Overview

The [dlp_category_sections] shortcode automatically loops through all doc_categories taxonomy terms and renders each one as a named section: a heading followed by a [doc_library] document grid scoped to that category.

Use it on any page where you want a self-maintaining, one-shortcode “all categories” document index — new categories appear automatically without editing the page.

Basic Usage

[dlp_category_sections]

This produces an <h2> heading and a 4-column grid for every non-empty category, sorted A–Z.

Attributes

Attributes fall into two groups: section-control attributes (consumed by this shortcode) and pass-through attributes (forwarded to every inner [doc_library] call).

Section-Control Attributes

These attributes control which categories are shown and how the section headings are rendered. They are not passed to [doc_library].

Attribute	Default	Allowed Values	Description
`heading_tag`	`h2`	`h1` `h2` `h3` `h4` `h5` `h6`	HTML heading element used for each category name.
`parent`	(empty)	Category slug or numeric term ID	Restricts output to direct and indirect descendants of this category. Omit to show all top-level categories.
`include_categories`	(empty — all)	Comma-separated category slugs	Whitelist of categories to show. All others are skipped.
`exclude_categories`	(empty)	Comma-separated category slugs	Blacklist of categories to hide.
`orderby`	`name`	`name` `count` `slug` `term_id` `id` `none`	Field used to sort categories.
`order`	`ASC`	`ASC` `DESC`	Sort direction.
`empty`	`hide`	`hide` `show`	Whether to render a section for categories that currently have zero documents.

Note on include_categories vs exclude_categories: You can use both together. include_categories is applied first (as a whitelist), then exclude_categories removes any overlap.

Pass-Through Attributes

These attributes are forwarded verbatim to every [doc_library] call generated by the shortcode. The defaults below provide a sensible out-of-the-box grid presentation.

Attribute	Default	Description
`layout`	`grid`	Display layout for each category grid.
`grid_columns`	`4`	Number of columns when `layout="grid"`.
`rows_per_page`	`-1`	Number of documents to show per category. `-1` shows all.
`search_box`	`false`	Show a search box inside each category section.
`filters`	`false`	Show filter controls inside each category section.
`pagination`	`false`	Show pagination inside each category section.

Any other attribute supported by [doc_library] can also be added — it will be passed through to every category grid automatically.

HTML Output Structure

The shortcode produces the following markup:

<div class="dlp-category-sections">

  <div class="dlp-category-section">
    <h2 class="dlp-category-section-heading">Category Name</h2>
    <div class="dlp-category-section-grid">
      <!-- [doc_library] output for this category -->
    </div>
  </div>

  <!-- Repeated for each category -->

</div>

CSS classes for styling:

Class	Element
`dlp-category-sections`	Outer wrapper for the entire block
`dlp-category-section`	Wrapper for a single category section
`dlp-category-section-heading`	The category heading (`h2` by default)
`dlp-category-section-grid`	Container for the `[doc_library]` grid output

Examples

1. Default — all categories, 4-column grid

[dlp_category_sections]

2. Use `h3` headings and a 3-column grid

[dlp_category_sections heading_tag="h3" grid_columns="3"]

3. Show only sub-categories of a parent category

[dlp_category_sections parent="policies"]

Replace policies with the slug of your parent category. You can also use the numeric term ID:

[dlp_category_sections parent="42"]

4. Whitelist specific categories, sorted by document count (most first)

[dlp_category_sections include_categories="forms,guides,templates" orderby="count" order="DESC"]

5. Show all categories including empty ones, switch to list layout

[dlp_category_sections empty="show" layout="list"]

Notes

Automatic updates. Because the shortcode queries live taxonomy terms on render, adding or renaming a category is reflected on the page without any manual edits.
Pass-through scope. Pass-through attributes apply to all category grids equally. If you need different settings for individual categories, use separate [doc_library category="slug"] shortcodes instead.
empty="show" and zero-count categories. When empty="show", a section heading and an empty grid wrapper are still rendered for categories with no documents. The visual result depends on how [doc_library] handles an empty result set.
include_categories uses slugs. Term IDs are not supported for include_categories or exclude_categories; use slugs only.
parent accepts slug or ID. Unlike the include/exclude attributes, parent accepts either a category slug or a numeric term ID.