output cashe

Hi @flector,

Did you know that:

1. WordPress Popular Posts has a built-in shortcode called [wpp]?
2. WordPress Popular Posts has its own built-in cache mechanism based on transients which also caches the [wpp] shortcode?

Why are you trying to build a custom shortcode when the plugin already does everything you seem to be trying to do?

How do you know it’s not working? Did you enable WPP’s Data Caching feature already?

Alright. This is the source code of the wpp_get_mostpopular() function:

/**
 * Template tag - gets popular posts.
 *
 * @since	2.0.3
 * @param	mixed	args
 */
function wpp_get_mostpopular($args = NULL) {

    $shortcode = '[wpp';

    if ( is_null( $args ) ) {
        $shortcode .= ']';
    } else {
        if( is_array( $args ) ){
            $atts = '';
            foreach( $args as $key => $arg ){
                if (
                    is_array( $arg )
                    && ( 'post_type' == $key || 'cat' == $key || 'term_id' == $key || 'pid' == $key || 'author' == $key )
                ) {
                    $arg = array_filter( $arg, 'is_int' );
                    $arg = join( ',', $arg );
                }

                $atts .= ' ' . $key . '="' . htmlspecialchars($arg, ENT_QUOTES, $encoding = ini_get("default_charset"), false) . '"';
            }
        } else {
            $atts = trim( str_replace( "&", " ", $args  ) );
        }

        $shortcode .= ' ' . $atts . ' php=true]';
    }

    echo do_shortcode( $shortcode );

}

If you notice, it’s just a wrapper that calls the [wpp] shortcode.

Here’s the source code that registers and processes the [wpp] shortcode:

/**
 * WPP shortcode handler.
 *
 * @since    1.4.0
 * @param    array    $atts    User defined attributes in shortcode tag
 * @return   string
 */
public function wpp_shortcode( $atts = null ) {

    // Previous lines of code removed for brevity!

    $cached = false;

    // Return cached results
    if ( $this->admin_options['tools']['cache']['active'] ) {

        $key = md5( json_encode($shortcode_ops) );
        $popular_posts = WPP_Cache::get( $key );

        if ( false === $popular_posts ) {

            $popular_posts = new WPP_Query( $shortcode_ops );

            $time_value = $this->admin_options['tools']['cache']['interval']['value']; // eg. 5
            $time_unit = $this->admin_options['tools']['cache']['interval']['time']; // eg. 'minute'

            WPP_Cache::set(
                $key,
                $popular_posts,
                $time_value,
                $time_unit
            );

        }

        $cached = true;

    } // Get popular posts
    else {
        $popular_posts = new WPP_Query( $shortcode_ops );
    }

    $output = new WPP_Output( $popular_posts->get_posts(), $shortcode_ops );

    $shortcode_content .= $output->get_output();

    return $shortcode_content;

}

If Data Caching is enabled, then the plugin check if there’s a transient set already. If so, that’s what the plugin will use to render the popular posts. If there isn’t a transient set, then WPP does a new query and store its results in a transient (WPP_Cache::set(...)). In case you’re curious, here’s the source code of the WPP_Cache class.

As you can see, the plugin is doing exactly the same thing you’re trying to do here. Don’t see how your code is any different (in terms of logic) from what WPP already does.

If you still prefer doing it your way and don’t mind duplicating some code, this is what you need:

function pop_func( $atts ) {
    $args = array(
        'post_type' => 'post',
        'range' => 'all', 
    );

    if ( ! $pop = get_transient( 'cache-popular' ) ) {
        $shortcode = '[wpp';

        if ( is_null( $args ) ) {
            $shortcode .= ']';
        } else {
            if( is_array( $args ) ){
                $atts = '';
                foreach( $args as $key => $arg ){
                    if (
                        is_array( $arg )
                        && ( 'post_type' == $key || 'cat' == $key || 'term_id' == $key || 'pid' == $key || 'author' == $key )
                    ) {
                        $arg = array_filter( $arg, 'is_int' );
                        $arg = join( ',', $arg );
                    }

                    $atts .= ' ' . $key . '="' . htmlspecialchars($arg, ENT_QUOTES, ini_get("default_charset"), false) . '"';
                }
            } else {
                $atts = trim( str_replace( "&", " ", $args  ) );
            }

            $shortcode .= ' ' . $atts . ' php=true]';
        }

        $pop = do_shortcode( $shortcode );

        set_transient( 'cache-popular', $pop, 8 * HOUR_IN_SECONDS );
    }

    return $pop;
}
add_shortcode( 'pop', 'pop_func' );