How to Move the Top Menu Underneath the Cart & Search in the Header
As a WordPress developer, you may have encountered the need to rearrange the layout of your website's header to create a more intuitive and visually appealing user experience. One common task is to move the top menu navigation below the cart and search features in the header. This can help streamline the user flow and make it easier for visitors to access the key functionalities on your site.
In this blog post, we'll walk through the steps to achieve this layout change using a simple code snippet that leverages the output buffer in WordPress.
Understanding the Problem
The default Storefront theme in WordPress places the top menu navigation at the top of the header, with the cart and search components positioned below it. However, many website owners and designers prefer to have the cart and search features more prominently displayed, with the top menu navigation relegated to a secondary position.
Here's an example of the default header layout:
+-----------------------------------+
| Top Menu Navigation |
+-----------------------------------+
| Cart | Search |
+-----------------------------------+
And the desired layout:
+-----------------------------------+
| Cart | Search |
+-----------------------------------+
| Top Menu Navigation |
+-----------------------------------+
The Solution: Using Output Buffering
To achieve the desired layout, we can leverage the power of output buffering in WordPress. Output buffering allows us to capture the HTML output of specific functions and then rearrange the order in which they are displayed.
Here's the code snippet that you can use to move the top menu navigation below the cart and search components:
function storefront_top_cart() {
// Start the output buffer
ob_start();
// Check if WooCommerce is activated
if (is_woocommerce_activated()) {
// Determine the current-menu-item class
if (is_cart()) {
$class = 'current-menu-item';
} else {
$class = '';
}
// Output the cart and search components
?>
<div class="hom-cart-menu">
<form role="search" method="get" class="woocommerce-product-search" action="<?php echo esc_url(home_url('/')); ?>">
<label class="screen-reader-text" for="woocommerce-product-search-field-<?php echo isset($index) ? absint($index) : 0; ?>"><?php esc_html_e('Search for:', 'woocommerce'); ?></label>
<input type="search" id="woocommerce-product-search-field-<?php echo isset($index) ? absint($index) : 0; ?>" class="search-field" placeholder="<?php echo esc_attr__('Search products…', 'woocommerce'); ?>" value="<?php echo get_search_query(); ?>" name="s" /><button type="submit" value="<?php echo esc_attr_x('Search', 'submit button', 'woocommerce'); ?>">
<i class="fa fa-search"></i>
</button>
<input type="hidden" name="post_type" value="product" />
</form>
<ul class="site-header-cart menu top-cart">
<li class="<?php echo esc_attr($class); ?>">
<?php storefront_cart_top_link(); ?>
</li>
<?php the_widget('WC_Widget_Cart', 'title='); ?>
</ul>
</div>
<?php
}
// Fetch the cached output
$data = ob_get_contents();
// End and clear the output buffer
ob_end_clean();
// Return the modified output
return $data;
}
function storefront_cart_top_link() {
// Start the output buffer
ob_start();
?>
<a class="cart-contents" href="<?php echo esc_url(WC()->cart->get_cart_url()); ?>" title="<?php _e('View your shopping cart', 'storefront'); ?>">
<?php echo wp_kses_data(WC()->cart->get_cart_subtotal()); ?> || <span class="count"><?php echo wp_kses_data(sprintf(_n('%d item', '%d items', WC()->cart->get_cart_contents_count(), 'storefront'), WC()->cart->get_cart_contents_count())); ?></span>
</a>
<?php
// Fetch the cached output
$data = ob_get_contents();
// End and clear the output buffer
ob_end_clean();
// Return the modified output
return $data;
}
Here's how the code works:
- The
storefront_top_cart()
function is responsible for rendering the cart and search components in the header.
- We start the output buffer using
ob_start()
, which allows us to capture the HTML output of the function.
- We check if the WooCommerce plugin is activated, as the cart and search functionality is provided by WooCommerce.
- We determine the
current-menu-item
class for the cart link based on the current page.
- We output the cart and search components using HTML markup.
- We fetch the cached output using
ob_get_contents()
and then clear the output buffer using ob_end_clean()
.
- Finally, we return the modified output, which can now be used to replace the original header layout.
The storefront_cart_top_link()
function is a helper function that generates the HTML for the cart link, which is then used within the storefront_top_cart()
function.
By using this code snippet, you can easily move the top menu navigation below the cart and search components in your WordPress header, creating a more intuitive and visually appealing layout for your website.
Implementing the Changes
To implement the changes, you'll need to add the code snippet to your WordPress theme's functions.php file or a custom plugin. Here are the steps:
- Open your theme's functions.php file or create a new custom plugin.
- Paste the code snippet from above into the file.
- Save the file and refresh your WordPress website.
You should now see the top menu navigation positioned below the cart and search components in the header.
Conclusion
Rearranging the layout of your WordPress header can have a significant impact on the user experience of your website. By moving the top menu navigation below the cart and search features, you can create a more intuitive and visually appealing layout that helps visitors easily access the key functionalities on your site.
The code snippet provided in this article demonstrates how to use output buffering in WordPress to achieve this layout change. By understanding and applying this technique, you can customize the header of your WordPress website to better suit the needs of your users and improve your overall conversion rates.
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