Title: Multiple loop problem in single.php
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# Multiple loop problem in single.php

 *  [fredhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredhead/)
 * (@fredhead)
 * [17 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multiple-loop-problem-in-singlephp/)
 * Hi,
 * I’ve read the multiple loop info here:
 * [http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop#Multiple_Loops](http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop#Multiple_Loops)
 * I’ve got one loop inside the larger loop in single.php. The internal loop simply
   outputs a linked TOC to other articles tagged with the same category. Per the
   documentation, for the TOC loop, I’ve set up a custom query object. The TOC is
   in a DIV right after the page title is output.
 * However, when the page is run the single page title is correct, the TOC loop 
   output is correct, but the larger container loop then outputs content and related
   data for the earliest post tagged with the same category as the title. So the
   title changes properly as I click through the TOC links but the post content 
   remains the same (the earliest post tagged with the category). The loop is not
   reverting back to the larger container loop query.
 * Here’s the code:
 *     ```
       <?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
   
       <?			$category = get_the_category();
       			$storycatid = $category[0]->cat_ID;
       ?>
   
       		<div class="post" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
       			<h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
   
       			<div class="entry">
   
       <?php
       		if ($parentcatid == '32') {
       			$rdtoc_query = new WP_Query('showposts=15&cat='.$storycatid);
       			if ($rdtoc_query->have_posts()) : ?>
       			<div>
       				<ul>
       <?				while ($rdtoc_query->have_posts()) : $rdtoc_query->the_post(); ?>
       			<li><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
       <?php			endwhile; ?>
       				</ul>
       			</div>
       <?			endif;
       		}
       ?>
   
       				<?php the_content('<p class="serif">Read the rest of this entry &raquo;</p>'); ?>
   
       ...rest of single.php code is untouched...
       ```
   
 * Any ideas how to reset the_content to display the proper data would be appreciated,
   thanks!

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  [iridiax](https://wordpress.org/support/users/iridiax/)
 * (@iridiax)
 * [17 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multiple-loop-problem-in-singlephp/#post-944036)
 * Have you tried it as non-nested loops?
 *  Thread Starter [fredhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredhead/)
 * (@fredhead)
 * [17 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multiple-loop-problem-in-singlephp/#post-944043)
 * Well, that’s what I would like. The problem is that I want/need the TOC DIV to
   be between the title and the content (because the title is in an H2 and I can’t
   get the H2 to float to the right of the TOC DIV along with the content (which
   floats fine). The H2 insists on breaking to a new line or it sits under the TOC
   DIV and refuses to move.
 * In a perfect world, the TOC DIV would output then the post would output. I can’t
   get that to work so I’m trying to do what I thought was a fairly simple multiple
   loop. I just need to figure out how to reset the query data after the TOC loop
   outputs, to return to the original wp query.
 * Thanks for any ideas…
 *  [iridiax](https://wordpress.org/support/users/iridiax/)
 * (@iridiax)
 * [17 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multiple-loop-problem-in-singlephp/#post-944060)
 * To avoid nesting, could you use a variable to store the query results?
 * [http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop#Multiple_Loops_Example_2](http://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop#Multiple_Loops_Example_2)
 *  Thread Starter [fredhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredhead/)
 * (@fredhead)
 * [17 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multiple-loop-problem-in-singlephp/#post-944071)
 * I tried that before posting here and it failed, too. I got the same effect: running
   the customized TOC query somehow knocked out the larger query. That’s why I’m
   stumped. It seems so obvious, and straightforward. But it’s not working…
 *  Thread Starter [fredhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredhead/)
 * (@fredhead)
 * [17 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multiple-loop-problem-in-singlephp/#post-944180)
 * Hi,
 * I’m trying a hack where I split these multiple loops into 2 loops where the TOC
   loop generates a variable used in the main (now single) loop.
 * However, when I assign the template tags to a PHP varialble, for example, the_title(),
   in my PHP it outputs the template tag rather than load the variable. Can someone
   help me tweak my PHP to make it work?
 * Here’s the code:
 *     ```
       <?php
       		if ($parentcatid == '32') :
       			$rdtoc_query = new WP_Query('showposts=15&cat='.$storycatid);
       			if ($rdtoc_query->have_posts()) :
       				$toc = "<div style=\"background: #eee; width: 270px; float: left; margin: 0 10px; padding: 10px; position: relative;\">\n";
       				$toc .= "<h3>".$parentcat."</h3>\n";
       				$toc .= "<p><em>".$storycatname."</em></p>\n";
       				$toc .= "<ul>\n";
       				while ($rdtoc_query->have_posts()) : $rdtoc_query->the_post();
       					$permalink = the_permalink();
       					$linkattribute = the_title_attribute();
       					$linktitle = "Permanent Link to ".$linkattribute;
       					$title = the_title();
       					$toc .= "<li><a href=\"".$permalink." rel=\"bookmark\" title=\"".$linktitle."\">".$title."</a></li>\n";
       				endwhile;
       				$toc .= "</ul>\n";
       				$toc .= "</div>\n";
       			endif;
       		endif;
       		echo $toc;
       ?>
       ```
   
 * Again, this outputs the right code I want, just not the WordPress values.
 * Thanks for any help!

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

The topic ‘Multiple loop problem in single.php’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 5 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [fredhead](https://wordpress.org/support/users/fredhead/)
 * Last activity: [17 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/multiple-loop-problem-in-singlephp/#post-944180)
 * Status: not resolved

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