Integrating post archive wtih another source and preserving date ordering

2 comments

1. Without knowing more about what your Instagram data feed object looks like, I would do something like this, assuming you already have a $wp_query object with real posts in it.

   // we're going to merge both objects into one array so we can sort it
   $merge_array = array();
   
   // run through actual posts, assuming you already have a wp_query object built
   while($loop->have_posts()): $loop->the_post();
       $merge_array[] = array(
           // store original post ID for later reference
           'post_id' => $post->ID,
           'date' => date('U', strtotime($post->post_date)),
       );
   endwhile;
   
   // now loop through instagram stuff and fill up merge array with it as well
   foreach($mysterious_instgram_ojbect as $instagram_image){
       $merge_array[] = array(
           'post_id' => false, // set this false to know it is not WP post object
           'date' => date('U', $instagram_image->date), // guessing here
           // store more info here such as image URL and/or title
       );
   }
   

   Now we’ve stuffed the important bits into one array. Let’s sort them!

   // sort them by date, function defined below
   $merge_array_sorted = array_msort($merge_array, array('date' => SORT_DESC));
   

   And loop them for final output.

   foreach($merge_array_sorted as $feed_object){
       echo date('F js', $feed_object['date']);
       if($feed_object['post_id']){
           // is post, treat as wordpress post!
           echo get_the_title($feed_object['post_id']);
           echo get_permalink($feed_object['post_id']);
       } else {
           // is instagram, treat accordingly
       }
   }
   

   Put this in your functions. It’s a pretty great multidimensional array sorter, referenced above.

   // world famous multidimensional array sort function
   function array_msort($array, $cols) {
       $colarr = array();
       foreach ($cols as $col => $order) {
           $colarr[$col] = array();
           foreach ($array as $k => $row) { $colarr[$col]['_'.$k] = strtolower($row[$col]); }
       }
       $eval = 'array_multisort(';
       foreach ($cols as $col => $order) {
           $eval .= '$colarr[''.$col.''],'.$order.',';
       }
       $eval = substr($eval,0,-1).');';
       eval($eval);
       $ret = array();
       foreach ($colarr as $col => $arr) {
           foreach ($arr as $k => $v) {
               $k = substr($k,1);
               if (!isset($ret[$k])) $ret[$k] = $array[$k];
               $ret[$k][$col] = $array[$k][$col];
           }
       }
       return $ret;
   }
   

   This is a loose example. The objects should now be sorted by a Unix time stamp, which you can convert back to a more usable date. You can easily reference WP functions like the_content() and dress it all up in your last foreach loop. Let me know if this needs further explanation.

2. If both your Instagram posts and your WordPress Posts are ordered by date descending you should be able to do something like this:

   if (have_posts()) {
     while (have_posts()) {
       the_post();
       the_content(); // etc.
       while ($instagram_date > $post->post_date && $instagram_date < $posts[$wp_query->current_post +1]) {
         // insert instagram posts
       }
     }
   }
   

   Your posts_per_page will be off, as the only thing included in that calculation would be WordPress posts, but pagination should still work.

   Obviously that is very rough code– practically pseudo-code. I don’t know how your Instagram posts come in– array, object– or what they look like. You will need to work out retrieving the Instagram date and advancing the pointer for the Instagram array/object/whatever-it-is. I assume you’d need an iterator for that array/object or use array_shift perhaps.

   Checking the $post->post_date and comparing it to $posts[$wp_query->current_post +1] should be the key to inserting by date though. I think that is the most minimal memory/processing approach.

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