1.9 RWD - Categories on left side in 3-column-layout

Question

I'm trying to show the categories on the left side in the 3-column-layout, but it doesn't really work. Am I required to edit the catalog.xml, or does changing to 3-column-layout already do everything? If it should, it doesn't work on my shop.

I've already cleaned the cache and tried reinstalling it. I'm working on a fresh install right now.

This is how it looks:

I have already tried the extension which exists for this purpose, but it isn't bug-free, so I would like to do it myself.

I am very thankful for any suggestions.

Answer 1

create local.xml app/desgin/frontend/rwd/default/layout/

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<layout version="0.1.0">

<!--
Default layout, loads most of the pages
-->

    <default>

        <!-- Mage_Catalog -->
        <reference name="left">

        <block type="catalog/navigation" name="catalog.leftnav" after="currency" template="catalog/navigation/myleft.phtml">
    <reference name="left">
</default>
</layout>

and then create a file myleft.phtml at app/desgin/frontend/rwd/default/template/catalog/navigation/

<?php $_categories = Mage::helper('category')->getStoreCategories() ?>
<?php $_count = is_array($_categories)?count($_categories):$_categories->count(); ?>
<?php if($_count): ?>
<div class="block block-layered-nav block-layered-nav--no-filters">
    <div class="block-title">
        <strong><span><?php echo $this->__('Browse By') ?></span></strong>
    </div>
    <div class="block-content toggle-content open">
        <p class="block-subtitle block-subtitle--filter"><?php echo $this->__('Filter') ?></p>
        <dl id="narrow-by-list2">
            <dt><?php echo $this->__('Category') ?></dt>
            <dd>
                <ol>
                <?php foreach ($_categories as $_category): ?>
                    <?php if($_category->getIsActive()): ?>
                    <li>
                        <a href="<?php echo $this->getCategoryUrl($_category) ?>"<?php if ($this->isCategoryActive($_category)): ?> class="current"<?php endif; ?>>
                            <?php echo $this->escapeHtml($_category->getName()) ?>
                            <span class="count">(<?php echo $_category->getProductCount() ?>)</span>
                        </a>
                    </li>
                    <?php endif; ?>
                <?php endforeach ?>
                </ol>
            </dd>
        </dl>
        <script type="text/javascript">decorateDataList('narrow-by-list2')</script>
    </div>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>