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September 10, 2008

Improved Related Posts in Sidebar

If you checked out the comments on yesterday's post — WordPress Related Posts in Sidebar — you'd have noticed that the "related" posts code I use was flawed. Namely, it didn't exclude the post you were on, so the chances were that only 4 out of 5 would be things you hadn't already read.

Anyway, I noticed this months ago when I first implemented the code, didn't see an &exclude= in the query_posts() section of the WordPress codex and promptly forgot all about it. Why fix what isn't even broken? I could have nested a few if statements in the code but this is a pretty botched solution, particularly when WordPress' native functions already contain so many options and alternatives.

Then, as I was getting dressed this morning (yes, I think about code pretty much ever hour of the day), I had a bit of a brainwave. If I switch from query_posts() to get_posts(), which I knew supported exclude, I'd be able to get rid of the current post from the list :D So anyway, enough waffling, here's the improved code:

if (is_single()) {
	if (!isset($thispost)) $thispost = $post->ID;
	
	if (get_the_category()) {
?>
		<p>These similar posts from the same categories may be of interest to you:</p>
<?php
		foreach((get_the_category()) as $category) {
			echo '<h3>Related Posts in '.$category->cat_name.'</h3>'."\r\n<ul>";
			$posts = get_posts('numberposts=5&category='.$category->cat_ID.'&exclude='.$thispost);
			foreach($posts as $post) {
?>
				<li><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" title="permalink to <?php the_title() ?>"><?php the_title() ?></a></li>
<?php
			}
			echo "</ul>\r\n";
		}
	}
}

This sits nicely in the sidebar. :D Of course, it should go without saying that if you haven't already got PHP in the sidebar which you can slot that in with, you'll need to wrap it in <?php   ?>

Comments

There are currently 9 approved responses to "Improved Related Posts in Sidebar".

1. Ben   September 10th, 2008

   I don't necessarily think about code all the time, but I am always thinking about how to make websites more user friendly, cool new effects to try out... It's not weird at all >;)

2. Aisling   September 10th, 2008

   Ha ha, nice Jem. I was thinking of putting something like this on my single posts page, because the sidebar is so empty and lonely. :P

3. Vasili   September 10th, 2008

   Why can they just make query_posts() support exclude or negative post ids? :P

4. Meli   September 10th, 2008

   I hope you can feel the epic amounts of love washing over you right now. This is EXACTLY what I'd been trying to fudge myself.

5. Arwen   September 11th, 2008

   I don't think about code all the time, but I tend to think about it at odd times of the day. And I tend to giggle when I see the number 404 in real life. Slightly unrelated, I know. If I ever put related posts on my pages anytime soon, I'll refer to this. :)

6. Stephanie   September 11th, 2008

   You're nifty, Jem ;)

7. Vanesa   September 13th, 2008

   This isn't really about related posts in the sidebar, but LOL, I think about coding every hour of the day too!

8. wonkotsane   September 14th, 2008

   Like it, using it.

   As an aside, you say "I'm not interested in viagra or penis enhancers" - could that be the cure for Karl's "Sir Bendy" problem? ;)

9. Chris   November 9th, 2008

   Thanks for the great code. Something I noticed though is that if you have a post categorised in 2 or more categories, the related posts list will display multiple times.

   Is there a way that if you do have a post in multiple categories, that the related post list will only display once?

   Many thanks!

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