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EamonnMac

Hey guys,

I'm working on a parent page that basically consists of nothing more than a big list of its child pages. The title of each child page is given, along with a thumbnail and some basic excerpt details via custom fields and get_post_meta. So far so good. Where I'm falling down is what happens when a custom field is requested and it's not there, and how to then replace that missing data with default data. I can manage it no probs with the thumbnail, but not for the excerpt. The page isn't live I'm afraid - but here's the code I'm using:


$excerptPath = get_post_meta($post->ID, \"excerpt\", true); 
                      if($excerptpath ==\"\") {
                             $excerptpath = \"We haven't included any text here yet, but we hope to have done so shortly!\";
                             }

If the 'excerpt' custom field is not present, however, the dummy text doesn't show. This exact syntax works fine for the thumbnail custom field (replacing it with a fallback img path). Why doesn't it work in this case?

Thanks in advance! Any help appreciated.

chriscoyier

Try this:

$excerptPath = get_post_meta($post->ID, \"excerpt\", true);
                      if($excerptpath) {
                             $excerptpath = \"We haven't included any text here yet, but we hope to have done so shortly!\";
                             }

EamonnMac

No Joy...

I figure that the code is correct, ('coz that's basically what's in the Codex) but that I'm putting it in the wrong place.

Here's the whole page (not too big!):


<?php
/*
Template Name: pastponies
*/

get_header(); ?>


   <div id=\"centered-wrap\">
        <h2 class=\"mainsub-title\"><?php the_title() ?></h2>
	<div id=\"content\">
                <?php the_content(); ?>

    <?php $intropath = get_post_meta($post->ID, \"intro\", true); ?>
                  <p class=\"intro\"><?php echo $intropath ?></p>

		<?php if ( (is_page('Past Ponies')) ) {
                   query_posts (array('showposts' =>100, 'post_type' =>'page', 'post_parent' => 337, 'orderby' => 'title', 'order' => 'ASC' ));

                     while (have_posts()) {

                       the_post();
  
                       $thumbpath = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'thumbnail', true);
                      
                          if($thumbpath ==\"\") {
                             $thumbpath = '/images/logo/logo_pic_coming_soon_200.gif'; 
                          }
                ?>

                <div class=\"biglist-item\">
                
                   <h3 class=\"list-title\"><a href=\"<?php the_permalink() ?>\"><?php the_title() ?></a></h3>
                   <a href=\"<?php the_permalink() ?>\"><img src=\"<?php echo $thumbpath ?>\" alt=\"\" class=\"list-thumb\" /></a>

                       <?php $excerptPath = get_post_meta($post->ID, \"excerpt\", true);
                             if($excerptpath) {
                                $excerptpath = \"We haven't included any text here yet, but we hope to have done so shortly!\";
                             }
                       ?> 

                      <p><?php echo $excerptPath ?></p>

                   <?php $studDetailsPath = get_post_meta($post->ID, \"studDetails\", true); ?>
                      <?php echo $studDetailsPath ?>

                   <span class=\"goto\"><a href=\"<?php the_permalink() ?>\">More about <?php the_title() ?></a></span>

                </div>

                <?php }

                wp_reset_query();
                
                }
               ?>

        <div class=\"clear\"></div>
	</div>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

Again, any help greatly appreciated! :D

EamonnMac

Any luck?

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When post_meta just ain't there...