Skip to content

Taxonomy Views Integration

When to Use

Use taxonomy Views plugins when building Views that filter, sort, or display content by taxonomy terms.

Decision

Situation Use Plugin Why
Filter content by taxonomy term taxonomy_index_tid filter Specialized for taxonomy with hierarchy support
Contextual filter for term from URL taxonomy argument Filter view by term ID from path (e.g., /taxonomy/term/123)
Add term fields to node views node_term_data relationship Join nodes to terms through taxonomy_index table
Expose filter with autocomplete taxonomy_index_tid with type: textfield Better UX for large vocabularies
Show hierarchical dropdown taxonomy_index_tid with hierarchy: true Displays indented terms

Pattern

Exposed filter with autocomplete: 

# In view config (simplified)
display:
  default:
    display_options:
      filters:
        field_tags_target_id:
          id: field_tags_target_id
          plugin_id: taxonomy_index_tid
          type: textfield
          vid: tags
          hierarchy: false

Argument for term page: 

# View displays content on /taxonomy/term/%
arguments:
  tid:
    id: tid
    plugin_id: taxonomy
    table: taxonomy_index
    field: tid

TaxonomyIndexTid Filter Options:

Option Values Purpose
type select, textfield Dropdown vs autocomplete
vid Vocabulary ID Limit terms to specific vocabulary
hierarchy boolean Show hierarchy in dropdown
limit boolean Restrict to vocabulary (use with vid)

Common Mistakes

  • Wrong: Using entity reference filter instead of taxonomy_index_tid → Right: Use taxonomy-specific filter for term reference fields (supports hierarchy)
  • Wrong: Exposing filter without vocabulary restriction → Right: Always set vid and limit: true for cleaner UX
  • Wrong: Not enabling hierarchy when needed → Right: Enable hierarchy: true for navigational taxonomies
  • Wrong: Forgetting taxonomy_index table limitation → Right: Only indexes nodes by default; for other entities, use entity reference relationship
  • Wrong: Deep hierarchy in exposed filters → Right: Consider autocomplete widget for deep hierarchies (>3 levels)

See Also

  • Term Management
  • Taxonomy Permissions & Access
  • Reference: /core/modules/taxonomy/src/Plugin/views/filter/TaxonomyIndexTid.php (lines 159-176)
  • Reference: /core/modules/taxonomy/src/Plugin/views/argument/Taxonomy.php
  • Reference: /core/modules/taxonomy/src/Plugin/views/relationship/NodeTermData.php