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Taxonomy - Parent Field – how to build relation Region > Subregion

Link two taxonomy fields so that picking a value in the parent narrows the options in the child — Region and Subregion, or Make and Model. This guide shows how to set the parent field, assign terms to it, and hide the child field until the parent is chosen.

1 minute read

This option is available only for the “Taxonomy” type of field. We will show how to do it for Make and Model (e.g. BMW > M4).

Build the relation

  1. 1 Open Custom Fields

    Both the parent and the child have to be taxonomy fields. Create the ones you are missing from the Custom Fields screen.

    The Custom Fields screen in the theme panel, listing the Category, Video and Virtual Tour fields with their slugs and types, and an arrow pointing to the Add New Field button; the sidebar is labelled Listivo Panel.
  2. 2 Add the field as a Taxonomy

    Give the field a name, set Type to Taxonomy, and click Add Field.

    The Add New Field form with a Name box and the Type dropdown open, showing Taxonomy highlighted above Text, Rich Text, Number, Price, Location, Embed, Gallery, Attachments, Salary and Link, next to the Add Field button.
  3. 3 Point the child field at its parent

    Edit the field that will be the child — in this example Model — and set Parent taxonomies to the parent field.

    The Edit Field screen for the Model taxonomy, with Name, Slug, Required, Multilevel, Search Logic, Allow Multiple Values and Field dependency options, and Parent taxonomies at the bottom set to Make.
  4. 4 Assign terms while adding them

    Now you can assign Models to Makes. When you add a new term, choose its parent from the Parent Make dropdown.

    The Add New Model term screen with Name, Slug and Description fields and a Parent Make dropdown reading “Not set” above the Add New Model button; the sidebar lists Listings taxonomies including Make, Model and Vehicle Features.
  5. 5 Or assign them later

    You can also set the parent when you edit an existing option.

    The Edit Model screen for the term “8-series”, with Name and Slug filled in, Parent Make set to BMW, and an Update button below.

How it works on the front end

This is how the connection between Makes and Models behaves on the Submit Listing page of your front-end panel.

A submit form with Make set to BMW, the Model dropdown open below it showing a single option, 8-series, and an empty Mileage field measured in miles.

And on the search forms:

A search form with Vehicles, Cars and BMW already selected and the Model dropdown open, offering a single matching term, “8-series (1)”, alongside Min Price, Max Price, Min Year, Mileage and Vehicle Features fields.
Hide the child field until the parent is picked
On any search form you can switch on Disable until parent field is selected, so the child field stays greyed out until the reader chooses a parent value.
A search widget item panel with Field set to Model, Control set to Select, Searchable off, Term Count on, “When term has no results” set to Hide, “Disable until parent field is selected” switched on, and Terms Order set to Name.

Keep reading

Taxonomy - Multilevel Taxonomy - field dependency

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