I’m trying to get a JSON response showing thumbnail attachments for each WordPress post.
I tried using the JQuery json-api plugin, but it gives me all attachments. I just want the thumbnail.
For example, I would like to use JQuery.ajax to get the thumbnail attachment urls from each WordPress post in JSON format, like this:
[{image_1: "thumbnail_image_a.jpg",
image_2: "thumbnail_image_b.jpg",
image_3: "thumbnail_image_c.jpg",
... etc}]
Should I write my own plugin? Or add something to functions.php? Or what is the least complex way?
I think you should take a look at https://solislab.com/blog/5-tips-for-using-ajax-in-wordpress/ ( old site is down : http://www.garyc40.com/2010/03/5-tips-for-using-ajax-in-wordpress/#admin-ajax ).
By adding a simple function with the right hooks in your functions.php you could end up with a nice way of getting exactly what you want.
Adapted from the url mentioned above:
I call get_thumnail_images() where I might have a WP_Query or a SQL statement to get the information you need into an array.
Let’s recap the wordpress part:
1) hooks
2) function that get’s called based on the action parameter requested by the AjaxRequest (see url for full tutorial)
3) a logic function that will give us the thumbnails
4) the result is a json enconded array. You can do whatever you want with it on the front end.
You would have to use $.ajax to download the page via it’s URL argument, then you would have to sort through the markup to find each post and get the thumbnail from it. I don’t know the markup for a wordpress site, so I can’t help you there.
It may work something like this: