How to show only Standard Format post in my custom taxonomy page wordpress 3.8.1

When you create a new WP_Query, it means any arguments resulting from the link clicked on are ignored. The query is made solely on the arguments you provide and the default values for arguments not provided.

In order to modify the query and still include arguments from the link, you need to use the ‘pre_get_posts‘ action and set the query vars you want to alter. When you set query vars this way, cat=-1,-2 is improper. That argument gets translated into a ‘category__not_in’ array, so when hooking the ‘pre_get_posts’ action you should use $query->set('category__not_in', array( 1, 2,));

As you have discovered, anything you set through ‘pre_get_posts’ is applied everywhere. Thus you typically will need to use conditional statements to insure the query vars are only set when it is appropriate. A good function to use in a conditional statement is is_main_query(). This will distinguish the main query run from URL parameters from any of your $query = new WP_Query( $args ); loops.

To insure the restrictions are only applied to pages for your motion taxonomy, you can check the existing query vars for that condition, and only set the category restrictions when that is the case. I don’t have access to my usual references right now, so this example is likely flawed, but something like this in your ‘pre_get_posts’ call back should do the job:

if( is_main_query() && 'motion' == $query->get('tax')){
   //set your desired category restrictions here
}

I’m pleased I’m able to help you!

The following is an important concept to understand. Please ask for clarification if you still do not fully understand, I don’t mind 🙂 Also, I still don’t currently have access to my usual references so I can’t verify some of the details here, I’ll have access again in a couple days.

is_tax() is a WP function. You call it without any preface, $query->is_tax() is improper. is_tax() alone is all that’s needed. Same goes for is_main_query(). $query in this context (passed to your callback for ‘pre_get_posts’) is an object of the WP_Query class. Classes have certain methods like (for WP_Query) get() and set(). Other classes have other methods, but maybe not get() and set(). Class methods are called like this: $query->get(). Functions like is_tax() are not class methods, which is why $query->is_tax() is improper.

Now… is_tax() is a special type of function (still not a class method) – it is a “template tag”. This means it typically can only be called inside the “Loop”. This is because many template tags expect certain global values like $post to be properly defined. Such globals are not properly defined outside of the loop. (is_main_query() will work inside of ‘pre_get_posts’ callbacks)

That’s the important part. The rest is useful too, but if you don’t understand the rest it’s not a big deal.

Here’s where things get fuzzy because I cannot verify through testing. is_tax() in particular is not totally dependent on the loop, it is established somewhere in the query parsing process. It may or may not be defined when pre_get_posts fires. It’s easy enough to test using normal debug methods. I don’t recall which one to use though 🙁 Usually, simply echoing something is adequate. However, doing so from certain filters and actions doesn’t work because the output is discarded by the normal WP output process, so you cannot see the results of your debugging efforts. There are other ways to get debug information, but they are more involved. IIRC, echo is adequate for ‘pre_get_posts’. Thus a simple test to see if is_tax() will work or not in your ‘pre_get_posts’ callback:

if( is_main_query() $$ is_tax('motion')) {
   echo '<pre>Motion taxonomy detected</pre>';
} else {
   echo '<pre>Motion taxonomy NOT detected</pre>';
}

Load your motion archive page, one of the messages should appear below your header IIRC, or an error will occur, or you will see no output at all. If the taxonomy detected message appears, then you can use the function, otherwise you must use $query->get().

$query->get() will always work for you, but I’m unsure exactly what query var you need to get. I believe it is ‘tax’ but I’m not sure. What you can do is put if ( is_main_query()) {echo '<pre>'; var_dump($query); echo '</pre>'; } in your callback.

(I always try to wrap debug output in <pre> tags so the output shows up on the page better.) Request the motion archive page. Search through the output for ‘motion’. Whatever tag is associated with ‘motion’ is the query var you want to get. It may ‘tax’ or ‘taxonomy’ or I don’t know what. There will be something or you requested the wrong page.

Sorry for the long post, I would normally do some of this testing for you. It’s faster to do it than describe it! As it happens, I’m unable to do this testing myself right now. Anyway, it’s good experience for you 🙂 I hope you can make sense of all this. If not, I’ll give you a more concise answer in a couple days. I’ll check back before then, but I’ll still be handicapped. Good luck!

That’s a little odd about the <pre> tag, but no matter, you obviously figured it out 🙂

That’s good news about is_tax() working! I guess my concern was ill founded. Since the little test you did for me was successful, you can go ahead and safely use the first script from your post before last where you say “i have try below one and its seem to work properly”. Sorry for my false alarm, but I wanted to be sure all was proper and couldn’t do it myself.

Now we also know "motion" == $query->get('taxonomy) would work as well, though there is no need since is_tax() works. It’s a little confusing that we get ‘taxonomy’ from the query, yet we request (without pretty permalinks) index.php?tax=motion and check with is_tax(). Which is why I thought we needed to get ‘tax’ instead of ‘taxonomy’. Your testing proved me wrong. Sigh.