Problem with wp_insert_post for custom content type

Hi there,

I set up a custom content type called “entries” which is working fine. Now I’m inserting posts with that content type using wp_insert_post() and am encountering a problem adding a category. These are hierarchical categories that I associated with the post type and can set in the admin area, but I try to associate them using PHP code, it doesn’t work.

Here is a code example:

// Create post object
		$new_entry = array();
		$new_entry['post_title'] = esc_html($_POST['submit-title']);
		$new_entry['post_content'] = wp_kses($_POST['submit-text'], $allowed_html);
		$new_entry['post_status'] = 'publish';
		$new_entry['post_type'] = 'entries';
		$new_entry['post_author'] = $userID;
		$new_entry['post_category'] = array(6,7); // this is the line that doesn't work

		// Insert the post into the database
		$entry_id = wp_insert_post( $new_entry );

This all works and the custom post is inserted and shows up as expected, but it doesn’t have any categories assigned to it. (Categories 6 and 7 are categories that are associated with the “entries” post type.)

I also tried using wp_set_post_categories after I created the new post with wp_insert_post but that didn’t work either. This is the code I used for that:

wp_set_post_categories( $entry_id, array(6,7) );

Does anyone have any thoughts on what I’m doing wrong or other approaches they recommend?

Thanks,
Christiann