Category Filtering [Solved]

Is it possible to filter top-level categories, and either exclude or only show them?

I'm working with a list and detail set up that's filtered by category similar to the Portfolio with Categories tutorial (https://docs.grabaperch.com/video/v/portfolio-with-categories/).

I've got a set of categories set up called Archive with top-level categories Lifestyle and Beauty, each of which have sub-categories for a year.

The paths look like this:

archive archive/lifestyle archive/lifestyle/2013 archive/lifestyle/2014 etc. archive/beauty archive/beauty/2013 archive/beauty/2014 etc.

I've got an index.php page that displays one item from each of the two categories using perch_content_custom which works fine.

perch_content_custom('Past Boxes', array(
    'template' => '_boxes/_past_box_list.html',
    'category' => 'archive/lifestyle',
    'count' => '1',
));
perch_content_custom('Past Boxes', array(
    'template' => '_boxes/_past_box_list.html',
    'category' => 'archive/beauty',
    'count' => '1',
));

I've also got a category.php page that displays the items in a category (as per the tutorial) like so:

if (perch_get('cat')) {
    perch_category(perch_get('cat'),array(
        'template'=>'category_single_pastboxes.html',
    ));
    perch_content_custom('Past Boxes', array(
        'template' => '_boxes/_past_box_list.html',
        'page' => '/past-boxes/index.php',
        'count' => '12',
    ));
} else {
    perch_categories(array(
        'set' => 'archive',
    ));
}

This also works fine (everything I expect to display is displayed), but I'd like to be able to sort the list differently depending on the category using 'sort-order' => 'DESC', or 'sort-order' => 'ASC'.

Ideally I'd like to sort anything in the /archive/beauty or /archive/lifestyle to DESC but have the content output in the sub-categories /archive/beauty/2013 and /archive/lifestyle/2013 etc by ASC

I thought I could do this using two versions perch_content_custom() to show only the top categories and sort that, and then show everything but the top categories and filter that the other way.

I've tried the code below (hoping that !archive/lifestyle would only prevent the top-level), but this filters out the sub-categories too.

if (perch_get('cat')) {
    perch_category(perch_get('cat'),array(
        'template'=>'category_single_pastboxes.html',
    ));
    perch_content_custom('Past Boxes', array(
        'template' => '_boxes/_past_box_list.html',
        'page' => '/past-boxes/index.php',
        'category' => array(perch_get('cat'), '!archive/lifestyle'),
        'count' => '12',
        'sort' => '_ID',
        'sort-order' => 'DESC',
    ));
    perch_content_custom('Past Boxes', array(
        'template' => '_boxes/_past_box_list.html',
        'page' => '/past-boxes/index.php',
        'category' => array(perch_get('cat'), '!archive/beauty'),
        'count' => '12',
        'sort' => '_ID',
        'sort-order' => 'DESC',
    ));
} else {
    perch_categories(array(
        'set' => 'archive',
    ));
}

Alternatively, if I can't do that I'd like to remove the top level categories from the navigation I have, or display them through their own template so I can remove the link on them so the top level pages wouldn't be filterable.

I'm using perch_categories() to display the navigation:

perch_categories(array(
     'set' => 'archive',
     'template' => 'category_nav_pastboxes.html',
));

This gives me a navigation like below.

Lifestyle 2013 2014 2015 Beauty 2013 2014 2015

I've tried using start and count for the navigation, but didn't really get anywhere with that as I would need to know how many sub-categories there is between each top level category…and that would require annual updates to that template.

Essentially I am trying to create a past box archive that will list an item for each month of a year within each category. The lifestyle or beauty top level categories should show the most recent items and DESC, while each sub-category/year should ASC and display January to December.

Is this at all possible, or have I taken the wrong approach from the start?