Using WP Category Posts List Widget To Dynamically Display Specific Category (WP/PHP)

Question

I am trying to use the Category Posts (WP-CPL) plug-in on a blog I'm working on to filter 'Recent Posts' by category. Basically, when someone clicks on the category name on the blog, I would like it to display the posts from that category. This would be through the 'archives.php' file of the Life Is Simple template.

The shortcode for the plug-in is:

[wp_cpl_sc cat_id=40 list_num=4 css_theme=2 sticky_post="79"]

This is just an example where 'cat_id' represents the category that the plugin will display. I don't want to display just one category, I want it to display the appropriate category when someone clicks on the link. How can I get the plug-in to recognize which category is being requested and display the appropriate posts?

I know that the category title is:

<?php single_cat_title(); ?>

But how do I find the category ID number in this fashion? I've included the PHP for the plug-in's file titled 'wp_cpl_shortcode.php' below if that needs to be edited. I would prefer to use shortcode in the actual coding of the site for simplicity's purpose.

<?php
/**
 * shortcode
 * The library of shortcode class
 * @author Swashata <[email protected]>
 * @subpackage WP Category Post List Plugin
 * @version 2.0.0
 */

/**
 * The WP CPL shorttag support
 * @since 1.1.0
 * This was started from the version 1.1.0 and was finished by 2.0.0
 */
class itgdb_wp_cpl_shortcode {
    /**
     * The wp_cpl_shortcode_handler function
     * This function is responsible for converting shortcodes into dynamic contents
     * @package WordPress
     * @subpackage WordPress Category Post List plugin
     * @since 1.1.0
     * @param array $atts The attributes passed through the shortcode
     * @param string $content The string passed through the shortcode. Used for generating title
     * @return string The modified content
     */
    public function wp_cpl_shortcode_handler($atts, $content = null) {
        /** first extract the attributes */
        $op = shortcode_atts(array(
        'cat_id'            => 1,
            'css_theme'                 => 0,
        'is_thumb'          => 'true',
        'list_num'          => 10,
        'show_comments'     => 'true',
        'sort_using'        => 1,
        'sort_order'        => 'asc',
        'exclude_post'      => '',
        'sticky_post'       => '',
            'show_date'                 => 'true',
            'show_author'               => 'true',
            'show_excerpt'              => 'true',
            'excerpt_length'            => 150,
            'optional_excerpt'          => 'false',
            'read_more'                 => __('Continue Reading', itgdb_wp_cpl_loader::$text_domain),
        ), $atts);

        /** Sanitize some of the user datas */
        $cat_id = (int) $op['cat_id'];
        $i = 0;
        /** Done, now the main thing */
        include_once itgdb_wp_cpl_loader::$abs_path . '/includes/wp_cpl_output_gen.php';
        $output_gen = new itgdb_wp_cpl_output_gen();
        return $output_gen->shortcode_output_gen($op);
    }
}

Sorry if this question is convulated, I'm still learning and think I've twisted my brain around today. Thanks for any help!

---

The plug-in page is here:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-category-posts-list/

P.S. I will also post this in the wordpress.stackexchange.com , I just thought maybe this was a good PHP coding question to ask on this forum as well.

---

EDIT

I tried several things.

Number one:

<?php $categoryid = get_the_category($post->ID);
echo do_shortcode( '[wp_cpl_sc cat_id=".$categoryid." list_num=4 css_theme=2 sticky_post="79"]'); 
?>

This didn't do anything. It just displayed the first four posts.

Number two (I found a different PHP function in WordPress):

<?php $category_current = get_query_var($cat);
echo do_shortcode('[wp_cpl_sc cat_id="$category_current" list_num=4 css_theme=2 sticky_post="79"]');
?>

I go this idea from here http://www.wpsite.net/how-to-get-category-id-current-category/ . I also tried it as get_query_var('cat') as it says on the site but that didn't work either. Am I close? Is it a slight matter of syntax? Basically just need to grab the current category ID number and pass it into the 'cat_id' part of the shortcode. Thanks.

Answer 1

You can get current category ID by using get_the_category($post->ID);. This will give you the ID of the category the post you're viewing is assigned.

How do you display your plugin? Do you write your shortcode somewhere in your files? If yes, try do_shortcode.