--- title: "How to Add a Category Wise Filter in Custom Post Grid Layout in Elementor?" url: https://theplusaddons.com/docs/add-category-wise-filter-in-custom-post-grid-layout-in-elementor/ date: 2023-07-07 modified: 2026-09-14 lang: en author: "Aditya Sharma" description: "A long grid of posts asks the reader to do the sorting. A row of category buttons above it lets them jump straight to what they came for. The Category..." image: https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/How-to-Add-a-Category-Wise-Filter-in-Custom-Post-Grid-Layout-in-Elementor_-1024x536.jpg word_count: 820 --- # How to Add a Category Wise Filter in Custom Post Grid Layout in Elementor? ## - Utilizes the Dynamic Smart Showcase widget from The Plus Addons for Elementor to add a category filter to custom post grids. - Enables the Category Wise Filter toggle in the Extra Options tab after selecting Magazine Filter style and appropriate post type. - Requires a custom post type with a custom taxonomy, created using Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), to implement category filtering for custom content. A long grid of posts asks the reader to do the sorting. A row of category buttons above it lets them jump straight to what they came for. The **Category Wise Filter** setting of the **Dynamic Smart Showcase** widget from The Plus Addons for Elementor adds that row and filters the cards in place, without reloading the page. *To check the complete feature overview documentation of The Plus Addons for Elementor Dynamic Smart Showcase widget, [click here](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/dynamic-smart-showcase-widget-settings-overview/).* ***Requirement - This widget is a part of The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro, make sure it's installed & activated to enjoy all its powers.*** [LIVE WIDGET LINK](https://theplusaddons.com/elementor-listing/?utm_source=tpae&utm_medium=docs&utm_campaign=text#dynamic-listing-wgts) ## Before You Start - **Edition:** **Pro** — Dynamic Smart Showcase is only in The Plus Addons for Elementor Pro. With the Pro plugin switched off the widget is not in the editor at all, and a page that already uses it shows nothing where the widget was.- **Widget to enable:** Dynamic Smart Showcase, switched on under **The Plus Addons > Widgets**.- **Style must be Magazine Filter:** the **Category Wise Filter** section only exists when **Style** is set to **Magazine Filter**.- **You need published content:** the widget queries your site. Posts, pages or a custom post type with published entries must already exist, or the widget prints *Posts not found*.- **Categories must be assigned:** a category with no posts in it produces an empty result when its button is clicked. ## How to Add the Filter - Drag the **Dynamic Smart Showcase** widget onto your page.- In **Layout**, set **Style** to **Magazine Filter** and pick a **News Layout**.- Set **Post Type** to **Posts**.- Open **Content Source** and raise **Maximum Posts Display** from **1**.- Open the **Category Wise Filter** section, which sits just above **Extra Options**, and switch **Category Wise Filter** on. With Magazine Filter selected the two Post Ticker sections are hidden, so it follows **Content Source** directly. ![The Category Wise Filter section open in the panel with the Category Wise Filter toggle switched on and its settings below](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/smartshowcase-category-filter.webp) ## The Result A button row appears above the grid. Clicking one keeps only that category's cards: ![Front-end post grid with a From the blog heading and All, Design, Performance, Tutorials, Uncategorized and WordPress filter buttons above the cards](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/smartshowcase-result-filter.webp) ![Filtering the post grid by category on the front end](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dynamic-smart-showcase-category-wise-filter-demo.gif) ## Filter Settings | Setting | What it does | Default | | ------- | ------------ | ------- | | **All Filter Category Text** | The label on the button that shows everything. | All | | **Only Show Next Previous** | Hides the whole button row and leaves just the arrow pair. | off | | **Category Filter Style** | Four presets for the buttons. Styles 2 and 3 print a post count beside each label; style 4 collapses the row behind a **Filters** toggle. | style-1 | | **Filter Hover Style** | Four hover treatments for those buttons. | style-1 | | **Filter Alignment** | Left, Center or Right. | Center | | **Heading** (in **Layout**) | The text to the left of the button row. | The Plus | ![Category Filter Style dropdown in the Category Wise Filter section](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/smartshowcase-filter-style.webp) ## Filtering a Custom Post Type The same switch works for a custom post type, using its own taxonomy instead of categories. - Set **Post Type** to your custom post type.- In **Content Source**, pick the taxonomy in the **Taxonomies** dropdown. It lists registered taxonomy names, so “Book Authors” appears as `book_author`.- Switch **Category Wise Filter** on as before. ![Category Wise Filter switched on for the Books post type with the book_author taxonomy selected](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/smartshowcase-cpt-category-filter.webp) The buttons now carry the term names from that taxonomy: ![Front-end book grid filtered by the Book Authors taxonomy, with All, Lena Fischer, Mira Oduya and Paul Adler buttons](https://theplusaddons.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/smartshowcase-result-filter-cpt.webp) ## How It Behaves - Filtering happens in the browser. The cards already on the page are shown or hidden — nothing is re-fetched and the page does not reload.- The clicked button is marked active and the **All** button brings every card back.- With **Category Filter Style** set to style 2 or 3, the number beside each button counts the posts of that term *in this listing*.- Turning **Only Show Next Previous** on removes the buttons completely; the arrows page through the grid instead.- The arrow pair is always rendered, whether or not the buttons are shown. ## Limitations - **Category Wise Filter** only exists for the **Magazine Filter** style. The section is hidden for Magazine Slider and Post Ticker, and switching it on elsewhere has no effect.- The button row lists every term that has content anywhere on the site, not only the terms present in this listing. A term used elsewhere still gets a button, shows a count of 0 with styles 2 and 3, and filters to an empty grid.- Only posts already loaded can be filtered. Posts beyond **Maximum Posts Display** are not fetched when you click a button.- The arrows use Font Awesome icons. On a page with nothing else loading Font Awesome they can come out blank. ## Troubleshooting ### There is no Category Wise Filter section Set **Style** to **Magazine Filter** in the **Layout** section. The filter section is hidden for the other two styles. It is a section of its own, not part of **Extra Options**. ### A button shows nothing when clicked That category has no post inside this listing. Raise **Maximum Posts Display**, or clear the **Select Category** restriction in **Content Source**. ### The buttons disappeared **Only Show Next Previous** is on. Switch it off to get the button row back. ### My custom taxonomy terms are not on the buttons Pick the taxonomy in **Content Source > Taxonomies** first. Without it the widget falls back to the default taxonomy for that post type. ## Related Docs - [Dynamic Smart Showcase Widget Settings Overview](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/dynamic-smart-showcase-widget-settings-overview/)- [How to Create a Custom Post Grid Layout with Dynamic CPTs in Elementor?](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/create-a-custom-post-grid-layout-with-dynamic-cpts-in-elementor/)- [How to Show Custom Posts Based on Custom Taxonomy in Custom Post Grid Layout?](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/show-custom-posts-based-on-custom-taxonomy-in-custom-post-grid-layout/)- [How to Display Posts Using an AJAX Filter in Blog Listing?](https://theplusaddons.com/docs/display-posts-using-an-ajax-filter-in-blog-listing/)