monkeybrain

It works, oh dear, that’s great! Here the solution for everyone else, just edit $post_type, $tax, $tax_terms, etc.. and the loop outputs custom post type data without having to change the actual syntax. Less to think about, less to worry about, easily adaptable. Hurray!

<?php
// for a given post type, return all
$post_type = 'menu';
$tax = 'categories';
$tax_terms = get_terms($tax, array('orderby' => 'id', 'order' => 'ASC', ));
if ($tax_terms) {
    foreach ($tax_terms as $tax_term) {
        $args = array(
            'post_type' => $post_type,
            "$tax" => $tax_term->slug,
            'post_status' => 'publish',
            'posts_per_page' => - 1,
            'orderby' => 'title',
            'order' => 'ASC',
            'caller_get_posts' => 1
            ); // END $args
        $my_query = null;
        $my_query = new WP_Query($args);
        if ($my_query->have_posts()) {
            echo '<h3>' . $tax_term->name . '</h3>';
            while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post();
            ?>

// whatever you want in the loop
<?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?>
<?php echo esc_html( get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'menu_price', true ) ); ?>
<?php the_title(); ?>
<?php the_content(); ?>

          <?php
            endwhile;
        } // END if have_posts loop
        wp_reset_query();
    } // END foreach $tax_terms
} // END if $tax_terms

?>

Thanks a lot for your help beirdostudio and deepbevel!

Thanks for trying, but it just doesn’t make sense to use this syntax. There must be a way to keep it simple and make it work with default WordPress tags. Isn’t it just a matter of getting the right data into the_post()?
If it’s doable with ordinary WordPress posts, why should it be that much more complicated with custom post types?

Thanks! That works! Now I only have to adapt it so it works with all the custom fields and thumbnail images. I will look into that tomorrow. Again, thanks a lot!

Yes! The name of the category as a title, and below the list of all entries within that category. Then the next category title and below the according entries. Etc…

The php example I posted only uses a link to the menu item (it works for normal WordPress posts but not custom post types yet), but once the right data is in the query, I’ll list thumbnail, title, content, and additional custom fields like price and other details.

Thanks @deepbevel, I try to not use too many plugins, so if it’s solvable without, that would be my preferred solution.

Thanks. Now the syntax errors are gone. But the code returns the name of the first .$cat->name. and then an never ending list with linktext “Menu” and link to the current page. https://imgur.com/F17B4Ji

Here is the code used to create the custom post type http://pastebin.com/8pbniM3K
The menu items are then displayed on a custom page template Template Name: Menu Overview