Show the First Post from Each of 3 Different Post Types on a Web Page?

2 comments

1. Yes, get_posts is the safest way to use multiple loops. It does not mess up with the original query.

   Another way would be to create new WP_Query objects:

   $my_query = new WP_Query($args);
   while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post();
   

   Note: Why you should not use query_posts()

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2. Hi @dotty:

   The answer from @sorich87 is correct, but I thought I’d elaborate a bit. I’ve coded a class for you called (verbosely) LatestPostPerPostTypeQuery and you can use it in the loop in place of WP_Query, like so:

   <ul>
   <?php $args = array('post_type'=>'events,winners,offers'); ?>
   <?php $query = new LatestPostPerPostTypeQuery($args); ?>
   <?php while($query->have_posts()): $query->the_post(); ?>
     <li><?php the_title(); ?></li>
   <?php endwhile; ?>
   </ul>
   

   Below is the code for the LatestPostPerPostTypeQuery class which you can copy into your theme’s functions.php file (or use the code in a plugin if you like.) The nice thing about this alternative to WP_Query is it does a single query to the database instead of one for each of the three post types like you’d be forced to use when using WP_Query() directly.

   <?php
   class LatestPostPerPostTypeQuery extends WP_Query {
     var $flag;
     function __construct($args=array()) {
       $this->LatestPostPerPostTypeQuery($args);
     }
     function LatestPostPerPostTypeQuery($args=array()) {
       if (isset($args['post_type']) && !is_array($args['post_type']))
         $args['post_type'] = explode(',',$args['post_type']);
       $this->flag = true;
       parent::query($args);
     }
     static function on_load() {
       add_filter('posts_join',array(__CLASS__,'posts_join'),10,2);
     }
     static function posts_join($join,$query) {
       if (isset($query->flag)) {
         global $wpdb;
         $join .=<<<SQL
   INNER JOIN (
   SELECT post_type,MAX(post_date) AS post_date
   FROM {$wpdb->posts}
   GROUP BY post_type) max_date ON 
     max_date.post_type={$wpdb->posts}.post_type AND 
     max_date.post_date={$wpdb->posts}.post_date
   SQL;
       }
       return $join;
     }
   }
   LatestPostPerPostTypeQuery::on_load();
   

   I’ve also posted a standalone file on Gist allowing you grab the source code and drop the example into a file in the root of your website to call it directly from the browser to watch it in action:

   • latest-post-per-post-type-query.php

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