Show parent category if there is no subcategory

Question

I have this code. But when i enter in subcategory which has no own sub, it disappears. I want if has no subs return parent's subs.

$category->category_parent and $category->parent aren't returning parent cat id.

<div style="margin: 0 0 20px 0;">
      <?php $thisCat = get_categories(array('child_of'=>$_GET['cat']));
      if(empty($thisCat)){
                      $thisCat = get_categories(array('parent'=>$_GET['cat']));
      }
                foreach($thisCat as $cat) { ?>
                <div style="margin: 0 25px 0 0; display: inline-block;">
                <a style="font-size: 10pt; color: #777; font-weight: normal;" href="/?cat=<?php echo $cat->cat_ID; ?>"><?php echo $cat->name; ?></a><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-weight: bold; background: #f47a6d; padding: 0 4px 0 4px; color: white; border-radius: 1px; margin: -15px 0 0 -5px; position: absolute; text-align: center;"><?php echo $cat->count; ?></span>
                    </div>
                <?php }
      ?></div>

Example:

• Main category

  • Sub category 1 (has no sub cats)
  • Sub category 2 (has no sub cats)

When i go to "Sub category 1" and "Sub category 2" url i want to show "Main category's" sub categories ("Sub category 1", "Sub category 2") if "Sub Category 1" and "Sub Category 2" has no its own sub categories.

Answer 1

Your question is not that clear, I suggest you to improve your question.

You can try adding array parameter hide_empty to false in this case "0" so that it shows all the category even the one with no post.

$thisCat = get_categories(array('child_of'=>$_GET['cat'], 'hide_empty'=>0));

You can also refer the WordPress get_categories Codex

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

This solved problem. It gives subcategory's parent category ID

<?php get_term_by('term_taxonomy_id',get_query_var('cat'),'category'); ?>

Answer 3

You can also use this code:

$thisCat = get_categories(array('parent'=> $_GET['cat']));