Wordpress Drop down category as array for using in page builder

Question

I need wordpress category as drop down . So far my code

function cat_drop_down(){
  $categories_array = array();
  $categories = get_categories();
    foreach( $categories as $category ){
      $categories_array[] = $category->term_id;
    }
  return $categories_array;
}

This renders drop down perfectly but its not passing the category id . Its rendering html like this

<select data-setting="tab_title">               
   <option value="0">2</option>             
   <option value="1">14</option>                
   <option value="2">1</option>             
</select>

So I am only getting 0,1,2 values instead of 2,14,1 that category id's. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

You are partially correct , you are not passing cat id in your parameter. Try

$categories_array[ $category->term_id ] = $category->name;

Now you will get category id as drop down value.

Answer 2

      function cat_drop_down(){
      $categories_array = array();
      $args = array(
        'type'                     => 'post',
        'child_of'                 => 0,
        'parent'                   => '',
        'orderby'                  => 'name',
        'order'                    => 'ASC',
        'hide_empty'               => false,
        'hierarchical'             => 1,
        'exclude'                  => '',
        'include'                  => '',
        'number'                   => '',
        'taxonomy'                 => 'category',
        'pad_counts'               => false
    );

      $categories = get_categories($args);
        $i =0;
        foreach( $categories as $category ){
          $categories_array[$i]['id'] = $category->term_id;
          $categories_array[$i]['name'] = $category->name;
          $i++;
        }
      return $categories_array;
    }

    $cats = cat_drop_down();


    echo '<select data-setting="tab_title">';
    foreach($cats as $cat)
    {
        echo "<option value='".$cat['id']."'>".$cat['name']."</option>";
    }   
    echo '</select>';

Answer 3

There is a default wordpress function called . It will return all categoris in a list with category id.

wp_list_categories();

Answer 4

No, you're not doing anything wrong. Your array of category ids is fine. I understand that you're passing this array to page builder, which in turn, builds form's select dropdown. Values 0,1,2 are simply indexes from your $categories_array. If you still have access to your $categories_array, and the value of selected option is 1, then selected $id = $categories_array[1] - which is 14.

If you were to build your select dropdown, instead of your page builder, it could be like this:

<select data-setting="tab_title">               
   <option>2</option>             
   <option>14</option>                
   <option>1</option>             
</select>

Then you'll get selected category id directly.

If your page builder accepts an array of pairs - id, name, then you'll get select like in @Arun's answer. Of course, you will have to change the code of building your array, to the code suggested by @Arun.