Simpler code than this?

You should have your “do not duplicate” stuff set up in your *first* loop. The second loop should check against the first using the variable.

<?php //Loop 1
$initial = new WP_query(‘cat=1’);
if($initial->have_posts()) : while($initial->have_posts()) : $initial->the_post();
$do_not_duplicate = $post_ID;?>
stuff for first section here
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

<?php Loop 2
$second = new WP_query(‘order=DESC&showposts=100&cat=3’);
if($second->have_posts()) : while($second->have_posts()) : $second->the_post();
if( $post->ID == $do_not_duplicate ) continue;
update_post_caches($posts); ?>
stuff for second display here
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

I think that’s what I have. The first loop uses an array to store all the post IDs – the second loop makes sure that specified IDs in that array are not output. It does this through `
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[14] || $post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[15] || `

etc.

I just wondered if there was a simpler way of saying, do not output these posts. A little snippet of code to replace what promises to be massive long list.

<?php $my_query = new WP_Query('cat=3&showposts=12');
if (have_posts()) : while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post();
  $do_not_duplicate[] = $post->ID;?>
    <!-- Do stuff... -->
 <?php endwhile; ?>
<?php else : ?>
<h2>You forgot to create any posts !</h2>
<?php endif; ?>    

SECOND LOOP

<?php query_posts('order=DESC&showposts=100&cat=3'); ?>
<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();
if($post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[0] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[1] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[2] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[3] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[4] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[5] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[6] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[7] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[8] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[9] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[10] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[11] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[12] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[13] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[14] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[15] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[16]
) continue; update_post_caches($posts); ?> 

 <!-- Do stuff... -->
<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php else : ?>
<h2>You forgot to create any posts !</h2>
<?php endif; ?>

How are you trying to separate the posts? I mean, I’m assuming you have columns or something. If the number of posts you want to ignore is a static number (like ‘ignore the first 16 posts in cat3’) you can do this:

<?php query_posts('order=DESC&showposts=100&cat=3&offset=16'); ?>

Ipstenu – it was worth a try but it didn’t work.

All I want to simplify is this bit. Just for my own satisfaction, rather than having a hundred lines of this.

if($post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[0] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[1] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[2] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[3] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[4] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[5] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[6] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[7] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[8] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[9] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[10] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[11] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[12] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[13] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[14] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[15] ||
$post->ID == $do_not_duplicate[16]
) continue;

Maybe it would be clearer if we knew what it was you were trying to do? From your code, it looks like you’re trying to not display any posts that have an ID of “16” or less, but you want to display “17”. If you’re only trying to show the most recent post, you’re *really* going the wrong way with this. What are you trying to accomplish?

Yeah, sorry.

It got a bit scrappy because it’s in development.

The first twelve posts should be displayed in one div.

Another div a little way down the page shows the next 88 or however many posts.

Each post is going to be a thumbnail of a t shirt. That comes next, with custom fields.

https://www.tshirtcool.com/brilliant/funny-tshirts/

You can see the first twelve posts have only the permalink showing.

The next few posts have only the content showing. This is so that I can see if the multiple loops are working or not.

They are working. No problems with that. Just that I want that last bit of code in loop 2 tidied up a bit.

Okay, I see. Well will the “first 12” ever change? i imagine they would. IMO, what I would do is create a simple category for the ones you want to display in the first section. Anything you want added to that category, just check the box. Use a query on your template to pull in stuff only for that category. (If this is what you’ve already done – I’m thinking out loud here.) I’m getting the idea though that that list of post ID’s will be contstantly changing – I can’t imagine it’s just the first 12 and they’ll be like that forever. So I’d say choose the most recent 12 out of that category, and do what you’re doing:

<?php //Loop 1
$initial = new WP_query('cat=1&showposts=12');
if($initial->have_posts()) : while($initial->have_posts()) : $initial->the_post();
$do_not_duplicate = $post_ID;?>
stuff for first section here
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

<?php //Loop 2
$second = new WP_query('order=DESC&showposts=100');
if($second->have_posts()) : while($second->have_posts()) : $second->the_post();
if( $post->ID == $do_not_duplicate ) continue;
update_post_caches($posts); ?>
stuff for second display here
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

Where the first loop will display the most recent 12 items in category 1, and the last loop will just display the most recent 100 posts made *excluding* he ones from the first loop.

Does that make more sense?

This is, of course if you want those first 12 posts to be variable. If they’re static, and those 12 shirts will always be the same (and since you’re using custom fields) then perhaps this might be of more use to you:

Get Post Custom

Then what you could do is display those 12 shirts via custom fields, and then just do ALL posts at the bottom. Since the content of the divs will no longer be the same, you don’t have to worry about it looking like duplicated content. Does that make sense?

Thanks for your time, doodlebee.

The first 12 images will change – I shall probably make the whole pageful of images random, so that different ones appear at the top where people are likely to look first. That’s to be decided later, anyway.

I can see what you’re doing, and I might head that way. But at the end of the day I want everything simple, simple, simple, so that I don’t get buried under mountains of administration. To that end all the shirts on this page will probably be in the one category. But I’ve yet to find out what exactly is possible, and what works best – for example, having the top section just for most popular designs etc.

What I would really like is one line of code to replace the bottom 100 lines of code (if I have a hundred images).

There must be a way of accessing an array that’s a bit more elegant than that marathon list and simply says, if $post–>ID is identical to array $do_not_duplicate with a key from 1 to 100 then don’t display.

??

OK, here’s the simplified code for multiple loops, with the second loop not showing any of the posts that appeared in the first loop.

The Codex is definitely muddled in the section dealing with multiple posts not showing up in multiple loops.

The simplified code at the end came from Sitepoint, so thanks to them!

`

MULTIPLE LOOPS, SECOND LOOP NOT SHOWING ALL POSTS
THAT APPEARED IN THE FIRST LOOP

******************* LOOP 1 **********************

<?php $my_query = new WP_Query(‘cat=3&showposts=12’);
if (have_posts()) :while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post();
$do_not_duplicate[] = $post->ID;?>

(DO STUFF)

<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php else : ?>
<h2>You forgot to create any posts !</h2>
<?php endif; ?>

******************* LOOP 2 **************************

<?php query_posts(‘order=DESC&showposts=100&cat=3’); ?>
<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();
if(in_array($post->ID, $do_not_duplicate)) continue; update_post_caches($posts);
?>

(DO STUFF)

<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php else : ?>
<h2 class=”not-found”>Oops! You forgot to create any posts !</h2>

<?php endif; ?>

`

This is great invaluable code!