Magento – Layered Navigation & Static Blocks

It has recently become apparent to me that the Layered Navigation and Static Block solutions that I have previously covered do not work well together. There are two outcomes:

1. If you call the subcategory_listing static block rather than displaying products, the layered navigation will not work as it is searching through objects that don’t exist on the page. Therefore, if using this method you want to set ‘Is Anchor’ to ‘No’. This will prevent the layered avigation from showing meaning your customers won’t be frustrated by a non-working link.

2. If you would like the layered navigation to remain in use then you will have to remove the static block listing and just display products. You still get all the subcategories listed in the left hand menu, but it may not be as eye catching as the visual subcategories. If you decide to use this option you need to set ‘Is Anchor’ to ‘Yes’.

Ultimately, whichever you choose you’ll have a decent method of navigating the site. I’m more inclined to go with the layered navigation method due to the extra options it provides. Amazon is also a user of this method of navigation and it hasn’t done them any harm…