Template changes based on template code??

  • Resolved dorich

    (@dorich)


    12 years, 4 months ago

    I have a page that reads the variable ( a single letter) from the url. The page then displays custom posts assigned to that letter. (The letter is a custom field)
    The problem is that the template assigned to the page is not doing the final rendering of the page.
    The template contains the following code:

    <?php $letter = $_GET['letter'];

					if ($letter=="") $letter = 'A';?><?php /*If there is no value returned then the loop defaults to searching for items beginning with 'A'*/ ?>
					<h1>Glossary Items Listed Under Letter "<?php echo $letter ?>"</h1> <?php /*This needs to be outside of the loop*/?>
			<?php
					$loop = new WP_Query( array( 'post_type' => 'glossary', 'meta_key'=> 'first-letter', 'meta_value' => $letter, 'posts_per_page' => 10 ) ); ?>

					<?php while ( $loop->have_posts() ) : $loop->the_post();?>
                                <div class="glossarybody"> 

										<h2><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>

                                </div>

                    <?php endwhile; ?>

    When that code is on the page the page displays the correct results ( a list of titles) but using the plugin ‘reveal templates’ I see that the page is being rendered with ‘page.php’.
    The correct template should be glossary-terms.php (I’ve tried using the filename terms.php in case the word glossary, the name of the custom post type involved, was causing a problem .)
    If I remove the above code so that I’m left with a more or less static page that has some html, header, footer and sidebar, then the page renders using the correct template.
    This suggests that something in the operation of WordPress is causing the template to change in the execution of the initial template.

    I’d appreciate any pointers on what might be wrong with my setup and how to get the correct template to render the page.
    Thanks.

Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

  • The selection of the template page happens long before your code in the theme template file runs, and the template choice is dependent upon the main query, not your new WP_Query object. The question then is “How did you create this page?” Did you go to Pages->Add New? If so, the automatic template selection mechanisms are not going to work. As far as WordPress is concerned, this is just a page like any other.

    Thread Starter dorich

    (@dorich)

    @s_ha_dum

    Thanks for your response.

    In answer to your question.
    Page was created via the “add new” in the pages section of the admin.
    Template is assigned as part of the page attributes
    Page is assigned to a parent in the page attributes

    The calling link is hard coded.

    My assumption is that since I’ve “hard coded” this then my selections should override any automatic page/template selection.

    My assumption is that since I’ve “hard coded” this then my selections should override any automatic page/template selection.

    Yes, that is right. And that is what I was going to tell you to do. You must have something wrong in the configuration. Do you have a public URL for this site and page? Also, it never hurts to reset the permalinks.

    Thread Starter dorich

    (@dorich)

    @s_ha_dum

    Thanks again.

    I’ve got a hint of the problem but I have no idea what the cause might be.

    The calling url was written as ” ………../terms/?letter=A”
    or “…../terms?letter=A”

    Now if I add a trailing slash to the calling url I get the correct template, thus
    “…../terms?letter=A/”
    Of course it doesn’t load any data since there are no matching terms for A/.
    My next course of exploration is to see if there is the possibility that a similar call is being from elsewhere (where elsewhere means somewhere in the site that would use the page.php as opposed to the template I’m calling.)

    Most of the time when I make changes I’m visiting the permalinks page under settings.

    You can see this result by going to: book dot value-based-marketing.com and clicking on the library tab, then select Glossary Terms By First Letter.
    The letters A and C display with the correct template but no data.
    Other letters such as S will display the correct data but rendered by the incorrect template.

    Scrolling to the bottom of the page will show the template that rendered the page.

    The fact that you are using ‘terms’ could be problematic. See if it works with some other value.

    Thread Starter dorich

    (@dorich)

    thanks.

    I changed the slug to ‘unique’ and updated the calling link. Visited permalinks settings.

    Still get the same result page is rendered with page.php

    Is there an URL I can visit?

    Ok. Reset.

    Page is assigned to a parent in the page attributes

    If you have a parent your URL needs to be “…/parent/terms/?letter=A” Is that how you have it? I would assume that the template assignment should work with nested pages like that but I have never tried it. Have you tried without having a parent assigned?

    The fact that your page is called ‘terms’ nags at me a little bit because generically categories and tags, and other taxonomies, are called ‘terms’. I don’t know it that is causing interference though.

    Thread Starter dorich

    (@dorich)

    Thanks:

    1. I previously did some tests with removing the parent page but I went back and did it again. Made the url in the form of example.com/terms/?letter=A , changed the calling link and visited the permalink settings . Still rendered with the wrong template.
    2. I changed the page slug from terms to “unique”, changed the calling link, visited permalink etc. Still rendered with page.php However, I’ll change the slug and page name to something less likely to cause a problem.
    3. You can see this at book dot value-based-marketing.com/library/ Click on “find”, click on “Glossary list by letter”
    4. I have established that if I change the contents of the custom field and change the calling link appropriately then it works. For example if I replace the letter A in the custom field with xyz and replace the variable on calling link xyz – then the page is rendered with the correct template.

    Why does your “A” link use “definitions” but the others use ‘terms’?

    … value-based-marketing.com/library/glossary-start-here/definitions/?letter=A

    vs.

    …value-based-marketing.com/library/glossary-start-here/terms/?letter=F

    In fact, the ‘definitions’ link is the only one that is rendering at all, and not with the wrong template. There is something wrong with that ‘reveal templates’ plugin. Look at your ‘body’ class:

    <body class="page page-id-2383 page-child parent-pageid-2269 page-template page-template-glossary-terms-php singular two-column right-sidebar">

    See that “page-template-glossary-terms-php” part. That is the template being used.

    Other that “A” all of you your other links– the one with “terms” in the URL– are 404s.

    We’ve been chasing the wrong problem.

    Thread Starter dorich

    (@dorich)

    Why does your “A” link use “definitions” but the others use ‘terms’?

    Apologies: I tested the change of slug on just one link. Then had a distraction before I got round to changing all the other links. All of the links now use “definitions”.

    See that “page-template-glossary-terms-php” part. That is the template being used.

    Ah, I didn’t know that I could see the template by looking at the body class.

    So the conclusion is that the page is being rendered with the correct template but the plugin is failing. Indeed now I know where to look the plugin appears to be unnecessary.

    We’ve been chasing the wrong problem.

    Yes, or at least I had us chasing the wrong problem.
    Thanks for all your help in getting me educated and the problem solved.

    Ah, I didn’t know that I could see the template by looking at the body class.

    If the theme uses the body_class() function you can.

    Thread Starter dorich

    (@dorich)

    Noted, thanks.

Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
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