WordPress.org

Other Notes

Explanation of options:

Title: Your recent posts widget's title on your sidebar. Default: Recent Posts

[miniloop title="Recent Posts"]
get_miniloops( array('title' => 'Recent Posts' ) );

Title URL: The page the title should link to. Default: none

[miniloop title_url="/blog/"]
get_miniloops( array('title_url' => '/blog/'' ) );

Number of Posts: Number of posts to be displayed. Default: 3

[miniloop number_posts=3]
get_miniloops( array('number_posts' => 3 ) );

Post Offset: Number of posts to skip before displaying the list. Default: 0

[miniloop post_offset=0]
get_miniloops( array('post_offset' => 0 ) );

Maximum Age: Don't show posts more than X days old Default: 0

[miniloop maximum_age=0]
get_miniloops( array('maximum_age' => 0 ) );

Post Author: Get author's post. By ID. Default: none

[miniloop post_author=0]
get_miniloops( array('post_author' => 0 ) );

Post Type: Post type to display. Default: post

[miniloop post_type=post]
get_miniloops( array('post_type' => 'post' ) );

Post Status: Post status to display. Primarily useful to show upcoming (future) posts. But be creative! Default: publish

[miniloop post_status=publish]
get_miniloops( array('post_status' => 'publish' ) );

Order By: What order the posts should be displayed in. Default: date

[miniloop order_by=date]
get_miniloops( array('order_by' => 'date' ) );

Order: Ascending (good for order by title) or Descending (good for order by date) Default: DESC

[miniloop order=DESC]
get_miniloops( array('order' => 'DESC' ) );

Meta Key for ordering: If order by = meta value, specify a key. Default: none

[miniloop meta_value=some_key]
get_miniloops( array('meta_value' => 'some_key' ) );

Show posts in reverse order? Perhaps you want the 3 most recent posts, but you want the oldest of those to be displayed first. If so, check this. Default: 0

[miniloop reverse_order=0]
get_miniloops( array('reverse_order' => 0 ) );

Shuffle post order? Shuffle the order of the posts matching your query. Perhaps showing the 5 most recent posts in randomized order. Default: 0

[miniloop shuffle_order=0]
get_miniloops( array('shuffle_order' => 0 ) );

Ignore sticky posts? Treat sticky posts as normal posts. I recommend ignoring, or the number of posts displayed may be inconsistent. Default: 1

[miniloop ignore_sticky=1]
get_miniloops( array('ignore_sticky' => 1 ) );

Exclude sticky posts? Don't show sticky posts at all. Default: 0

[miniloop exclude_sticky=0]
get_miniloops( array('exclude_sticky' => 0 ) );

Only sticky posts? Show only sticky posts. Default: 0

[miniloop only_sticky=0]
get_miniloops( array('only_sticky' => 0 ) );

If viewing a single post, exclude it? If viewing a single post, remove it from the widget display. Default: 1

[miniloop exclude_current=1]
get_miniloops( array('exclude_current' => 1 ) );

Get posts from current category (if archive)? If viewing an archive, only show posts from the same category. Default: 0

[miniloop current_category=1]
get_miniloops( array('current_category' => 1 ) );

Get posts from first category (if single)? If viewing a single post, only show posts from the first category. Default: none

[miniloop current_single_category=1]
get_miniloops( array('current_single_category' => 1 ) );

Get posts from current author (if single or archive)? Show more posts from the current author. Default: none

[miniloop current_author=1]
get_miniloops( array('current_author' => 1 ) );

Categories: Comma separated list of category IDs to pull from. Use negative ID numbers to exclude a category. Default: none

[miniloop categories="1,8,13"]
get_miniloops( array('categories' => '1,8,13' ) );

Tags: Comma separated list of tag IDs to pull from. Use negative ID numbers to exclude a tag. Default: none

[miniloop tags="15,40,88"]
get_miniloops( array('tags' => '15,40,88' ) );

Custom Taxonomies: A clunky way to support custom taxonomies. Default: none. To include terms 5, 6, 9 from taxonomy "Genre" do this:

[miniloop tax="genre=5,6,9"]
get_miniloops( array('tax' => 'genre=5,6,9' ) );

Custom Fields: For listing posts that have certain meta data. Default: none. To list posts that have a custom field 'favorite_color' with a value of 'blue' do this:

[miniloop custom_fields="favorite_color=blue"]
get_miniloops( array('custom_fields' => 'favorite_color=blue' ) );

Exclude Posts: A comma separated list of post IDs to exclude. Default: none

[miniloop exclude="15,200,1032"]
get_miniloops( array('exclude' => '15,200,1032' ) );

Before Items: Text/HTML to insert before the post list. Default: <ul>

[miniloop before_items="<div>"]
get_miniloops( array('before_items' => '<div>' ) );

After Items: Text/HTML to insert after the post list. Default: </ul>

[miniloop after_items="</div>"]
get_miniloops( array('after_items' => '</div>' ) );

Item Format: HTML and shortcodes to format each item

Shortcodes

• [ml_title]
• [ml_url]
• [ml_excerpt] Attributes: length (100), wlength (0), after ('...'), space_between (0), after_link (1), custom (0), strip_tags (1), strip_shortcodes (1)
  • length = excerpt length in characters (0 for none, -1 for full length)
  • wlength = excerpt length in words
  • after = what to show after the excerpt
  • space_between = force space between excerpt and 'after'
  • after_link = make the 'after' link to the post
  • custom = 1 to default/customized excerpts, 0 to trim by lentgh
  • strip_tags = 1 to strip HTML tags, 0 to keep. CAREFUL: it is not generally recommended to keep the tags. Character excerpts may break tags, and thus break an entire page's layout.
  • strip_shortcodes = 1 to strip shortcodes, 0 to keep
  • up_to_more = 1 to get everything up to the <!--more--> tag (the 'more' text), if it exists, otherwise use char/word limit excerpt. 0 use char/word limited excerpt
  • after_with_more = (with up_to_more) 1 to use the 'after' text with the 'more' text, 0 to add nothing after the 'more' text
• [ml_content]
• [ml_comment_count]
• [ml_author]
• [ml_author_link]
• [ml_author_avatar] Attributes: size (92), default (''), alt (false)
  • size = avatar size, in pixels
  • default = default if no gravatar. See Settings > Discussion
  • alt = alt text
• [ml_field] Attributes: name, single (1), separator (', '), reverse (0)
  • name = custom field name
  • single = 1 get single value, 0 get all values matching name
  • separator = string to separate each value
  • reverse = 0 default order, 1 reverse display order
• [ml_taxonomy] Attributes: taxonomy, separator (', '), link (0), justone (0), reverse (0)
  • taxonomy = taxonomy slug
  • separator = string to separate each term
  • link = 1 to link categories to their archive page, 0 for no links
  • justone = 1 to show just first category, 0 to show all
  • reverse = 0 default order, 1 reverse display order
• [ml_tax] Alias to [ml_taxonomy]
• [ml_category] Shortcut for [tax taxonomy=category]
• [ml_tag] Shortcut for [tax taxonomy=post_tag]
• [ml_date] Attributes: format ('F j, Y')
  • format = PHP-style date format
• [ml_class] Attributes: class
  • class = classes to display in addition to the traditional post classes
• [ml_image] Attributes: from, cfname, class, width (50), height (50), crop, fallback
  • from (options: thumb, attached, customfield, first)
    • from 'thumb' post thumbnail/featured image [ml_image from=thumb]
    • from 'attached' first attached image [ml_image from=attached]
    • from 'customfield' get from custom field [ml_image from=customfield]
    • from 'first' first image in post [ml_image from=first]
  • since 1.1.3, you can pass a comma-separated list to use as fallbacks. [ml_image from="thumb,first"]
  • cfname = custom field to use if from=customfield [ml_image from=customfield cfname=thumbnail]
  • class = class for image
  • width = width of image
  • height = height of image
  • crop = 1 to crop, 0 to scale (not implemented yet)
  • fallback = URL of image to use if 'from' doesn't return anything
  • cache = set to 'clear' to generate new thumbnails. It is not recommended that you leave this option on. [ml_image from=thumb cache=clear]

Inside of Item Format, shortcodes can be used without the ml_ prefix.

Sample Item Formats

Format 1: http://s.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mini-loops/screenshot-2.png

(before: <ul> after: </ul>)

<li class="[class]"><p><a href="[url]">[image from=customfield 
cfname=image width=50 height=50 class=alignright 
fallback='http://dummyimage.com/50'][title]</a><br />
[excerpt wlength=30 space_between=1 after="..." after_link=1]<br /><br />
By [author] on [date format="n/j/y"]</p></li>

Format 2: http://s.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mini-loops/screenshot-3.png

(before: <ul> after: </ul>)

<li class="[class]"><p>[date format="F j, Y"]<br /><a href="[url]">
[image from=customfield cfname=image width=180 height=100 
class=aligncenter fallback='http://placekitten.com/180/100']</a>
[excerpt length=90 space_between=1 after="..." after_link=1]</p></li>

Format 3: http://s.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mini-loops/screenshot-4.png

(before: -- after: --)

<p class="[class]" style="text-align:center"><a href="[url]">[title]<br />
[image from=customfield cfname=image width=140 height=140 
class=aligncenter fallback='http://placepuppy.it/200/300&text=++woof++']</a></p>

Template Tag

use miniloops( $args ) or get_miniloops( $args )

Like WordPress function, the 'get_' variant will simply return the results.

Here are the acceptable arguments and their default values:

$args = array(
        'title' => __( 'Recent Posts', 'mini-loops' ),
        'hide_title' => 0,
        'title_url' => '',
        'number_posts' => 3,
        'post_offset' => 0,
        'post_type' => 'post',
        'post_status' => 'publish',
        'order_by' => 'date',
        'order' => 'DESC',
        'reverse_order' => 0,
        'shuffle_order' => 0,
        'ignore_sticky' => 1,
        'only_sticky' => 0,
        'exclude_current' => 1,
        'categories' => '',
        'tags' => '',
        'tax' => '',
        'custom_fields' => '',
        'exclude' => '',
        'before_items' => '<ul>',
        'item_format' => '<li><a href="[url]">[title]</a><br />[excerpt]</li>',
        'after_items' => '</ul>',
        );
get_miniloops( $args );

Shortcode

[miniloop]

Use with all args listed above
e.g. [miniloop number_posts=10]

Exception - 'item_format' must be handled differently

New way (since v0.9):

Create a custom field named ml_format and save the item format there. Then adjust your [miniloop] shortcode
e.g. [miniloop number_posts=10][ml_format][/miniloop]

If needed, you can change the custom field. Just pass the name of the new custom field to the [ml_format] shortcode
e.g. [miniloop number_posts=10][ml_format name="new_field"][/miniloop]

Old way:

'item_format' must go into the content of the shortcode, and square brackets must be replaced with curly brackets.
e.g. [miniloop number_posts=10]{title}by {author}<br />[/miniloop]

Also, if you are using html inside the item_format, you must add this into the HTML editor, else your markup will be rendered, not parsed

Planned

• true image cropping for remote images

Other Languages

• French (Thanks @maoneetag)

Bilingual?

Send your mo/po files to me at trepmal (at) gmail.com