Featured story/top news items

Hi rlindauer,

> I figured it's probably if "feature_1" is checked, then display the story.

- Yes, that is one of many ways to do it. You need to loop through the news records until you find the record with featured_* checked, and then display the record. But you'll need to do the loop 2 or 3 times.
For example:

<!--For the 1st featured news-->
<?php
foreach ($newsRecords as $record){
  if (!$record['featured_1']) { continue; } // continue looping if featured_1 is not checked
  ?>
  your html code here + record's contents
  <?php
}
?>

<!--For the next 2 featured news-->
<?php
foreach ($newsRecords as $record){
  if (!$record['featured_2'] AND !$record['featured_3']) { continue; }
  ?>
  your html code here + record's contents
  <?php
}
?>


Hope that helps!

Cheers,

Thanks for your help! We're on the right track! Except now I'm getting 4 copies of the 1st feature story, but nothing from the second and third stories. 

You can see the page here:

http://www.polkcountynewspaper.com/new2/index_FEATURE.php

My code is attached.

I also want to make sure the feature stories are not JUST from our NEWS section. The feature stories might come from the sports section from time to time. Is it possible to just leave it open so that ANY story marked "feature_1", "feature_2" or "feature_3" gets placed on the homepage (no matter which section it comes from)?

Hi,

I took a look at the code and made some changes. Having multiple check-boxes is problematic in that you can check more than one and you can't easily view what article is featured from within the CMS Builder admin.

A better approach is to create a Featured dropdown list with the following options:
feature_1
feature_2
feature_3

Next, add featured to the ListPage Fields in Admin > Section Editors > News. See attached image.

This will show the featured column.

Use this code. Modify as needed:

<!--BEGIN 1st FEATURE STORY-->
<?php foreach ($newsRecords as $record): ?>
<?php if ($record['featured'] != "feature_1") { continue; } // continue looping if featured_1 is not selected ?>
<?php foreach ($record['image'] as $index => $upload): ?>
<?php if ($index >= 1) { continue; } // limit uploads shown ?>
<img src="<?php echo htmlencode($upload['thumbUrlPath']) ?>" width="<?php echo $upload['thumbWidth'] ?>" height="<?php echo $upload['thumbHeight'] ?>" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 10px 20px 0;"/><br/>
<?php endforeach ?>
<strong><?php echo htmlencode($record['title']) ?></strong><br/>
<?php echo date("M jS, Y", strtotime($record['date'])) ?><br/>
<?php echo htmlencode($record['summary']) ?><br/>
<a href="<?php echo $record['_link'] ?>"><?php echo $record['_link'] ?></a><br/>
<?php break; ?>
<?php endforeach ?>
<br clear="left" />
<!--END 1st FEATURE STORY-->


<!--BEGIN 2nd FEATURE STORY-->
<?php foreach ($newsRecords as $record): ?>
<?php if ($record['featured'] != "feature_2") { continue; } // continue looping if featured_2 is not selected ?>
<?php foreach ($record['image'] as $index => $upload): ?>
<?php if ($index >= 1) { continue; } // limit uploads shown ?>
<img src="<?php echo htmlencode($upload['thumbUrlPath']) ?>" width="<?php echo $upload['thumbWidth'] ?>" height="<?php echo $upload['thumbHeight'] ?>" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 10px 20px 0;"/><br/>
<?php endforeach ?>
<strong><?php echo htmlencode($record['title']) ?></strong><br/>
<?php echo date("M jS, Y", strtotime($record['date'])) ?><br/>
<?php echo htmlencode($record['summary']) ?><br/>
<a href="<?php echo $record['_link'] ?>"><?php echo $record['_link'] ?></a><br/>
<?php break; ?>
<?php endforeach ?>
<!--END 2nd FEATURE STORY-->



<!--BEGIN 3rd FEATURE STORY-->
<?php foreach ($newsRecords as $record): ?>
<?php if ($record['featured'] != "feature_3") { continue; } // continue looping if featured_3 is not selected ?>
<?php foreach ($record['image'] as $index => $upload): ?>
<?php if ($index >= 1) { continue; } // limit uploads shown ?>
<img src="<?php echo htmlencode($upload['thumbUrlPath']) ?>" width="<?php echo $upload['thumbWidth'] ?>" height="<?php echo $upload['thumbHeight'] ?>" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 10px 20px 0;"/><br/>
<?php endforeach ?>
<strong><?php echo htmlencode($record['title']) ?></strong><br/>
<?php echo date("M jS, Y", strtotime($record['date'])) ?><br/>
<?php echo htmlencode($record['summary']) ?><br/>
<a href="<?php echo $record['_link'] ?>"><?php echo $record['_link'] ?></a><br/>
<?php break; ?>
<?php endforeach ?>
<!--END 3rd FEATURE STORY-->

Let me know how this works out and if you have any questions.

Hi,

I'm not sure why you are seeing the same image for all three stories.

Can you send in your CMS Builder and FTP details so I can take a closer look?
https://www.interactivetools.com/support/email_support_form.php?priority=regular

Don't post server details here in the forum.

Thanks!