Strange problem with displaying recent posts

richieboy · 16 Sep 2008 at 16:44

I'm using Wordpress and have been putting bits of PHP together to produce the following:

Code:

<h2>Similar recent articles</h2>
<div class="morecat">
<?php
$categories = get_the_category();
foreach ($categories as $category) :
?>
	<?php
	$thepost = $post;
	$currentpage = $post->ID;
	if ($post->ID == $currentpage) {
	$posts = get_posts('numberposts=6&category='. $category->term_id);
	} else {
	$posts = get_posts('numberposts=5&category='. $category->term_id);
	}
		foreach($posts as $post) :
		$values = get_post_meta($post->ID, "Image", true);
	if (isset($values[0])) {
	if ($post->ID !== $currentpage) { ?>
	<div class="morecatimg">
	<img src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/scripts/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo $values; ?>&amp;w=105&amp;h=105&amp;zc=1&amp;q=85" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
	<div class="morecattext">
	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
	</div>
	</div>
<?php }
} ?>
<?php endforeach; ?>
<?php endforeach; 
	$post = $thepost; ?>
</div>

This then displays the "Similar recent articles" section found on this page:

http://richl.com/2008/09/10/apple-release-iphone-21-this-friday/

It has five images and works a treat....on MOST of my pages! And this is the problem, here's an example:

http://richl.com/2007/10/08/sick-of-uk-house-prices/ and another:

http://richl.com/2007/04/28/second-quarterly-update-april-2007/

etc...etc...

I'd say around 80% of my pages are fine, but the rest display this additional image and im not sure why. So far i have echoed $currentpage and $post->ID and on every page they display the correct post ID twice (e.g. 6 and 6, 42 and 42, etc)...

Can anyone help?!

richieboy · 16 Sep 2008 at 18:37

I'll take the high road and assume everyone is stumped like me

Dang it!

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 13:11

Please somebody maybe just point me in the right direction or ask me for details or things to try?

L33 · 17 Sep 2008 at 13:51

try this (never used wordpress before just edited your code so it may not work, I'm unable to test it)

Code:

<h2>Similar recent articles</h2>
<div class="morecat">
<?php
	$categories = get_the_category();
	foreach ($categories as $category)
	{
		$currentpage = $post->ID;
		$posts = get_posts('numberposts=5&category='. $category->term_id);
		foreach($posts as $post)
		{
			$values = get_post_meta($post->ID, "Image", true);
			if (isset($values[0])) 
			{
				if ($post->ID !== $currentpage) 
 				{
 					  ?>
					  <div class="morecatimg">
					  <img src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/scripts/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo $values; ?>&amp;w=105&amp;h=105&amp;zc=1&amp;q=85" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
					  <div class="morecattext">
					  <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
					  </div>
					  </div><?php
	                  	}
			}
		}
	}		
?>
</div>

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:01

Thankyou for your help, i have swapped your code in but am having similar problems, see here:

http://richl.com/2008/07/07/o2-iphone-3g-preorders/
http://richl.com/2008/02/10/new-site-design-for-the-new-year/
http://richl.com/2008/09/10/apple-release-iphone-21-this-friday/

This now has 4 instead of 5 images...but if i go here:

http://richl.com/2007/04/28/second-quarterly-update-april-2007/
http://richl.com/2007/05/01/f-me-ive-added-some-content/

There is 5 images (what it should look like) and im not sure why. I can honestly say i have checked and double checked the pages and there is no difference, apart from the title and the content. The category is the same as they are all in the "News" category.

I really appreciate your help and am more than happy to tweak bits and try things as you suggest them...

Ladforce · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:10

So your trying to get 4 images to output or 5? Your explanation is confusing as the page you says works has 4 images, but then you say the ones that work have 5 and give examples of two that have 5 images but you call them the problem pages

edit: Ahh ok your last post explains it !

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:16

Yeah i think im also slightly confused which doesn't even begin to help. In summary:

All i want is that block to show 5 other articles to posts in the same category, obviously some of the pages only show 1 or 2 other images because there are only that many posts in their category, but all the pages listed above are in the news category and therefore should have 5 images on each "news" category page!

I think the thing that complicates it is the fact that i don't want to show the current page in that list..if i just say "show the last 5 posts in this category" its simple, but its because i want to say "show the last 5 posts in this category, but make sure you don't show the current post as that person is already on this page"!

marc2003 · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:16

the problem is that sometimes the $posts array contains the current page and you're using an if statement to not display it (you're selecting 6 but it shows 5). but sometimes the array does not contain the current page and that's why it's displaying all 6. (i think

)

so you just need to break the loop after 5 have been displayed. easy.

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:21

Can you code me up friend, i think i know what you mean but don't know how to implement it...

I did, by the way, echo $currentpage and $post->ID at one point and they were all correct, both the same number for each...

marc2003 · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:31

try this?

PHP:

<?php
$count=0;
foreach($posts as $post) {
	$values = get_post_meta($post->ID, "Image", true);
	if (isset($values[0])) {
		if ($post->ID !== $currentpage) { ?>
			div class="morecatimg">
			<img src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/scripts/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo $values; ?>&amp;w=105&amp;h=105&amp;zc=1&amp;q=85" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
			<div class="morecattext">
			<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
			</div>
			</div>
			<?php
			$count++;
			if($count == 4) break;
		}
	}
}

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:34

I think i'm sorted, using this code, and it's also random...woo!

Code:

<?php $rand_posts = get_posts('category=' . $category->term_id . '&numberposts=5&orderby=rand'); foreach( $rand_posts as $post ) : ?>
	<div class="morecatimg">
		<img src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/scripts/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, "Image", true); ?>&amp;w=105&amp;h=105&amp;zc=1&amp;q=85" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" height="105" width="105" />
		<div class="morecattext">
			<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
		</div>
	</div>
<?php endforeach; ?>

Thoughts?

marc2003 · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:39

richieboy said:
Thoughts?

sooner or later your current page will end up in the array, then the script won't display it and you'll be left with 4....

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 14:43

Well i kept refreshing and it does turn up, but to be honest its random so it's not as likely to happen...could i mod my new code to add your break in?

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 15:04

Rightio, this is taking everyone's assistance into account, in in both code and php brackets! Please please tell me if its terrible and if it could be improved, i'm glad its working but i'd love to know if i could make it better etc...

Code:

<h2>Similar recent articles</h2>
<div class="morecat">
<?php 
	$thepost = $post;
	$categories = get_the_category();
	foreach ($categories as $category) 
	{
		$count=0;
		$currentpage = $post->ID;
		if ($post->ID == $currentpage) {
		$posts = get_posts('numberposts=6&orderby=rand&category='. $category->term_id);
		} else {
		$posts = get_posts('numberposts=5&orderby=rand&category='. $category->term_id);
		}
		foreach( $posts as $post )
		{
			$values = get_post_meta($post->ID, "Image", true);
			if (isset($values[0])) 
			{
				if ($post->ID !== $currentpage)
				{
				?>
				<div class="morecatimg">
					<img src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/scripts/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo $values; ?>&amp;w=105&amp;h=105&amp;zc=1&amp;q=85" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" height="105" width="105" />
					<div class="morecattext">
					<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
					</div>
				</div>
				<?php
            			$count++;
            			if($count == 5) break;
				}
			}
	 	}
	}
	$post = $thepost; 
?>
</div>

PHP:

<h2>Similar recent articles</h2>
<div class="morecat">
<?php 
	$thepost = $post;
	$categories = get_the_category();
	foreach ($categories as $category) 
	{
		$count=0;
		$currentpage = $post->ID;
		if ($post->ID == $currentpage) {
		$posts = get_posts('numberposts=6&orderby=rand&category='. $category->term_id);
		} else {
		$posts = get_posts('numberposts=5&orderby=rand&category='. $category->term_id);
		}
		foreach( $posts as $post )
		{
			$values = get_post_meta($post->ID, "Image", true);
			if (isset($values[0])) 
			{
				if ($post->ID !== $currentpage)
				{
				?>
				<div class="morecatimg">
					<img src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/scripts/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo $values; ?>&amp;w=105&amp;h=105&amp;zc=1&amp;q=85" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" height="105" width="105" />
					<div class="morecattext">
					<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
					</div>
				</div>
				<?php
            			$count++;
            			if($count == 5) break;
				}
			}
	 	}
	}
	$post = $thepost; 
?>
</div>

marc2003 · 17 Sep 2008 at 15:21

i see you've changed something.

PHP:

if($count == 5) break;

that could display 6 items because i started at 0.

anyway, i've just had a quick google (i've never used wordpress before

) and you can exclude posts when using the get_posts() function. you'd be much better off doing that. saves all the faffing about....

http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/get_posts

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 15:26

Yeah that's what i thought, but i tried it with 4 and it only returned 4, after upping it one it is showing 5 and is working a treat (so far at least)...here are some examples:

http://richl.com/2007/04/28/second-quarterly-update-april-2007/
http://richl.com/2008/02/22/looking-for-the-glossyblack-theme/

marc2003 · 17 Sep 2008 at 15:28

see my edit above.

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 15:29

So, i just use something like this?

PHP:

$posts = get_posts('numberposts=6&orderby=rand&category='. $category->term_id . '&exclude=' . $post->ID);

richieboy · 17 Sep 2008 at 15:34

It's genius i tells ya, works a treat! I swear that function wasn't there when i looked before! Thanks

PHP:

<?php
	$thepost = $post;
	$categories = get_the_category();
	foreach ($categories as $category) 
	{
		$currentpage = $post->ID;
		$posts = get_posts('numberposts=5&orderby=rand&category='. $category->term_id . '&exclude=' . $currentpage);
		foreach( $posts as $post )
		{
			$values = get_post_meta($post->ID, "Image", true);
			if (isset($values[0])) 
			{
				if ($post->ID !== $currentpage)
				{
				?><div class="morecatimg">
					<img src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/scripts/timthumb.php?src=<?php echo $values; ?>&amp;w=105&amp;h=105&amp;zc=1&amp;q=85" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" height="105" width="105" />
					<div class="morecattext">
					<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
					</div>
				</div><?php
				}
			}
		}
	}
	$post = $thepost; 
?>

marc2003 · 17 Sep 2008 at 15:37

now just get rid of the IF statements. job done.