Title: WP_Query returns nothing
Last modified: December 6, 2016

---

# WP_Query returns nothing

 *  Resolved [michaelware1205](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michaelware1205/)
 * (@michaelware1205)
 * [9 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp_query-returns-nothing/)
 * My second stumper of the day.
 * On my single.php template, I’m displaying the usual content and several fields
   created with Advanced Custom Fields. All of that data displays correctly, but
   when I try to show related posts from the same category, I get nothing, even 
   though I know 2-3 related posts exist in that category.
 * I’ve done this type of related posts query on several sites, as have billions
   of other developers. But I don’t completely understand when I do and don’t need
   to reset the post data and feel like that may be the issue.
 * Any obvious issues with this query?
 *     ```
       <?php  
       // related stories category info passed in from single.php or template-cat-landing.php
       // $category_name is defined at the top of the page
   
       $currentID = get_the_ID();
   
       $args = array( 
         'category_name' =>  $category_name,
         'orderby' => 'date',
         'post_type'=> 'post',
         'posts_per_page' => -1,
         'post__not_in' => array($currentID),
   
       );
   
       $the_query = new WP_Query( $args );
       // The Loop
   
       //if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : ?>
   
           <section id="all-stories" class="layer">
               <div class="control-wrapper">
                   <div class="row">
                       <div class="col-xs-12">
                           <div class="row">
                               <div class="col-xs-12">
                                   <h2 class="h3 tapered-lines special-text pad-bottom">
                                       Browse All of Our <?php echo $category_name; ?> Stories 
                                   </h2>
                               </div>
                           </div>
                           <div class="row">
                               <div class="col-xs-12">
                                   <?php while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post(); ?>
   
                                           <div class="story-card-wrap">
                                               <div class="story-card">
                                                   <a href="<?php echo get_permalink( $post->ID ); ?>"><?php echo get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID, 'thumbnail' ); ?>       
                                                       <div class="info">
                                                           <div class="content-label"><?php echo $category_name; ?></div>
                                                           <h3><?php the_title(); ?></h3>
                                                       </div>
                                                   </a>
                                               </div><!-- /story-card -->
                                           </div><!-- /story-card-wrap -->
   
                                   <?php endwhile;  ?>
   
                               </div>
   
                           </div>
   
                       </div>
                   </div>
               </div><!-- end control-wrapper -->
           </section><!-- end section -->
   
       <?php 
       //endif;
       // Reset Post Data
       wp_reset_postdata();
       ?>
       ```
   

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

 *  Thread Starter [michaelware1205](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michaelware1205/)
 * (@michaelware1205)
 * [9 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp_query-returns-nothing/#post-8521955)
 * I found a solution.
 * Instead of using the category name, I used the category ID. I’m not sure why 
   can cannot rely solely on the category name, but ID worked for me.
 * Here is the revised code:
 *     ```
       <?php  
       // related stories category info passed in from single.php or template-cat-landing.php
   
       $currentID = get_the_ID();
       $category_id = get_cat_ID( $category_name );
   
       $args = array( 
         'cat' => $category_id,
         'orderby' => 'date',
         'post_type'=> 'post',
         'posts_per_page' => -1,
         'post__not_in' => array($currentID),
       );
   
       $the_query = new WP_Query( $args );
   
       // The Loop
   
       //if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : ?>
   
           <section id="all-stories" class="layer">
               <div class="control-wrapper">
                   <div class="row">
                       <div class="col-xs-12">
                           <div class="row">
                               <div class="col-xs-12">
                                   <h2 class="h3 tapered-lines special-text pad-bottom">
                                       Browse All of Our <?php echo $category_name; ?> Stories 
                                   </h2>
                               </div>
                           </div>
                           <div class="row">
                               <div class="col-xs-12">
                                   <?php while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post(); ?>
   
                                           <div class="story-card-wrap">
                                               <div class="story-card">
                                                   <a href="<?php echo get_permalink( $post->ID ); ?>"><?php echo get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID, 'thumbnail' ); ?>       
                                                       <div class="info">
                                                           <div class="content-label"><?php echo $category_name; ?></div>
                                                           <h3><?php the_title(); ?></h3>
                                                       </div>
                                                   </a>
                                               </div><!-- /story-card -->
                                           </div><!-- /story-card-wrap -->
   
                                   <?php endwhile;  ?>
   
                               </div>
   
                           </div>
   
                       </div>
                   </div>
               </div><!-- end control-wrapper -->
           </section><!-- end section -->
   
       <?php 
       //endif;
       // Reset Post Data
       wp_reset_postdata();
       ?>
       ```
   

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

The topic ‘WP_Query returns nothing’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [wp_query](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/wp_query/)

 * 1 reply
 * 1 participant
 * Last reply from: [michaelware1205](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michaelware1205/)
 * Last activity: [9 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp_query-returns-nothing/#post-8521955)
 * Status: resolved

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