Create Custom Category Attribute to Override Category H1 in Magento

by Geoff Jackson · Published June 3, 2014 · Updated April 2, 2015

Sometimes you may want to extend the title of the category to more than just the name of the category without actually changing the category name (due to navigational elements).

For example:-

You may have a category labelled ‘Blue Widgets’ and you may want to make this more descriptive such as ‘Blue Widgets – Available in Sizes S, M and L’.

First step is to create a custom category attribute. Unfortunately this is not possible from the Magento back office so requires an SQL query to add this to the database. The best way would be to create a custom extension with an SQL install like so:-

Create the following directories and place them in /app/code/community/Your_Namespace:-

CustomCategoryAttribute/etc
CustomCategoryAttribute/sql
CustomCategoryAttribute/sql/add_category_attribute

Create the file config.xml, adding the below and place it in CustomCategoryAttribute/etc:-

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute>
            <version>0.0.1</version>
        </Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute>
    </modules>
 
    <global>
        <resources>
            <add_category_attribute>
                <setup>
                    <module>Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute</module>
                    <class>Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Mysql4_Setup</class>
                </setup>
                <connection>
                    <use>core_setup</use>
                </connection>
            </add_category_attribute>
            <add_category_attribute_write>
                <connection>
                    <use>core_write</use>
                </connection>
            </add_category_attribute_write>
            <add_category_attribute_read>
                <connection>
                    <use>core_read</use>
                </connection>
            </add_category_attribute_read>
        </resources>
    </global>
</config>

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute>

</Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute>

</modules>

<add_category_attribute>

<setup>

<module>Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute</module>

<class>Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Mysql4_Setup</class>

</setup>

<use>core_setup</use>

</connection>

</add_category_attribute>

<add_category_attribute_write>

<use>core_write</use>

</connection>

</add_category_attribute_write>

<add_category_attribute_read>

</connection>

</add_category_attribute_read>

</resources>

</global>

</config>

Create the file mysql4-install-0.0.1.php, adding the below and place it in CustomCategoryAttribute/sql/add_category_attribute:-

<?php
$this->startSetup();
$this->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'title_override', array(
    'group'         => 'General Information',
    'input'         => 'text',
    'type'          => 'varchar',
    'label'         => 'Title Override',
    'backend'       => '',
    'visible'       => true,
    'required'      => false,
    'visible_on_front' => true,
    'global'        => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,
));
 
$this->endSetup();

<?php

$this->startSetup();

$this->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'title_override', array(

'group' => 'General Information',

'input' => 'text',

'type' => 'varchar',

'label' => 'Title Override',

'backend' => '',

'visible' => true,

'required' => false,

'visible_on_front' => true,

'global' => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,

));

$this->endSetup();

Create the file Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute.xml, adding the below and place it in /app/etc/modules:-

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute>
            <active>true</active>
            <codePool>community</codePool>
        </Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute>
    </modules>
</config>

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute>

<codePool>community</codePool>

</Your_Namespace_CustomCategoryAttribute>

</modules>

</config>

When you refresh a page on the front end, the custom category attribute will be added into the database.

After this step, you’ll notice an extra field on the ‘General Information’ tab of the edit category page in the Magento back office like the below:-

Finally, all that is left is to use the custom category attribute on the category pages if it exists.

Navigate to /app/design/frontend/Your_Package/Your_Theme/template/catalog/category/view.phtml and add replace:-

<h1><?php echo $_helper->categoryAttribute($_category, $_category->getName(), 'name') ?></h1>

1	<h1><?php echo $_helper->categoryAttribute($_category, $_category->getName(), 'name') ?></h1>

With the following:-

<?php if($_customAttribute = $this->getCurrentCategory()->getTitleOverride()): ?>
	<h1><?php echo $_helper->categoryAttribute($_category, $_customAttribute, 'title_override') ?></h1>
<?php else: ?>
	<h1><?php echo $_helper->categoryAttribute($_category, $_category->getName(), 'name') ?></h1>
<?php endif; ?>

<?php if($_customAttribute = $this->getCurrentCategory()->getTitleOverride()): ?>

<h1><?php echo $_helper->categoryAttribute($_category, $_customAttribute, 'title_override') ?></h1>

<?php else: ?>

<h1><?php echo $_helper->categoryAttribute($_category, $_category->getName(), 'name') ?></h1>

<?php endif; ?>

And if implementing the above isn’t your cup of tea, our guys at ClubnetSEM have kindly packaged the above up for you to download. You should ideally move the change to the category view.phtml template though into your theme’s version.

Tags: attributes category attribute

Geoff Jackson

Geoff Jackson (more commonly known by his online pseudonym zigojacko) is the founder of Design Haven and The Clubnet Group which hosts numerous agencies including the most widely recognised of them, Clubnet Digital, a full service digital marketing and creative design/development agency. He also has a personal blog but it doesn't get updated as much as he'd like.

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Mike L says:

June 14, 2014 at 1:31 pm

This is awesome, great tutorial – thanks!

Reply
- Geoff Jackson says:
  
  December 4, 2014 at 9:43 am
  
  No problem Mike, glad you liked it.
  
  Reply
Mike M says:

December 3, 2014 at 3:24 am

I downloaded all the files and uploaded them to my server. Then I opened the specified category view.phtml file and replaced the designated code. The backend category general tab does not reflect the Title Override field.

What did I leave out?

Reply
Mike M says:

December 3, 2014 at 4:08 am

Nevermind, I just needed to disable the cache. First I tried to refresh the cache and the site crashed. Luckily I turned it off and then back on and it’s working!

Reply
- Geoff Jackson says:
  
  December 4, 2014 at 9:43 am
  
  Glad you got it sorted Mike 🙂
  
  Reply
tony says:

April 11, 2015 at 1:39 pm

Hey Geoff,

I completed and uploaded the files. I see the new title override and updated my themes view.phtml file. Still the h1 is the category folder name. I can’t figure out why?

Reply
- Geoff Jackson says:
  
  April 13, 2015 at 8:54 am
  
  Hey Tony, did you clear your cache? You won’t see the change in the frontend until you’ve cleared your cache in Magento.
  
  Reply
Manoj says:

January 27, 2016 at 1:56 pm

It will be work in api also?

Reply