Custom sidebars & custom page templates

I’ll update in the hopes that someone can add some insight.

As a test I created a new custom page template by copying an origional theme template. I took template-faq.php (origional template) and renamed it template-test.php. I changed nothing about the file other than it’s name.

I then created a new page using this template. The page inherits the page sidebar as expected. The plugin I’m using to create custom sidebars works on this new custom template.

The thing that is different about my custom template that *isn’t* working with the plugin is the code between <!– Start of Page Container –> and <!– End of Page Container –> (although the <?php get_sidebar(‘page’); ?> is the same).

I don’t understand how the code in the template would cause the sidebar plugin not to work…

It’s an intranet site. I will paste the code of the custom template though, since it’s this template that isn’t working (I can make a custom template by copying an existing one and just renaming it, and it works).

<?php /*
*   Template Name: Department Template
Created 11/2014
*/
get_header(); ?>

<!-- Start of Page Container -->
<div class="page-container">
    <div class="container">
        <div class="row">

            <!-- start of page content -->
            <div class="span8 page-content">
            <div class="row separator">

                <?php

                if ( have_posts() ) :
                    while ( have_posts() ) :
                        the_post();
                        ?>
                        <article id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class("clearfix"); ?>>
                            <h1 class="post-title"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h1>
                            <hr>
                            <?php
                            if ( has_post_thumbnail() )
                            {
                                the_post_thumbnail('std-thumbnail');
                            }

                            the_content();

                            // WordPress Link Pages
                            wp_link_pages(array('before' => '<div class="pages-nav clearfix">', 'after' => '</div>', 'next_or_number' => 'next'));
                            ?>
                        </article>
                        <?php
                    endwhile;

                endif;

                ?>
                <?php
				// get the department name's id# (passed through as page name parameter) so as to be able to indclude it in query array
				$deptname = wp_title('', false);
				$deptname=trim(strtolower($deptname));
				$dept_id = get_cat_ID($deptname);
				?>

<section class="span4 articles-list" style="margin-left:0;">
<!-- Best Practices  ID = 20-->
    <?php query_posts( array( 'category__and' => array($dept_id,20),
    'posts_per_page' => 5,
    'show_count' => 1 ) );
    $total_posts =$wp_query->found_posts;
    $myposts = $wp_query->post_count; 

    if ($myposts > 0) { ?>
        <h3><a href="/portal/?page_id=31?department_id=<?php echo $dept_id; ?>&department_name=<?php echo $deptname; ?>">Best Practices (<?php echo $total_posts; ?>)</a></h3>
        <?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
        <ul class="articles">
   	        <li class="article-entry standard"><h4><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h4>
            <span class="article-meta"><?php the_modified_date('F j, Y'); ?> in  <?php the_category(', ') ?> </span>
            <span class="like-count"><?php echo get_total_likes($post->ID); ?></span>
            </li>
        </ul>
	<?php endwhile;
	} ?>
</section>

<section class="span4 articles-list">
<!-- Policies  ID = 21-->
    <?php query_posts( array( 'category__and' => array($dept_id,21),
    'posts_per_page' => 5,
    'show_count' => 1 ) );
    $total_posts =$wp_query->found_posts;
    $myposts = $wp_query->post_count; 

    if ($myposts > 0) { ?>
        <h3><a href="/portal/?page_id=33?department_id=<?php echo $dept_id; ?>&department_name=<?php echo $deptname; ?>">Policies (<?php echo $total_posts; ?>)</a></h3>
        <?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
        <ul class="articles">
   	        <li class="article-entry standard"><h4><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h4>
            <span class="article-meta"><?php the_modified_date('F j, Y'); ?> in  <?php the_category(', ') ?> </span>
            <span class="like-count"><?php echo get_total_likes($post->ID); ?></span>
            </li>
        </ul>
	<?php endwhile;
    } ?>
</section>

<section class="span4 articles-list" style="margin-left:0;">
<!-- References ID = 19-->
    <?php query_posts( array( 'category__and' => array($dept_id,19),
    'posts_per_page' => 5,
    'show_count' => 1 ) );
    $total_posts =$wp_query->found_posts;
    $myposts = $wp_query->post_count; 

    if ($myposts > 0) { ?>
        <h3><a href="/portal/?page_id=35?department_id=<?php echo $dept_id; ?>&department_name=<?php echo $deptname; ?>">References (<?php echo $total_posts; ?>)</a></h3>
        <?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
        <ul class="articles">
   	        <li class="article-entry standard"><h4><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h4>
            <span class="article-meta"><?php the_modified_date('F j, Y'); ?> in  <?php the_category(', ') ?> </span>
            <span class="like-count"><?php echo get_total_likes($post->ID); ?></span>
            </li>
        </ul>
	<?php endwhile;
    } ?>
</section>

<section class="span4 articles-list">
<!-- Recipes  ID = 18-->
    <?php query_posts( array( 'category__and' => array($dept_id,18),
    'posts_per_page' => 5,
    'show_count' => 1 ) );
    $total_posts =$wp_query->found_posts;
    $myposts = $wp_query->post_count; 

    if ($myposts > 0) { ?>
        <h3><a href="/portal/?page_id=37?department_id=<?php echo $dept_id; ?>&department_name=<?php echo $deptname; ?>">Recipes (<?php echo $total_posts; ?>)</a></h3>
        <?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
        <ul class="articles">
            <li class="article-entry standard"><h4><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h4>
            <span class="article-meta"><?php the_modified_date('F j, Y'); ?> in  <?php the_category(', ') ?> </span>
            <span class="like-count"><?php echo get_total_likes($post->ID); ?></span>
            </li>
        </ul>
	<?php endwhile;
    } ?>
</section>

<section class="span4 articles-list">
<!-- add new subject area here as needed -->
</section>
</div>
</div>
            <!-- end of page content -->
            <?php get_sidebar('page'); ?>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
<!-- End of Page Container -->
<?php get_footer(); ?>

The solution is that I need to use wp_reset_query(); between the last } and ?>.