Categories Element

Last Update: August 5, 2026

The Avada Categories (Terms) Element replaces the functionality of the old Avada Categories Widget, and allows you to display not just post categories, but any arbitrary taxonomy anwhere on your site, in exactly the way you want. You can also use it in Layout sections, such as single blog post layouts and archives layouts. Read on to see the complete list of options.

How To Use The Categories Element

The Categories Element has a relatively simple function, to display a selected list of categories (or other taxonomy). These will depend on what you have installed and your custom post types, but can be things like tags, product tags, brands, portfolio categories, portfolio skills, event categories, faq categiories and more.

Just add the Element into the page or layout section, and configure it to display what you want. You can choose the terms to display, you can exclude certain categories, you can order them as you like, display them as a list or a dropdown, and you have full control over the styling on the Design tab. The example of the element below displays the top level documentation categories of this site.

Element Options

Note: Please note that the displayed option screens below show ALL the available options for the element. If you have Avada’s Option Network Dependencies turned on, you will only see options relevant to your selections, and so the options screen may look somewhat different.

General

HeadingDescription
TaxonomySelect the taxonomy whose terms should be displayed. "From Current Archive" takes it from the archive the element is rendered on, so one layout section can serve every taxonomy. It uses the categories of the post type on a post type archive or a single post, and falls back to the blog categories where there is nothing to go by, which includes the preview in the builder. The term fields below are not available with it, because the taxonomy is only known while rendering.
Terms To DisplayChoose which terms should be pulled in. "Children Of Current Term" falls back to the top level when the page is not a term archive.
Parent CategorySelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude CategoriesSelect the categories that should not be displayed.
Exclude TagsSelect the tags that should not be displayed.
Parent BrandSelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude BrandsSelect the brands that should not be displayed.
Parent CategorySelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude Product CategoriesSelect the product categories that should not be displayed.
Exclude Product TagsSelect the product tags that should not be displayed.
Parent Portfolio CategoriesSelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude Portfolio CategoriesSelect the portfolio categories that should not be displayed.
Parent Portfolio SkillsSelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude Portfolio SkillsSelect the portfolio skills that should not be displayed.
Exclude Portfolio TagsSelect the portfolio tags that should not be displayed.
Parent FAQ CategoriesSelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude FAQ CategoriesSelect the faq categories that should not be displayed.
Parent Element TypeSelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude Element TypeSelect the element type that should not be displayed.
Parent CategorySelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude CategorySelect the category that should not be displayed.
Parent Avada SliderSelect the term whose children should be displayed.
Exclude Avada SlidersSelect the avada sliders that should not be displayed.
Order ByDefines how the terms should be ordered.
OrderDefines the sorting order of the terms.
Number Of TermsSet the maximum number of top level terms to display. Set to 0 to display all.
Hide Empty TermsChoose to hide terms that have no posts assigned.
Display TypeSelect how the terms should be displayed. The select navigates to the selected term.
Collapse To Select OnChoose to replace the list with a select on smaller screens. This keeps long, nested lists usable on mobile. Both are output and swapped at the breakpoint, so the terms are in the markup twice.
Select LabelThe text of the first, empty select option. Leave empty for the default.
LayoutChoose a stacked list or an inline, wrapping row of terms. The inline layout is always flat.
Nest Child TermsChoose to display child terms nested below their parent. Turn off for a flat list. Not available for the inline layout.
Child Terms DisplayChoose how nested child terms behave. "Current Branch Only" shows the children of the active term, "Accordion" adds a toggle to each parent.
Maximum DepthSet the maximum number of levels to display. Set to 0 for unlimited.
IconSelect the icon that should be displayed in front of every term name. Leave empty for no icon.
Show Term ImageChoose to display the term image, which is set in the Avada term options. WooCommerce product categories use the category image of WooCommerce. The image is displayed after the icon, so both can be used together.
Show Post CountChoose to display the number of posts in each term.
Post Count FormatChoose how the post count should be formatted.
Show "All" ItemChoose to add an item that links to the archive of the taxonomy post type.
"All" Item TextThe text of the "All" item. Leave empty for the default.
Highlight Current TermChoose to highlight the term of the page being viewed, as well as its parents.
Element VisibilityChoose to show or hide the element on small, medium or large screens. You can choose more than one at a time.
Element Sticky VisibilityChoose to show or hide the element, based on the current mode (normal or sticky) of its parent container. You can choose more than one at a time.
CSS ClassAdd a class to the wrapping HTML element.
CSS IDAdd an ID to the wrapping HTML element.

Design

HeadingDescription
Element Max WidthSet a maximum width for the element, so that it does not have to span the full width of its column. Leave empty to use the full width. Enter value including any valid CSS unit, ex: 300px.
MarginEnter values including any valid CSS unit, ex: 4%.
Inline AlignmentChoose how the terms align within the column.
Item Content AlignmentSelect the content alignment within each term item. "Space Between" pushes the post count to the far side.
Accordion Toggle PositionChoose if the accordion toggle is pinned to the end of the term item, or if it follows the term content and is aligned together with it.
Item SpacingSet the space between the term items. In the stacked layout the space is split evenly above and below each item, so a separator line ends up centered within it. Enter value including any valid CSS unit, ex: 10px.
Item PaddingSet the padding inside each term item. Enter values including any valid CSS unit, ex: 10px.
Item Border StyleSelect the style of the border around each term item.
Item Border SizeSet the border size of each term item. The border follows the child term settings, so it is indented with the inset indent style and frames the whole block when child terms are grouped. It is independent of the separator. Enter values including any valid CSS unit, ex: 1px.
Item Border RadiusSet the border radius of the term item background. Enter values including any valid CSS unit, ex: 4px.
Child Terms IndentSet the indentation of each nested level, in pixels.
Child Terms Indent StyleChoose if the indentation also insets the item background and separator, or if those keep spanning the full width.
Group Child TermsChoose to visually group child terms with their parent term. When enabled, the item spacing and the separators are only used between the top level terms, so a parent and its open child terms read as one connected block. The item border radius is applied to that block instead of each single item. Works best combined with an item background color and the full width indent style.
Separator SizeSet the thickness of the separator, in pixels.
Separator StyleSelect the style of the separator between the term items.
Separator ColorControls the color of the separator between the term items.
Term TypographyControls the typography of the term names. Leave empty for the global font family.
Post Count TypographyControls the typography of the post count. Leave empty to inherit the term typography.
Icon SizeSet the size of the icon. Enter value including any valid CSS unit, ex: 16px. Leave empty to inherit the term font size.
Term Image WidthSet the width of the term image, in pixels.
Term Image Border RadiusSet the border radius of the term image, in pixels.
Media SpacingSet the space between the icon, the image and the term name, in pixels.
Colors
Term Text ColorControls the text color of the term names. Leave empty to inherit the global link color.
Term Background ColorControls the background color of each term item.
Term Border ColorControls the border color of each term item. Leave empty to inherit the global separator color.
Post Count ColorControls the color of the post count. Leave empty to inherit the term text color.
Icon ColorControls the color of the icon. Leave empty to inherit the term text color.
Accordion Toggle ColorControls the color of the accordion toggle icon. Leave empty to inherit the term text color.
Select Text ColorControls the text color of the closed select field. The list of options that opens on click is drawn by the browser and can not be styled.
Select Background ColorControls the background color of the closed select field. The list of options that opens on click is drawn by the browser and can not be styled.
Select Border ColorControls the border color of the select field.
Select Focus Border ColorControls the border color of the select field on hover and while it is focused.
Select Border RadiusSet the border radius of the select, in pixels.
Select HeightSet the height of the select field. Enter value including any valid CSS unit, ex: 40px.

Extras

HeadingDescription
Conditional RenderingAdd conditional rendering logic for the element. The element will only be part of the post / page contents, if the set conditions are met. NOTE: Server cache can interfere with results.
Animation TypeSelect the type of animation to use on the element.
Direction of AnimationSelect the incoming direction for the animation.
Animation ColorSelect the color of the animation
Speed of AnimationType in speed of animation in seconds (0.1 - 5).
Animation DelaySelect the delay time after the animation starts(0 - 5).
Offset of AnimationControls when the animation should start.

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