Custom post type in submenu with custom meta box as a title with custom html

Question

I am trying to create a menu in wordpress using a custom post type as the main menu item at the top level and all of its childs are going to be included from the posts i create inside it.

The html i would like to try and create is:

<ul>
<li><a href='#'>Home</li>
<li><a href='#'>Products
    <ul>
        <li class='column'>
            <h2>Seating</h2>
            <ul>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class='column'>
            <h2>Desking</h2>
            <ul>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class='column'>
            <h2>Accessories</h2>
            <ul>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class='column'>
            <h2>column4</h2>
            <ul>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
                <li><a href='#'>Custom post link</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
    </ul>
</li>

I have created a custom post type like so:

register_post_type( 'products',
        array(
            'labels' => array(
                'name' => __( 'Products' ),
                'singular_name' => __( 'Product' )
            ),
            'show_ui' => true,

            'capability_type' =>  'post',
            'has_archive' => true,
            'show_in_nav_menus' => true,
            'rewrite' => array('slug' => 'products'),
            'supports' => array(
                'title',
                'editor',
                'custom-fields',
                'revisions',
                'thumbnail',
                'page-attributes'
            )
        )
    );

I also have on that custom post a custom meta box to select what category the product is in like so:

function products_category_meta_box_cb($post) {
    global $post;
    wp_nonce_field('products_category_nonce', 'products_category_meta_box_nonce');
    $values = get_post_custom($post->ID);

    $menu_value = isset($values['products_category']) ? esc_attr($values['products_category'][0]): '';

    $services_array = array('Seating' => 'seating', 'Desking' => 'desking', 'Accessories' => 'accessories');

    echo '<p><strong>Select the product category.</strong></p>';

    echo '<select name="products-category">';
    foreach ($services_array as $key => $value) {
        echo '<option value ="' . $value . '"' . selected($menu_value, $value, false) . '>' . $key . '</option>';
    }
    echo '</select>';
}

what i would like to do is for all of the seating products go inside one li with a class column so i can float them next to each other and the content of that li will be a title which it gets from that dropdown inside the post and then the custom post type links under that.

I hope that makes sense, I know this is quite a complicated question so please ask me if you need some more explanation.

Thanks for reading and would really appreciate your help

Alex

Answer 1

Why don't you just use the native WordPress Menus.. Go to Appearance > Menus. Then in your screen options, enable your custom post type (products). It'll appear in the left hand side.

Select all of your products you want in the menu, then you can customize the titles, and also add classes if you need to (again Screen Options).