CatBranchNest

Category Nested Branches provides a native WP_Widget for category trees. Use it in classic widget sidebars or through the Legacy Widget block.

Configure the title, depth, content counts, descendant counts, empty-category visibility, sorting and excluded category IDs. Depth 0 shows all levels; 1 shows roots; 2 shows roots and children.

Rendering uses wp_list_categories(), canonical WordPress category links and native cat-item, current-cat, current-cat-parent and children classes. Sidebar wrappers come from the theme.

Counts follow native WordPress taxonomy rules for published content. Descendant counts include deeper levels even when those levels are hidden by the display depth. Each eligible content item is counted once per parent. Sorting by count uses direct category counts, not padded totals. Exclusions omit a category and its descendants; they do not change stored categories or relationships.

No JavaScript, theme dependency, custom SQL, telemetry, remote requests or generated content. Only normal widget settings are saved. Theme styles control the appearance.

All interface strings are translatable with the catbranchnest text domain.