Terms not appearing in wp_dropdown_categories

Question

I am trying to use wp_dropdown_categories at front end. I got the dropdown box with default "uncategorized", the rest of the category is not there.

function cats_dropdown(){
    require_once(ABSPATH . '/wp-admin/includes/template.php');
    $args = array('taxonomy' => 'category');
?>
  <div>
     <?php wp_dropdown_categories($args); ?>
  </div>
<?php
}

In the same function, if I try to output wp_terms_checklist, it works. This is confusing. Anything I missed in the dropdown?

Answer 1

It could be that it won't show empty categories, categories that has no posts attached to them.

Try to change $args = array('taxonomy' => 'category'); to $args = array('taxonomy' => 'category', 'hide_empty' => 0);

Answer 2

By default, wp_dropdown_categories only displays the categories that have posts. Set hide_empty argument to false to display all categories, even those without posts.

$args = array(
    'taxonomy'   => 'category'
    'hide_empty' => false
);
wp_dropdown_categories($args);

On the other hand, wp_terms_checklist will display all categories, even if they are empty.

Answer 3

You shouldn't need to define the taxonomy of category as that's the default. Have you tried just using the following?

<?php $args = array('show_option_none' => 'Categories', hide_empty => '0'); ?>
<?php wp_dropdown_categories($args); ?>