Summarize Posts Button & Getting List To Display As Desired

This wiki page might be relevant to you: https://code.google.com/p/wordpress-custom-content-type-manager/wiki/get_posts_examples#List_Posts_in_a_Category (specifically that example with “List Posts in a Category”). The examples there rely on the PHP, but for most of them, there is a way to do the same query with the shortcode. E.g.

$args = array();
$args['post_type'] = 'article';
$args['post_status'] = 'publish';
$args['taxonomy'] = 'category';
$args['taxonomy_slug'] = 'howto';
$args['orderby'] = 'menu_order';
$args['order'] = 'ASC';

Becomes
[summarize_posts post_type="article" post_status="publish" taxonomy="category" taxonomy_slug="howto" orderby="menu_order" order="ASC"]

As I mentioned in the other post, you’ll notice that taxonomies and custom fields can become blurry. You can organize your data to use taxonomies — the advantage to that is you tie into existing WordPress functionality, but the disadvantage is that it’s opaque and hard to see.

Here’s one idea that might be relevant to you. You could create a dropdown custom field containing the possible values for your posts. E.g. a dropdown with “RV Books & Media”, “RV Blogs”, “RV Forums”, etc. and then attach that field to your post_type. It’s a good idea to use separate keys/values (e.g. rv_books => RV Books, rv_forums => RV Forums). For each post, you could select one of the values in your custom field. Then your search would look something like:

[summarize_posts post_type="your_post_type" your_dropdown_field="rv_books"]

You’ll notice here that taxonomies allow you to select multiple values (e.g. a post might be associated with both RV Books and RV Forums), whereas the dropdown option can only have one value. You would need to create separate pages for each query in that example.

Hope that makes sense — there are lots of ways to do this, but that’s one approach.

Socks,

1. Thanks for this homework assignment, it’s a lot to chew on, and I will.

2. I do have the situation where many entries, also tag/category out to three, four, five different tags/categories, like RV Blog, RV Forum, RV Info Hub Website, and others to be determined.

3. I defer to whatever way you think is the best, the most logical way to go, it’s you who set the stage we all are playing on. And I know that I don’t know, so what you advise, is, ‘the word’. Grins.

B

If you need to tag a post as belonging to multiple categories, then you probably should leverage WP tags/categories for it. Then you should be able to leverage your theme’s category page to display posts that have been placed into one category or another.

I don’t know if there is always a “best” way to do a certain thing… there are a lot of ways to accomplish any task, so try an approach and see if it works for you.

Socks,

Also, bear in mind, that I only want to display lists, or categories of lists.

So, I suspect that I do not need/want to go into dropdown options and such, but I will let this all sink in and study that wiki you posted. I want to take the simplest path, for displaying lists. And I want the simplest path, because this arena is somewhat foreign to me, at this time.

Ok, thanks again for the homework, and the pointing me in a direction, I shall study.

B

Socks,

Okay, YES! … “If you need to tag a post as belonging to multiple categories …”

I am going to move forward on that path … I’ll report back as I go along. I cannot be the only noob trying to tackle this stuff!

Thanks a bunch,
B

Socks,

For whatever reason I did not comprehend that the ‘Categories’ that are accessed from the fly-out menu under ‘Posts’ were applicable to the CCTM and its behavior. Duh. I thought it was more complicated, it isn’t, at least on that one aspect. Something finally clicked and I had an ‘aha moment’, thank the gods.

Ok, so I proceeded to make my ‘categories’ that associate with my post_type=rv_infosite. I went into my rv_infosite entries and made sure each one has the category boxes that apply to it ticked yes/selected. All the entries have at least, the rv-info-sites box ticked and then secondarily, most entries have have an additional two or three boxes ticked, depending on what the entry is, blog, forum, newsletter, etc.

This Summarize Posts Query WORKS …
1. summarize-posts
2. post_type=”rv_infosite”
3. order=”ASC”
4. orderby=”post_title”
5. DISPLAYS LIST – Yes Yay!

This Summarize Posts Query DOES NOT WORK … Why?
1. summarize-posts
2. post_type=”rv_infosite”
3. taxonomy=”category”
4. taxonomy_term=”rv-info-sites,rv-blog”
5. order=”ASC”
6. orderby=”post_title”
7. DISPLAYS LIST – No
8. Actual Query (copy-pasted) – [summarize-posts post_type=”rv_infosite” taxonomy=”category” taxonomy_term=”rv-info-sites,rv-blog” order=”ASC” orderby=”post_title”]

This Summarize Posts Query DOES NOT WORK … Why?
1. summarize-posts
2. post_type=”rv_infosite”
3. taxonomy=”category”
4. taxonomy_term=”rv-blog”
5. order=”ASC”
6. orderby=”post_title”
7. DISPLAYS LIST – No
8. Actual Query (copy-pasted) – [summarize-posts post_type=”rv_infosite” taxonomy=”category” taxonomy_term=”rv-blog” order=”ASC” orderby=”post_title”]

For your diagnostic enjoyment, I should also say, relative to the categories, I set them up thusly, with RV Info Sites / rv-info-sites as the ‘Parent’ … I bring it to your attention as maybe that is the problem??? I dunno at all, I am perplexed, I hope it’s simple.

RV Info Sites – rv-info-sites / Parent Category
– RV Blog – rv-blog
– RV Books – rv-books
– RV Camping – rv-camping
– RV Forum – rv-forum
– RV … etcetera …

Also, I am rightly, or wrongly, assuming that, ‘taxonomy_term’ means, and is calling for me to enter in the Summarize Posts Query Menu Box, my ‘category slugs’. Is this why I am not getting my list displayed???

Thanks kindly for your oversight,
B

Socks,

Crikey.

The Summarize Posts Button aka Shortcode Generator … output the query formats above … and to answer my own question … in the actual shortcode string … taxonomy_term … must be replaced with taxonomy_slug … and then viola the list shall be displayed, that sub-category item, with the exact slug rv-blog, displayed. Good gods.

This actual string displayed the list … [summarize-posts post_type=”rv_infosite” taxonomy=”category” taxonomy_slug=”rv-blog” order=”ASC” orderby=”post_title”] You don’t want the ‘parent-slug’ in there, you only want your PRECISE ‘category-slug’ in the query. Watch your s’s, your plurals, precision is key here, rv-blog, and rv-blogs, it makes a difference.

And Socks, just so you know, I write in detail mostly for me, and the ‘nubophyles’ who follow, I know you know your stuff. I also write in detail, in an attempt to assure myself that I have communicated as best as I can so that you can correct my thinking and/or understanding of this stuff.

I will keep at it and report later.

B

Glad you got it figured out. Keep up the good work.

Socks,

Ecstatic!

Fresh WP Install, fresh database, meticulous attention to naming conventions, in all areas … post_type and category items, … realizing that all ‘posts’ are posts … categories and tags apply to all genre of ‘posts’, with ‘genre’ being the important operand here, genres and groups, or groupings of posts … the biggest critical discovery of all, … the shortcode command/request/parameter/string (whatever the proper term is … lol) ‘taxonomy-slug’ … we got game!

We are displaying as we had requested! We are excited! Yay! Here’s the test site page … https://the-rv-life.net/rv-resources/rv-info-sites/

So, in summary, the biggest reason for the problems and the failure to display the list, as I had wished, had everything to do with fouling the works by fiddling with the initial naming of the post_type and then changing it, and then the unorganized, uneducated use of the functions in the Tools Menu > Clear Cache and Purge Posts … also the manual removal of lines in the SQL database by me … all of those actions/my actions made for a mess of the database I am sure. There were likely leftover fragments, that I then attempted to re-use and the database, just dug in would not deliver, to anthropomorphize the database, lol!

Databases demand precision people, they are a finicky animal.

Recommendation to a New User: Set up a test site, or know that you may need to start fresh, with a fresh WP Install, and a fresh SQL database after your trial period and learning curve. Note that a fresh database happens with a fresh WP Install, but it’s good for you(s) to know this.

All is well in the kingdom … Thrones tonight … yippee!

Cheers,
B

PS – Thanks for the encouragement, coach! ??
PS – #2 … there is an issue with the naming of the php file, that must be added into the theme you are using, where we are instructed to do this, when you create your custom content post_type … in my theme, which is Customizr … the instructions are to name the php file single-yourfilename.php … in my case with Customizr Theme … you cannot name the file single- … leave off the single-. I will post up a separate thread on this … for Customizr Theme | Yoast SEO Plugin | CCTM Plugin users.

Resolved!