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How to show entry from “dynamic” category
 
Beebs
Posted: 17 May 2008 05:50 AM   [ Ignore ]  
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I have this following weblog structure:

My First Weblog
1. Category 1
2. Category 2
3. Category 3

The Category is created dynamically, means that the administrator will create the new category when the several new posts/entries are created.

I have been searching this forum and the document ( but I maybe missed something ) most of the tag to display entry from specific category are always shown in template like this :

{exp:weblog:entries weblog="My First Weblog" category="3" limit="1" dynamic="off"}
{body}
{/exp:weblog:entries}

Now here’s my question:
How can I show an entry randomly only from the latest category that’s been created dynamically without having to go to the template and change the category tag (category_id)?

Thanks a lot for reply.
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Derek Jones
Posted: 17 May 2008 06:28 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]  
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One method would be PHP enabled on the template, on Input parsing stage:

<?
global $DB;
$query = $DB->query("SELECT cat_id FROM exp_categories ORDER BY cat_id DESC LIMIT 1");
$cat_id = ($query->num_rows == 1) ? $query->row['cat_id'] : '';
?>

{exp:weblog:entries weblog="My First Weblog" category="<?php echo $cat_id; ?>" limit="1" dynamic="off"}
{body}
{/exp:weblog:entries}

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Beebs
Posted: 17 May 2008 06:08 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]  
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Hi Derek,

I appreciate your reply, but is there any other solutions that using native EE tag. I kinda like the idea of having free PHP code in the template.

Cheers
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Derek Jones
Posted: 17 May 2008 10:13 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]  
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Using embeds, yes.

{exp:query sql="SELECT cat_id FROM exp_categories ORDER BY cat_id DESC LIMIT 1"}{embed="other/template" category="{cat_id}"}{/exp:query}

Then in the “other/template” template:

{exp:weblog:entries weblog="My First Weblog" category="{embed:category}" limit="1" dynamic="off"}
{body}
{/exp:weblog:entries}

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Beebs
Posted: 09 June 2008 11:34 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]  
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Hi Derek,

I am using your solution but why does not display the query.

Here’s the code that I use :

<?
            global $DB;
            $query = $DB->query("SELECT cat_id FROM exp_categories ORDER BY cat_id DESC LIMIT 1");
            $cat_id = ($query->num_rows == 1) ? $query->row['cat_id'] : '';
            ?>

            {exp:weblog:entries weblog="MyWeblog1" orderby="random" category="<?php echo $cat_id; ?>" limit="1" dynamic="off"  }
            
                {exp:trunchtml chars="500"}
                {body}
                {/exp:trunchtml}
             {/exp:weblog:entries}

I set the preference of the template to Allow PHP , and PHP Parsing Stage to Input.
Can you please have a look at the code?

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it
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Derek Jones
Posted: 10 June 2008 08:08 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]  
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Where is your opening PHP tag?  Have you dumped $cat_id to the browser to see if it holds the value you expect?  Is “MyWeblog1” a valid weblog short name with entries in that category?  If you remove the PHP and write the tag manually with that category does it display the entry you expect?

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Beebs
Posted: 11 June 2008 07:09 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]  
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Hi Derek,

Thanks a lot for your reply.

Derek Jones - 10 June 2008 08:08 AM

Where is your opening PHP tag?

Do you mean this :

<?php
            global $DB;
            $query = $DB->query("SELECT cat_id FROM exp_categories ORDER BY cat_id DESC LIMIT 1");
            $cat_id = ($query->num_rows == 1) ? $query->row['cat_id'] : '';
            ?>

and this :

{exp:weblog:entries weblog="edition" orderby="random" category="<?php echo $cat_id; ?>" limit="1" dynamic="off"  }

Derek Jones - 10 June 2008 08:08 AM

Have you dumped $cat_id to the browser to see if it holds the value you expect?

I create test_cat.php with this following code and it gives me an error message.

The code :

<?php
            global $DB;
            $query = $DB->query("SELECT cat_id FROM exp_categories ORDER BY cat_id DESC LIMIT 1");
            $cat_id = ($query->num_rows == 1) ? $query->row['cat_id'] : '';
            ?>

The error message :

Fatal error: Call to a member function query() on a non-object in /home/witheld/public_html/test_cat.php on line 3

Derek Jones - 10 June 2008 08:08 AM

Is “MyWeblog1” a valid weblog short name with entries in that category? 

Yes It does. I have double checked them. I put the name of “MyWeblog1” above is for example.

Derek Jones - 10 June 2008 08:08 AM

If you remove the PHP and write the tag manually with that category does it display the entry you expect?

Yes It does. Here’s the tag

{exp:weblog:entries weblog="MyWeblog1" orderby="random" category="16" limit="1" dynamic="off"  }
{body}
{/exp:weblog:entries}

Note: category 16 is the newst category created in the MyWeblog1.

Thanks a lot for having a look
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Derek Jones
Posted: 11 June 2008 09:00 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 7 ]  
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Beebs, this goes in a PHP enabled template, not a separate PHP file; ExpressionEngine won’t be invoked from your own PHP scripts.

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Beebs
Posted: 11 June 2008 03:26 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 8 ]  
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OK, I understand Derek. I thought when you asked me : “Have you dumped $cat_id to the browser to see if it holds the value you expect?” is to dump the query directly in the page.

You know what, attached is the template with PHP enabled. It begins from line# 100. Appreciate for you to have a look.
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Derek Jones
Posted: 11 June 2008 11:16 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 9 ]  
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I mean using echo $cat_id, or print_r($cat_id), etc.  Is PHP on this template set to parse in Input stage or Output stage?  It would need to be Input stage to be able to feed information to a tag.

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Beebs
Posted: 11 June 2008 11:21 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 10 ]  
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It was set to Input stage (my post #4 above) and with this :

<?php echo $cat_id; ?>

Print the result correctly.

But when those code is put inside EE tag iit doesn’t print the result.

Appreciate a lot
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Derek Jones
Posted: 12 June 2008 07:07 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 11 ]  
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Is the category displayed one that is assigned to the ‘edition’ weblog?  If so, place this, and only this, no markup, nothing else, in a new test template with PHP enabled on Input:

<?php
global $DB;
$query = $DB->query("SELECT cat_id FROM exp_categories ORDER BY cat_id DESC LIMIT 1");
$cat_id = ($query->num_rows == 1) ? $query->row['cat_id'] : '';
?>

{exp:weblog:entries weblog="edition" orderby="random" category="<?php echo $cat_id; ?>" limit="1" dynamic="off"}
{entry_id} - {categories}{category_id},{/categories}
{/exp:weblog:entries}

Then visit the template in your browser.

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Beebs
Posted: 12 June 2008 02:13 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 12 ]  
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Hmhhhh.. the test template does not print anything.

I put the

<?php echo $cat_id; ?>

out of the tag and it prints the result though.

Thanks again
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Derek Jones
Posted: 12 June 2008 02:18 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 13 ]  
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It sounds like that category id doesn’t exist as a valid category from the ‘edition’ weblog.  Removing the PHP and hardcoding the category would verify, or by visiting the category management section and checking id’s.  If you have multiple category groups in your installation, you would need to alter the query to only select from valid categories for the desired weblog.

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Beebs
Posted: 12 June 2008 02:41 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 14 ]  
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Hi Derek,

I change the query and It does work. I think the original query will print the entire cat_id regardless where the category coming from.

As what you advised, I limit the query only into the respective weblog.

Thanks a lot for your patient and help,

You may close the thread.

Here’s the code :

<?php
            global $DB;
            $query = $DB->query("SELECT cat_id FROM exp_categories WHERE group_id=4 ORDER BY cat_id DESC LIMIT 1");
            $cat_id = ($query->num_rows == 1) ? $query->row['cat_id'] : '';
            ?>
            {exp:weblog:entries weblog="edition" orderby="random" category="<?php echo $cat_id; ?>" limit="1" dynamic="off"  }{/exp:weblog:entries}

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Derek Jones
Posted: 12 June 2008 02:46 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 15 ]  
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Glad you got it working, Beebs.

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