jpen365/custom-post-sort

A plugin for adding a custom post order field to WordPress posts.

Custom Post Sort

This plugin adds a custom field to WordPress posts. Users can specify the order in which posts should appear by adding a numeric value to the custom field.

Implementation

The core plugin just adds the custom sort field to posts. Implementation of the custom sort can be accomplished in a few different ways:

Use pre_get_posts

Simply copy and paste the following function into custom-post-sort.php to sort the posts on the blog home page according to the custom sort order. Note that any posts that do not have a custom order value will not be displayed in the posts list with this function added to the plugin.

/* Sort posts on the blog posts page according to the custom sort order */
function jpen_custom_post_order_sort( $query ){
  if ( $query->is_main_query() && is_home() ){
    $query->set( 'orderby', 'meta_value' );
    $query->set( 'meta_key', '_custom_post_order' );
    $query->set( 'order' , 'ASC' );
  }
}
add_action( 'pre_get_posts' , 'jpen_custom_post_order_sort' );

Use WP_Query

A more flexible way to use the custom sort order value would be to create a class of the WP_Query object that queries for posts that possess a custom sort order value.

For example:

<?php
$args = array(
  'post_type' => 'post',
  'meta_key' => '_custom_post_order',
  'orderby' => 'meta_value',
  'order' => 'ASC'
);

$query = new WP_query ( $args );

if ( $query->have_posts() ) {
  while ($query->have_posts() ) {
    $query->the_post();

    /* only list posts that have a current custom post order value */
    if ( !empty(get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_custom_post_order', true )) ) : ?>

    /* insert code for rendering posts */

<?php 
    endif; }
  wp_reset_postdata();
} ?>

The arguments passed to the WP_query class could also include additional criteria, such as categories ('cat' => '#') or tags ('tag' => 'tag_slug'), to create an ordered list of posts limited to one or more categories and tags.

The query could be used as the basis for a custom page template or to populate a list of posts in a custom sidebar widget.

Another way to use the custom sort is to create a custom page template that includes two WP_Query objects:

• The first to query for posts that possess a custom post order value.
• The second to query for other posts.

In this way, pages can be built that have a preset list of sorted posts that appear first followed by posts displayed in normal order.

For example:

<?php
/*  
 *  First Loop 
 *  Returns posts with a custom post order value
 */

// First, determine if on the first page of posts
// If on first page, run query to display posts with custom sort first

$paged = (get_query_var('paged')) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;
if(1 == $paged) :

  $args1 = array(
    'post_type' => 'post',
    'meta_key' => '_custom_post_order',
    'orderby' => 'meta_value',
    'order' => 'ASC'
  );

  $query1 = new WP_query ( $args1 );

  if ( $query1->have_posts() ) :
    while ($query1->have_posts() ) :
      $query1->the_post(); 

      // This if statement will skip posts that were assigned a custom sort value and then had that value removed 
      if ( !empty(get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_custom_post_order', true )) ) :

        // Display the custom sorted posts ?>
        <div>
        <?php the_title( sprintf( '<h2 class="entry-title"><a href="%s" rel="bookmark">', esc_url( get_permalink() ) ), '</a></h2>' ); ?>
        <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
        <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">Read More</a>
        </div>
        <hr>
        <!--insert additional code for rendering posts--><?php
 
      endif; // End displaying custom sorted posts
    endwhile; // End looping through custom sorted posts
  endif; // End loop 1
  wp_reset_postdata(); // Set up post data for next loop
endif; // End checking for first page

/*  
 *  Second Loop 
 *  Returns all posts except those in the list above
 */

$args2 = array(
  'post_type' => 'post',
  'orderby' => 'date',
  'order' => 'DESC',
  'paged' => $paged
);

// For pagination to work, must make temporary use of global $wp_query variable
$temp = $wp_query;
$wp_query = null;
$wp_query = new WP_query ( $args2 );

if ( $wp_query->have_posts() ) :
  while ($wp_query->have_posts() ) :
    $wp_query->the_post();

      // Skip posts with custom sort value
      if ( !empty(get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_custom_post_order', true )) ) { continue; }

      // Display the standard sorted posts ?>
      <div>
      <?php the_title( sprintf( '<h2 class="entry-title"><a href="%s" rel="bookmark">', esc_url( get_permalink() ) ), '</a></h2>' ); ?>
      <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
      <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">Read More</a>
      </div>
      <hr>
      <!--insert additional code for rendering posts--><?php
    
  endwhile; // End looping through standard sorted posts
endif; // End loop 2
wp_reset_postdata();
?>

Note that standard pagination breaks down if you use more than on custom loop, and it becomes necessary to manually manipulate the $wp_query variable. Learn more.

In addition, take a loop at sample-home.php for an example of how the multiple-loop query could be added to a page template.