugin), you can modify your theme‘s template files to display empty categories. This method requires some basic knowledge of HTML and PHP, as well as an understanding of your WordPress theme structure. But I‘ll walk you through the key steps!
Important note: Before making any changes to your theme files, it‘s always a good idea to create a backup of your site first, or use a child theme to keep your customizations separate from the parent theme. That way, if something goes wrong or your theme gets updated, you won‘t lose your modifications.
Okay, let‘s dive in. The exact files you need to edit will depend on your specific theme, but in general, you‘ll want to look for the template parts that control the following areas:
- Sidebar/widget template (often sidebar.php)
- Category widget template (sometimes category-widget.php or something similar)
- Category archive template (archive.php and/or category.php)
You can access these files via SFTP or by going to Appearance > Theme Editor in your WordPress dashboard.
Once you‘ve located the relevant template, look for where the category list is being generated. It will likely use WordPress template tags like wp_list_categories() or get_categories().
For example, in a typical sidebar template (sidebar.php), you might see something like this:
<ul>
<?php wp_list_categories(‘title_li=‘); ?>
</ul>To show empty categories, we need to modify the arguments passed to wp_list_categories() to include two parameters:
hide_empty– Set this to0to display empty categories (or1to hide them)show_option_none– Set this to the text you want to appear for categories with no posts (defaults to "No categories" if left blank)
So our modified code would look like this:
<ul>
<?php wp_list_categories(‘hide_empty=0&show_option_none=No posts yet&title_li=‘); ?>
</ul>Save the template file, and empty categories should now appear in your sidebar!
If you want to show empty categories on your category archive pages as well, look for the template tag get_categories() or get_terms() in your archive.php or category.php files. Add the hide_empty argument set to 0 just like we did above.
For example:
$categories = get_categories(array(
‘orderby‘ => ‘name‘,
‘hide_empty‘ => 0
));Remember, the exact code and file names may vary depending on your theme structure. If you‘re having trouble finding the right spot, try searching for wp_list_categories or get_categories within your theme folder to locate the relevant templates.
Examples of Websites Using Empty Categories Effectively
Need some inspiration for how to put empty categories to work on your WordPress site? Here are a few examples of sites using them well.
WPBeginner
WPBeginner, a popular WordPress resource site, displays empty categories in its sidebar widget. This allows visitors to see the full range of topics covered, even if some don‘t have posts published yet. It also makes the site feel more complete and organized from the start.
Smashing Magazine
Smashing Magazine, a leading publication for web developers and designers, includes empty categories in its article archives. This gives readers a comprehensive view of all the subjects they write about, not just the ones with existing articles. The "(0)" label also serves as a subtle cue that new content is on the way.
CSS-Tricks
CSS-Tricks uses empty categories in its sidebar to encourage user submissions. By showing categories with no posts, they signal to potential guest authors what topics they‘re looking for contributions on. They even link to their guest post guidelines right below the category list to make it easy for people to submit.
How Many WordPress Sites Use Categories?
So we‘ve covered the "how" and "why" of showing empty categories on your site. But how common is category use in general? Let‘s take a look at some data.
According to a 2021 analysis of 1 million WordPress sites by WP Site Reports:
- 74.1% of WordPress sites use categories
- The average number of categories per site is 14.4
- 25.4% of sites have more than 15 categories
What does this tell us? Basically, categories are a highly common way to organize content on WordPress sites. And while the majority of sites keep their category count under 15, about a quarter of sites have more extensive category structures.
If you fall into that latter group, showing empty categories can be especially useful for maintaining a logical content hierarchy and making sure all your topics are accounted for in your navigational elements.
Comparing Methods for Showing Empty Categories
Still not sure which approach is right for you? Here‘s a quick overview of the pros and cons of each method we covered.
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Show Empty Categories plugin | – Quick and easy setup – No coding required – Option to hide post counts | – Only works with the native Categories widget – Adds another plugin to your site |
| Ultimate Category Excluder plugin | – Flexible control over category display – Works with all category-related content | – More complex settings – Potential to accidentally hide desired categories |
| Editing theme files | – No extra plugins needed – Full control over category display – Can target specific templates | – Requires editing code – Updates to theme may overwrite changes – Backups or child theme recommended |
Ultimately, the best solution depends on your comfort level with code, your theme setup, and how much control you need over where and how empty categories appear.
Tips for Managing Empty Categories
As you start incorporating empty categories into your WordPress site, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
✏️ Use descriptive category names. Since empty categories don‘t have any posts to provide context yet, it‘s important to give them clear labels that communicate what kind of content belongs there. Avoid cryptic or generic names.
🗺️ Organize your hierarchy logically. If you‘re using parent and child categories, make sure they‘re nested in an intuitive way. Showing empty categories can actually make it easier to visualize and plan out your structure from the beginning.
🧹 Prune unnecessary categories. Just because you can display empty categories doesn‘t mean you need dozens of them. As your content grows, periodically review your categories and consider consolidating or deleting ones that are redundant or unlikely to be used.
🔗 Link to other relevant content. If an empty category is closely related to a populated one, consider adding a link to guide readers to existing relevant content. You could also link to a landing page explaining the upcoming content for that category or encouraging post submissions.
📈 Track your category usage. Keep an eye on which categories are getting the most posts and views over time. If certain categories remain empty or rarely used, that‘s a sign that you may need to rethink your content strategy or category structure.
Remember, categories are ultimately a tool to help both you and your readers navigate your site. Displaying empty categories is just one tactic to make your content organization more transparent and inclusive from the start.
Conclusion
I hope this in-depth look at showing empty categories in WordPress has given you the knowledge and tools you need to implement them on your own site! Whether you opt for a plugin or custom code solution, you‘re now equipped to tackle this common content organization challenge.
The key takeaways:
- Empty categories can be useful for new sites, multi-author blogs, and complex category hierarchies
- Plugins like Show Empty Categories and Ultimate Category Excluder make it easy to display empty categories without code
- Editing your theme files directly gives you the most control but requires HTML/PHP familiarity
- There are several examples of major websites using empty categories effectively to guide content submissions and showcase a complete topic directory
- Most WordPress sites use categories, but the number and depth of categories varies
- Descriptive names, logical organization, and periodic pruning will help keep your empty categories in check
Ready to put this advice into action? Go forth and fearlessly display those empty categories! Your users (and future content) will thank you.
