Shortcode with Micro Formatted Loop, Meta, Category, Pagination

Using a WordPress shortcode enables you for posting of individual blog posts based on ID, latest number of blog posts from a certain category or all categories, optional pagination, optional excerpt or full content showing and optional meta.

Instructions: Add the following code to the functions.php of your WordPress theme to enable the new shortcode.

<?php
/************* SHORTCODES ****************/
// 
function showBlogPosts( $atts ) {
	extract( shortcode_atts( array(
	// what categories to show, default = all. 
		'cat' => '',
	// number of posts
		'num' => 5,
		'p' => '',
	// The following variables work on an "on/off" switch, 1 to allow, 0 to disallow
	// excerpt or content. default = excerpt
		'excerpt' => 1,
	// show meta or not. default = yes
		'meta' => 1,
		'meta2' => 1,

	//paged. default on no. Determines if page should be paginated or not
		'pnavi' => 0
	), $atts ) );
	global $loopMeta, $loopExcerpt, $loopMeta2;
	$loopMeta = $meta;
	$loopExcerpt = $excerpt;
	$loopMeta2 = $meta2;
	if ($p != ''){
	$posts_per_page = '';	
	}
	
 wp_reset_query();
global $paged;
$args = array( 'posts_per_page' => $num, 'cat'=> $cat, 'p' => $p );
if($pnavi == 1){
$args['paged'] = get_query_var('page');
}
query_posts($args );
 while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
/* for the loop part, use your own loop.php that contains only the post format. 
** See my "micrLoopPart.php" to see how all the options play out
*/
include(locate_template('microLoopPart.php'));
   endwhile; 

if($pnavi == 1){
echo'<div id="blogNav">';
posts_nav_link( ' ', '&raquo;', '&laquo;' );
echo '</div>';
}
 wp_reset_query();
}
add_shortcode( 'blogPosts', 'showBlogPosts' );
?>

Now, create a new template file called microLoopPart.php on your root folder and add the following micro formatted loop.

<article id="post-<?php the_ID();?>" <?php post_class($classes);?> ><!-- START OF POST -->
      
      <h1 class="entry-title"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>" class="url">
        <?php the_title(); ?>
        </a></h1>
      <span class="meta vcard" style=" <?php if($loopMeta == 0){ echo "display:none"; }?> ">
      <time class="updated" datetime="<?php

$postDate = get_the_date('c');

$postDate2 = get_the_date('d.m.Y');

echo $postDate ?>" pubdate> <?php echo $postDate2; ?></time>
      | <span class="byline fn author">
      <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?>
      </span> | <a href="mailto:<?php the_author_meta('email'); ?>" class="email author">email</a> |
      <?php the_category(', '); ?>
      </span></span>

      <div class="postContent entry-content">
         <?php 
		if($loopExcerpt == 0){
		the_content();
		}
		else{
			if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) {
			 the_post_thumbnail('thumbnail', array('class' => 'alignleft')); 
	  		 
			}
		the_excerpt();
	   	echo '<div class="clearfix"></div>';
		}
		?>
        <p class="postmetadata" style=" <?php if($loopMeta2 == 0){ echo "display:none"; }?> ">Posted in
          <?php the_category(', '); ?>
          <br />
          <?php the_tags(); ?>
          <br />
          Source: <span class="vcard"><span class="source-org copyright">
          <?php bloginfo('name'); ?>
          </span></span></p>
      </div>
    </article>

Lastly, you need to add the following shortcode within your blog posts to display a micro formatted list of posts.

[blogPosts cat=3 excerpt=0 meta=1 meta1=0 num=2]

You may also enjoy checking if shortcode already exists.