Title: WordPress query_post setting variables
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# WordPress query_post setting variables

 *  [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/)
 * Hello all,
 * I’ve been struggling to create a second loop that would run on my home page (
   go see at [http://www.htgp.org](http://www.htgp.org)). I have the standard wordpress
   loop running lower on the index page, but its getting stuck on the loop I’m trying
   to create now.
 * The goal for this loop is to have the last 5 posts from the ‘Slides’ Category
   show up in the formatted way I have, but I’m using custom fields to do this, 
   and I’m doing the same as I did for my thumbnail system which you can see at:
   [http://www.htgp.org/blog](http://www.htgp.org/blog).
 * but it’s obviously not working and giving me a parse error.
 * I could really use some help on this… this is the code I have so far :…….
 *     ```
       <?php query_posts('category_name=blog&showposts=5');
       	$slide-image = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img', $single = true);
       	$thumb-image_class = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img Class', $single = true); ?>
   
       <?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();?>
   
       <div id="slideshow">
       	<div id="slide-image-wrap">
           	<div class="slide-img">
           	<?php if($slide-image !== '') { ?>
                   <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
                   	<img border="none" src="<?php echo $slide-image; ?>" class="<?php echo $slide-image_class; ?> slide-image" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
               	</a>
               <?php }
                   else { ?>
                   	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
                       	<img border="none" src="http://www.htgp.org/wp-content/themes/HTGP/images/backgrounds/slide-default.png" class="left" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
                       </a>
              	<?php } ?>
           </div>
           <div id="slide-text-wrap">
           	<div class="slide-title">
               	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2></a>
               </div>
               <div class="slide-excerpt">
                   <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
   
       		</div>
           </div>
       </div>
   
       <?php endwhile; ?>
       <?php endif; ?>
       ```
   
 * Now this is the complete loop I’ve made this far for generating the ‘slides’ 
   category posts, and it does not work.
 * Thanks in advance,
    Alex

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

 *  [t31os](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t31os/)
 * (@t31os)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029490)
 * Use a new query, PHP example below…
 * Using Query Posts will set the parameters for the main loop, so you need to use
   a new one…
 *     ```
       <?php $myquery = new WP_Query('category_name=yourcat'); ?>
   
       <?php while ($myquery->have_posts()) : $myquery->the_post(); ?>
   
       <?php endwhile;?>
   
       <?php wp_reset_query(); ?>
       ```
   
 * Or perhaps you just need to reset the query… example above assumes you can manage
   adding the HTML bits in yourself… 🙂
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029494)
 * thanks, but I still have the problem that I cannot define my variables… I don’t
   know if I did it right, but here’s what I got:
 *     ```
       <?php $myquery = new WP_Query('category_name=Slides'); ?>
   
       <?php while ($myquery->have_posts()) : $myquery->the_post();
       	$slide-image = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img', $single = true);
       	$thumb-image_class = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img Class', $single = true); ?>
       ```
   
 * with all the code neccesary and it still gives me a “parse error, unexpected “
   =” on line 4…(which s the one that starts with “$slide-image”)
 *  [t31os](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t31os/)
 * (@t31os)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029495)
 * `$single = true`
 * Only need be
 * `TRUE`
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029601)
 * what’s that supposed to mean? I have the following code, and it still isn’t working:
 *     ```
       <?php $myquery = new WP_Query('category_name=Slides'); ?>
   
       <?php while ($myquery->have_posts()) : $myquery->the_post();
       	$slide-image = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img', $single = TRUE);?>
   
       <div id="slideshow">
       	<div id="slide-image-wrap">
           	<div class="slide-img">
           	<?php if($slide-image !== '') { ?>
                   <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
                   	<img border="none" src="<?php echo $slide-image; ?>" class="slide-image" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
               	</a>
               <?php }
                   else { ?>
                   	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
                       	<img border="none" src="http://www.htgp.org/wp-content/themes/HTGP/images/backgrounds/slide-default.png" class="left" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
                       </a>
              	<?php } ?>
           </div>
           <div id="slide-text-wrap">
           	<div class="slide-title">
               	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2></a>
               </div>
               <div class="slide-excerpt">
                   <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
       		</div>
           </div>
       </div>
   
       <?php endwhile; ?>
       <?php wp_reset_query(); ?>
       ```
   
 * Could you just tell me what I should have? or exactly what to change because 
   this is starting to annoy me :).
 *  [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * (@esmi)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029605)
 * t31os did provide you with a reasonable solution to try. Replace the **entire**
   phrase/parameter:
 * `$single = true`
 * with the single word
 * `TRUE`
 *  [t31os](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t31os/)
 * (@t31os)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029621)
 * Yes, sorry just replied quickly last time…
 * This line…
 * `$slide-image = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img', $single = TRUE);`
 * becomes…
 * `$slide-image = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img', TRUE);`
 * Works out to be line 4 also… so hopefully that’s the issue…
 * Let us know if that worked…
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029634)
 * nope… still not working…
    Is it even possible to define variables in two different
   loops? should I try defining the $slide-image in my “standard” loop lower on 
   the page? Is there another way to define them, because the parse error has a 
   problem with the “=” sign in the line…this is complicated.
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029635)
 * looks like it works now, but its not showing the images…. arggg..
 * I changed the “$slide-image” to “$slide_image” after inserting the old way into
   my regular loop and it having the same problem, so apparently no “-” can be used
   in variables??? 🙂
 * Still having a problem though… 🙁
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029636)
 * looks like I got it fixed!!! FINALLY!!!
    now I’ve got to fix the CSS… A LOT!!
   🙂
 * thanks for the help,
 * Alex
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029637)
 * oh.. by the way… final code =
 *     ```
       <?php query_posts('category_name=Slides');
       	   $slide_image = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img', TRUE); ?>
   
       <div id="slideshow">
       	<div id="slide-image-wrap">
           	<div class="slide-img">
           	<?php if($slide_image !== '') { ?>
                   <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
                   	<img border="none" src="<?php echo $slide_image; ?>" class="slide-image" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
               	</a>
               <?php }
                   else { ?>
                   	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
                       	<img border="none" src="http://www.htgp.org/wp-content/themes/HTGP/images/backgrounds/slide-default.png" class="left" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
                       </a>
              	<?php } ?>
           </div>
           <div id="slide-text-wrap">
           	<div class="slide-title">
               	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2></a>
               </div>
               <div class="slide-excerpt">
                   <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
       		</div>
           </div>
       </div>
   
       <?php wp_reset_query(); ?>
       ```
   
 * Thanks again
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029643)
 * Looks like I spoke a little too fast fellas…. :((((
 * I have the whole thing working, except for the fact that only ONE post shows 
   up… :??
 * I don’t have the CSS ready for it to look good with multiple posts, but the following
   code:
 *     ```
       <?php query_posts('category_name=Slides&showposts=5');
       	   $slide_image = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'Slide-img', TRUE); ?>
   
       <div class="slide">
       	<div class="slide-image-wrap">
           	<div class="slide-img">
           	<?php if($slide_image !== '') { ?>
                   <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
                   	<img border="none" src="<?php echo $slide_image; ?>" class="slide-image" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
               	</a>
               <?php }
                   else { ?>
                   	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
                       	<img border="none" src="http://www.htgp.org/wp-content/themes/HTGP/images/backgrounds/slide-default.png" class="left" alt="<?php the_title(); ?>" />
                       </a>
              	<?php } ?>
           	</div>
           </div>
           <div class="slide-text-wrap">
           	<div class="slide-title">
               	<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2></a>
               </div>
               <div class="slide-excerpt">
                   <p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
       		</div>
           </div>
       </div>
   
       <?php wp_reset_query(); ?>
       ```
   
 * shows only 1(the latest) post in the “Slides” category. All three posts shown
   lower on the page, I have associated with the “slides” category, but only one
   shows up… ??? this should be the last problem… i hope… 😀
 *  [t31os](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t31os/)
 * (@t31os)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029655)
 * Where’s the while loop gone?
 * The query can’t loop through each result without it.
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029657)
 * oohh … ok thanks, I’ll try that when I get home.
 *  Thread Starter [stompy1208](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stompy1208/)
 * (@stompy1208)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029675)
 * looks like it worked perfectly guys (or girls)… thanks a bunch!
 *  [t31os](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t31os/)
 * (@t31os)
 * [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029676)
 * Glad you got it sorted mate.. 😉

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)

The topic ‘WordPress query_post setting variables’ is closed to new replies.

 * 15 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [t31os](https://wordpress.org/support/users/t31os/)
 * Last activity: [17 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-query_post-setting-variables/#post-1029676)
 * Status: not resolved

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