Recent posts customisation - excerpt and image size

[demonboy]

I’ve implemented Classic Recent Posts on my homepage but despite adding some code to my child functions file to include the excerpt, nothing has changed.

www.followtheboat.com

How do I increase the size of the images and add the excerpt?

Thanks in advance.

[basanta]

Hi There,

Thanks for writing in!

Please make sure you have the code matching with the below code.

// Displaying Excerpt in Recent Posts
// =============================================================================

function x_shortcode_recent_posts_v2( $atts ) {
  extract( shortcode_atts( array(
    'id'           => '',
    'class'        => '',
    'style'        => '',
    'type'         => 'post',
    'count'        => '',
    'category'     => '',
    'offset'       => '',
    'orientation'  => '',
    'show_excerpt' => 'true',
    'no_sticky'    => '',
    'no_image'     => '',
    'fade'         => ''
  ), $atts, 'x_recent_posts' ) );

  $allowed_post_types = apply_filters( 'cs_recent_posts_post_types', array( 'post' => 'post' ) );
  $type = ( isset( $allowed_post_types[$type] ) ) ? $allowed_post_types[$type] : 'post';

  $id            = ( $id           != ''     ) ? 'id="' . esc_attr( $id ) . '"' : '';
  $class         = ( $class        != ''     ) ? 'x-recent-posts cf ' . esc_attr( $class ) : 'x-recent-posts cf';
  $style         = ( $style        != ''     ) ? 'style="' . $style . '"' : '';
  $count         = ( $count        != ''     ) ? $count : 3;
  $category      = ( $category     != ''     ) ? $category : '';
  $category_type = ( $type         == 'post' ) ? 'category_name' : 'portfolio-category';
  $offset        = ( $offset       != ''     ) ? $offset : 0;
  $orientation   = ( $orientation  != ''     ) ? ' ' . $orientation : ' horizontal';
  $show_excerpt  = ( $show_excerpt == 'true' );
  $no_sticky     = ( $no_sticky    == 'true' );
  $no_image      = ( $no_image     == 'true' ) ? $no_image : '';
  $fade          = ( $fade         == 'true' ) ? $fade : 'false';

  $js_params = array(
    'fade' => ( $fade == 'true' )
  );

  $data = cs_generate_data_attributes( 'recent_posts', $js_params );

  $output = "<div {$id} class=\"{$class}{$orientation}\" {$style} {$data} data-fade=\"{$fade}\" >";

    $q = new WP_Query( array(
      'orderby'             => 'date',
      'post_type'           => "{$type}",
      'posts_per_page'      => "{$count}",
      'offset'              => "{$offset}",
      "{$category_type}"    => "{$category}",
      'ignore_sticky_posts' => $no_sticky
    ) );

    if ( $q->have_posts() ) : while ( $q->have_posts() ) : $q->the_post();

      if ( $no_image == 'true' ) {
        $image_output       = '';
        $image_output_class = 'no-image';
      } else {
        $image              = wp_get_attachment_image_src( get_post_thumbnail_id(), 'entry-cropped' );
        $bg_image           = ( $image[0] != '' ) ? ' style="background-image: url(' . $image[0] . ');"' : '';
        $image_output       = '<div class="x-recent-posts-img"' . $bg_image . '></div>';
        $image_output_class = 'with-image';
      }

      $excerpt = ( $show_excerpt ) ? '<div class="x-recent-posts-excerpt"><p>' . preg_replace('/<a.*?more-link.*?<\/a>/', '', cs_get_raw_excerpt() ) . '</p></div>' : '';

      $output .= '<a class="x-recent-post' . $count . ' ' . $image_output_class . '" href="' . get_permalink( get_the_ID() ) . '" title="' . esc_attr( sprintf( csi18n('shortcodes.recent-posts-permalink'), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ) ) . '">'
                 . '<article id="post-' . get_the_ID() . '" class="' . implode( ' ', get_post_class() ) . '">'
                   . '<div class="entry-wrap">'
                     . $image_output
                     . '<div class="x-recent-posts-content">'
                       . '<h3 class="h-recent-posts">' . get_the_title() . '</h3>'
                       . '<span class="x-recent-posts-date">' . get_the_date() . '</span>'
                        . $excerpt
                     . '</div>'
                   . '</div>'
                 . '</article>'
               . '</a>';

    endwhile; endif; wp_reset_postdata();

  $output .= '</div>';

  return $output;

}

add_filter('wp_head', 'custom_recent_posts');

function custom_recent_posts() {
  remove_shortcode( 'x_recent_posts' );
  remove_shortcode( 'recent_posts' );
  add_shortcode( 'x_recent_posts', 'x_shortcode_recent_posts_v2' );
  add_shortcode( 'recent_posts', 'x_shortcode_recent_posts_v2' );
}

If you have the exact code and still have the issue, please send us your login details and FTP details in a secure note so that we can have a look.

Regarding the image size it depends on the size of the post and the number of post you have selected in row.

Thanks

[hyperdrive_boom]

This is excellent - can you reduce the amount of excerpt displayed?

[Alaa]

Hi @hyperdrive_boom

Yes, you can add this custom PHP code snippet to functions.php file in your child theme directory:

// Excerpt Custom Length
function custom_excerpt_length( ) {
return 20;
}
add_filter( 'excerpt_length', 'custom_excerpt_length', 999 );

This will render the first 20 words into the excerpt.

Thanks.

[hyperdrive_boom]

Perfect thank you!

[rad]

You’re most welcome!

[demonboy]

OK, that’s included the excerpt, which is great, thank you. However I need to change the thumbnail size. Currently it is letter-box shaped and I would like it to be closer to 4:3.

Please advise, thanks.

[christian]

Hey @demonboy,

You already have some customization for that already. See https://youtu.be/-c03tqgeCfA

You have this code in your Global CSS:

.x-recent-posts .x-recent-posts-img {
    position: relative;
    padding-bottom: 93px;
}

Adjust the bottom padding to achieve the 4:3 ratio.

Thanks.

[demonboy]

Of course! I think that’s left-over code from a time gone past
Thanks for this.

[rad]

You’re welcome!