Automatic Slider Input = Post, Category, start & end dates

  • We have a web site for our business. We have promotions that start and stop all the time. Its very difficult to update the site with promotions and what not. We’ve got events scheduled for next month but don’t want to start with those on our home page banner until five or six days before the actual event.

    What we want is this:
    1) Create a standard wordpress post. The post will have text and / or image content.
    2) Each post will have a custom field: “Image”. In that field is the url of a single image related to that post.
    3) Each post will have a custom field: “ClickLink”.
    4) Each post will have a custom field: “StartDisplayDate”
    5) Each post will have a custom field: “EndDisplayDate”.
    6) Each post will have a base category and also checked for the category “Featured” (or whatever taxonomy makes sense, tags, etc…)

    The intent is that the large image slider on the home page will poll the system, then populate itself with “Image” content from posts that meet the criteria: after StartDisplay, before EndDisplay, and of the category “featured”. The slider could have one or many hits.

    A shortcode image slider system definitely won’t work for us. Are there any plugins out there that do this right now? I’m seeing things that do little pieces of this puzzle, but nothing that integrates remotely well. I see the plugin “Post Expiration” for simple post expiration. I see a plugin called “Smooth Slider” that does take its content directly from posts. We’ve looked at some plugins for advertising, but that creates a whole new object type to have to manage. Posts are fine for us.

    Any recommendations on how to find such a beast? Is anybody aware of a plugin system that will work here? I can’t believe we are the first customer to have this need.

    Many thanks, Zip.

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  • Thread Starter zipzit

    (@zipzit)

    Apparently nobody else found a plugin either… So I rolled my own. I’ve learned a lot about “the loop”, and the wordpress codex tools. Lots of shortcode with callback content. I did attempt to use the native wordpress tools / elements where possible. I’m taking advantage of “Excerpts” and “featured image” blocks. I only have to add one field for “link”

    If a post gets a category “featured” then its image gets published on the home page top element slider.

    If a post is clicked for “promo” then a thumbnail image and the excerpt text gets featured in a small spinner element ‘advertising’ new specials at the business.

    I guess it would be possible to create a plugin for others to use.. The plugin would have to include a image spinner tool. I’m guessing from here it would take around 80 hours or work to make it polished and professional with an appropriate amount of admin options. Any interest?

    z i p zit at ya h o o

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