Having a second left bar in the category page

Question

Well in my page I have in the left bar show the sub categories of the category when you enter the page of the category, but my client has required that I manage to put a second left bar below the first one, this has to show the brands of the products of the category; I have the sub category of brands, but I have no clue of how to put them as a second bar in the left side of the page.

I hope you guys can help me. Thanks in advantage.

Answer 1

To add a new block into left, you need a module, a layout xml, a block and a template.

Add Layout file to magento

<config>
    <frontend>
        <layout>
            <updates>
                <company_module>
                    <file>company_module.xml</file>
                </company_module>
            </updates>
        </layout>
    </frontend>
</config>

Add block to left

<the_layout_handle_of_your_choice>
    <reference name="left">
        <block type="your/type" template="your/module/template.phtml" />
    </reference>
</the_layout_handle_of_your_choice>

If you don't need a block to split logic and html, you can just use core/template here.

And in your template file you can show whatever you want:

<?php $brands = $this->getMyBrands(); ?>
<?php foreach($brands as $brand): ?>
...