Problem with PHP Syntax

5 Views

I am trying to get a link together using 2 variables but the output is the link and title but no html / clickable link appearing.

I’m getting something link this:

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http://www.mydomain.com/post1/post_title_here

Here is the code: 

echo '<a href="'.the_permalink().'">'.the_title().'</a>';

Can anyone help please?

Thanks

UPDATE:

Here’s the whole block of code: 

<div id="MyBlock1">
        <?php
            $query = new WP_Query('posts_per_page=5');

             while( $query ->have_posts() ) : $query ->the_post();
                 echo '<li>';
                 echo '<a href="'.the_permalink().'">'.the_title().'</a>';
                 echo '</li>';
             endwhile;

            wp_reset_postdata();

        ?>
    </div>
Post Views: 5

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5 comments

  1. That’s because the wordpress functions the_permalink() and the_title() display the respective outcomes already they need not be echoed. If you want functions that return the values, you have to use get_permalink() and get_the_title() instead.

    So either do:

    <div id="MyBlock1">
    <?php
        $query = new WP_Query('posts_per_page=5');
        while( $query ->have_posts() ) : $query ->the_post();
            echo '<li>';
            echo '<a href="'.get_permalink().'">'.get_the_title().'</a>';
            echo '</li>';
        endwhile;
        wp_reset_postdata();
   ?>
</div>

    or

    <div id="MyBlock1">
    <?php
        $query = new WP_Query('posts_per_page=5');
        while( $query ->have_posts() ) : $query ->the_post();
            echo '<li><a href="';
            the_permalink();
            echo '">';
            the_title();
            echo '</a></li>';
        endwhile;
        wp_reset_postdata();
   ?>
</div>

    Both will work.

  2. Here’s a checklist for debugging:

    1.) Is the_title() returning an empty string? (You can check by looking at the html source)

    2.) Are you echoing this inside of the body tag?

    3.) Is this being echoed in a hidden html element?

  3. echo '<a href="'.the_permalink().'">'.the_title().'</a>';

    In this sort of situation, you’ll want to use get_permalink instead of the_permalink and get_the_title instead of the_title.

    echo '<a href="'.get_permalink().'">'.get_the_title().'</a>';

    WordPress the_* functions do a direct echo call, whereas the get_* functions return a value that you can use for further processing, like the concatenation you’re doing.

    (also note the inconsistent naming conventions – this can be a pain)

  5. You need to absolutely make sure that .the_title(). is definately bieng set a value. If it isn’t, then there will be no displayed HTML as there is no text for the anchor tag. Just a thought (i’ve done it many times, try print_f(); ing the the_title(). Hope it helped.