Displays tags in a dropdown menu with option to trim long tag names, display post counts, and exclude specific tags.

Description

Creates a dropdown list of tags as an alternative to the tag cloud. Widget provides options to specify dropdown label and trim long tag names to fit theme constraints, as well as display post counts. Widget can also exclude tags based on tag slugs. Dropdown function can also be called directly for use in non-widget themes using <?php if(function_exists("TDW_direct")) {TDW_direct("limit", "count", "exclude_tags");} ?>.

Compatibility

The Tag Dropdown Widget is compatible with WordPress 2.3 – 2.9.2.

Installation

1. Upload tag-dropdown-widget.php to /wp-content/plugins/.
2. Activate plugin through the WordPress Plugins menu.
3. Activate widget from the Appearance > Widgets menu in WordPress. (In earlier versions, Widgets are found under the Presentation menu.)
4. Set dropdown label and maximum tag length from the widget’s options pane. To exclude tags, enter a comma-separated list of slugs in the space provided.

Frequently Asked Questions

• If my theme does not support widgets, can I still use the plugin?
  • If not using a widget-enabled theme, insert the function <?php if(function_exists('TDW_direct')) {TDW_direct("limit", "count", "exclude_tags");} ?> where the dropdown should appear. Replace limit with the maximum tag length to display, using “0″ to display full tags. To display post counts, set count to “on”, otherwise count should be set to “off”. To exclude specific tags, replace exclude_tags with a comma-separated list of tag slugs, such as “general, wordpress, widget”.
• What happened to the makeTagDropdown() function?
  • To implement additional features via the function, version 1.6 introduces the TDW_direct function. For compatibility purposes, the makeTagDropdown function is still present, but it does not provide the features available with the new function.
• If the function is called directly, can tags be excluded?
  • To exclude tags when using the TDW_direct function, enter a comma-separated list of tag slugs as the function’s third option, enclosed in quotation marks. See the first FAQ for more information.
• If the function is called directly, can I display post counts?
  • Yes, post counts can be displayed by setting the TDW_direct function’s second option to “on”. See the first FAQ for more information.

Changelog

• 1.6
  • Add TDW_direct function.
  • Add count and exclusion options to new direct-implementaiton function (TDW_direct).
  • Corrects two XHTML validation errors.
• 1.5.2
  • Unloads tag exclusion list upon deactivation.
• 1.5.1
  • Moved plugin pages to ethitter.com.
• 1.5
  • Added option to display number of posts within each tag.
• 1.4
  • Added option to exclude tags based on comma-separated list of slugs.
• 1.3
  • Rewrote certain widget elements for compatibility back to version 2.3.
• 1.2
  • Added function to remove plugin settings when deactivated.
• 1.1
  • Added the ability to trim tag names when calling the function directly.

Upgrade Notice

• 1.6
  • Replaces makeTagDropdown with TDW_direct function, adds post count and exclusion options to direct-implementation function.
  • makeTagDropdown function retained for backwards compatibility, but will be phased out in a future release.
  • Corrects two XHTML validation errors.