This widget has now been officially released. Go to the Query Posts plugin page for more information and to download.
A few days ago, I mentioned that I’d be releasing a beta version of a new widget. Now, I’m looking for people to test it out and provide insightful feedback on what they think about it.
This widget is pretty powerful in terms of what it can do. I’m not even sure if there are any widgets that attempt to do what this one does. Right now, it’s experimental. I’m hoping that by getting some solid feedback on it I’ll be able to refine it and officially release it.
What does this plugin/widget do?
The plugin creates a new widget called Query Posts. Basically, it allows you to grab posts and display them according to most of the query_posts() arguments. Right now, the widget has more than 30 various settings.
You can display posts according to category, tag, author, custom field, time, and loads of other arguments. Seriously. Just take a look at the screenshot (click image for larger view):
Why create this widget?
I recently held a survey at Theme Hybrid to get a feel for what type of themes everyone wanted. On this survey, I asked a question about what areas should be widgetized. One of the choices was “I want all templates completely widgetized.” This was an answer I jokingly added because creating a theme that is completely widgetized is not really a viable option.
That choice pulled the second-highest number of votes.
If I were to create a completely widgetized theme, there’d have to be widgets that handled displaying post content. This is the first step in seeing how that might work.
While I am entertaining this idea as an experiment, I don’t believe themes should be widgetized like that. It takes away from the creativity of the theme designer in many aspects, but I won’t get into that now.
There are other practical applications for using this widget. Maybe something like adding asides to a sidebar or widgetizing a page template to allow for custom pages (for those of you unaware, the Hybrid theme has this page template).
Get the widget
Before downloading this and testing it out, please note that you should have a basic understanding of how query_posts() works.
- You may now download this on the official Query Posts plugin page
I hope you have fun with this widget. Break it. Get annoyed with it. Report back to me with suggestions and feedback, please.
This is not an official version and is not for use on a live site. It is a test version. If you put it on a live site and it breaks your blog, then that’s on you. I doubt it’ll break your blog though.
very cool plug-in.
the only issue I’ve run into with it are differences in css class naming… for someone using a theme other than one of yours the the results are going to look funny.
after looking through your code it’s an easy fix.
aside from that it does just about anything i could think of.
Actually, I can see this as being extremely useful for approaching Wordpress as a full blown CMS instead of just a blog. Couple multiple instances of this with multiple instances of your widgets page template in Hybrid, and you can have one WP install that divides content between pages all without doing and custom theme modification.
christopher — Yeah, those are just going to be issues, but I’m trying to standardize them as much as possible. I forgot to add the
post_class()(new WP class) to the post div, which will help it be more standard.Jason — I agree that users could take this along with the widgetized page templates and create pretty much anything they want. There are many practical applications for it.
I would be happy to try out this widget. It sounds like the kind of stuff for newbies like me so we might be able to do something cool. I just recently switch to wordpress found all the templates to be pretty much the same except for yours that allow some flexibility. But I still can’t change the title that shows at the top of the page. I sent you 2 emails about that without results. So my local blog about kids in my hometown say options theme. That’s not cool and if you don’t answer me soon, I will have to not use this template and go back to the others.
Please feel free to edit or remove this comment. I just needed some attention
Mireille — Sorry if I’ve overlooked your email, but I explicitly state on all my contact forms to ask theme-support questions on Theme Hybrid’s support forums. There’s loads of information there on this topic, and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.
Seems like a good one, like you always do
I’ll try it and hopefully I can make a comprehensive review.
Thank you for all your efforts.
Looks like a great plugin. I have a WP install I use for development, but it doesn’t have enough content on it to really test this. The site I have with enough content is real, and shouldn’t be used for testing. Well, maybe I’ll try it out in the middle of the night and then deactivate it.
I’ve been testing it on my development blog which has a lot of posts with a variety of categories and tags and the plugin is working great.
My main concern is being able to customize the output of the widget display. From the looks of it I’ll have to edit within the plugin.
I’m curious to know how a completely widgetized theme takes away from a theme designer’s creativity
BukiJurnaldotCom — Please do. I could definitely use all the feedback I can get.
Kathy — Well, definitely let me know how it works for you.
Vix — Thanks for testing out the plugin and confirming all is going well. I’m going to make it a little more CSS-friendly and add some filter hooks in to allow for more control over the display.
I love working with widgets, but the very idea of a widget means that you’re taking some control away from the theme designer.
Designers aren’t people that just make things look pretty. It’s about the merging of function and form. It’s about saying, “This should go here. And, that should go there.” The more choices you give the end user, the less control you have. Users tend to muck up great designs a lot of times.
That’s the short version. Don’t get me wrong though. Widgets can be great tools. Plus, I’m the sort of designer that likes to give choices (as you can probably see from this plugin).
Want to echo what Vix was saying — I’d love the ability to control the widget_title more, in specific being able to link from it…
Great plug-in though, really helpful!
[...] Anybody want to test a new widget? – A few days ago, I mentioned that I’d be releasing a beta version of a new widget. Now, I’m looking for people to test it out and provide ins… [...]
Oh, hell yeah! This is going to be an amazing plugin. Your ideas are gold.
Thanks for the explanation – because it’s very easy to destroy a theme designer’s intent with a theme you have to walk the fine line between functionality and too many options.
I made a small change to the plugin so that it would let me display custom field data. Is this the kind of functionality that you want in the plugin? If so, how do I send you the code?
OMG! This sounds like exactly what I am looking for. There are so many plugins that allow you to add custom fields to a users profile but nothing that will allow you to display that information. I am not a programmer so having a plugin that will allow me to display content from fields i already have in anyway that I want is priceless.
I did see your warning about not using it with a live site, unfortunately its all I have so wish me luck!
johnny_n — The WordPress widget title filter doesn’t allow linking. I’m not looking to add too much extra though.
AC — Thanks. I’m hoping it turns out well.
Vix — Making changes to any plugin is not a good idea unless you’re a developer. There’s ways to add custom field data to a post without touching the plugin file.
tonya — Are you sure you understand what this plugin does? This has nothing to do with user profiles.
No worries, I’m at ease with editing plugin files. Here is a screenshot of what I did: added “meta” option to the display drop-down and set it so that if it was selected, the widget would display the data of chosen custom field.
Justin, thanks for you quick response. I guess I miss understood the plugin. Thanks Vix for the screenshot. I thought the plugin would list the data from other sources not just the post query, bummer!
Most plugins do a great job with getting the data into Wordpress but I haven’t seen one that helps you get it out. This issue may not sound like a big deal if you are a programmer but for those novices like me having a plugin to display content from the user profile in your desired format would be priceless.
Wow that is sick I just installed it, into my fresh new install of Hybrid News and it is beyond cool. I’ve just poked around, but to be able to “stick” any of your content, anywhere which is especially true with Hybrid. I brought out an old post and stuck it on the home page, sweet. And no it hasn’t broken anything… That with widget logic and “I” can’t imagine what can’t be done. Opps double negative
I am really seeing how Hybrid is a full blown CMS at this point.
Thanks as always
http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/hybrid-news-wordpress-theme-release
Cool plug in with no cost thanks.
look too complex. can u give simple explanation. i read it over and over again but still confuse! what this tool used for? what the adventage to use it? thanks
Vix — As long as you’re comfortable with it.
tonya — Most plugins get data from WordPress, not the other way around. I have seen plugins that grab data from a user’s profile though.
Craig — I’m really hoping I can fit this into a widget-only theme. Hybrid’s widget areas make this plugin very useful too.
tagecho — You’re welcome.
Fadli — The simple explanation — This widget allows you to load posts in any way.
Justin, I simply liked the concept of widgetizing everything – that would simply make wordpress a complete CMS for me. I would try to create a new blog using this plugin itself, is it right time to do that?
Jason — Widgetizing everything can be cool, but there are negative sides to it. Nevertheless, I’m definitely thinking about making the theme.
That should not be a problem as long as I am trying it on completely new blog as a beta test. That way, we can figure out major issues at end user.
I would love to try out this widget. I have been looking for this kind of widget for a long time.
OMG! this is awesome! I’ve installed this plugin 3 minutes ago and I already love it!
does this work with wordpress mu?
if not is it planned for the future?
This is exactly what I need, I guess. Now I just need to learn how to use it. Could there be some kind of short list of options you may put into those text fields. For example when you move your mouse over the text “Author:” you would get an example of use or a list of options or something to help the user to understand what you can do with the text field.
Jason — Maybe I’ll have that Widgetized theme out sometime in March. I’ll be looking for loads of feedback on it.
Jim — Definitely try it out. Let me know how it works out for you.
Danny — Thanks. I’m hoping to have it officially released soon.
imtiedup — In general, I don’t test things for WPMU. If it works, it works. You’ll just have to test it out and let us know.
Mika — The list of options and everything is referenced in the
readme.htmlfile included with the download.Thanks for the readme file. I found it by my a bit later
However, once this plugin gets released officially, a “typical” user might not ever see the readme.html file (unless it is linked somewhere), because they install it directly from their wordpress admin.
All the query options and settings are outstanding! Now the only thing I’m missing is how to define the way how the query results are shown in by sidebar. Should the timestamp and author be shown and things like that. There could also be a possibility to define the layout of items by pasting some code for the plugin. Then other people would be able to create their own layout codes for showing items in your plugin. Or should this be left to the theme designer
Justin,
been playing with this plugin for the last few days and love it.
The only issue I have is when using it in a narrow ’sidebar’ to display posts with image & excerpt, the default excerpt can be too long, so your old limit_content function would be a great addition.
Everyone — I should have this plugin updated and officially released this week.
Mika — I guess a “typical user” might be out of luck, so to speak.
The best method of showing instructions I’ve found is simply including them in a file with the plugin download. That way, the user won’t have to hunt around for how to use things and the instructions will always be the most up-to-date instructions they can find.
DaveK — The
limit_content()function is actually a really crude method to use. WordPress filters are much better suited for something like that. Plus, I don’t really have anywhere to add in anything else. If anything, I need to start removing stuff.Hi Justin, been looking but can’t find a solution.
Do you know somewhere that I can look to find a filter/function for shortening the excerpt text?
[...] Query Posts WordPress widget is finally here. I figured after I’ve let you all beta test this thing for over a month, it was about [...]