Shortcode to display latest post from one category

[jodzeee]

I’m trying to display the most recent post from one category on a page. I thought I’d try to do it without a plugin and I’m close … but where do I define which category?

function recent_posts_function() {
   query_posts(array('orderby' => 'date', 'order' => 'DESC' , 'showposts' => 1));
   if (have_posts()) :
      while (have_posts()) : the_post();
         $return_string = '<div class="coupon">'.get_the_content().'</div>';
      endwhile;
   endif;
   wp_reset_query();
   return $return_string;
}

function register_shortcodes(){
   add_shortcode('recent-posts', 'recent_posts_function');
}

add_action( 'init', 'register_shortcodes');

[Sridhar Katakam]

query_posts() is not recommended.

You might want to try http://wordpress.org/plugins/display-posts-shortcode/.

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[jodzeee]

I have a lot of plugins already installed and I'm trying to avoid using another one. Is there another way to create a shortcode in functions.php without using query_posts()?

[jodzeee]

Okay, I think I've got it!

/** Creates shortcode for recent posts */

function recent_posts_shortcode() {

$args = array(
   'category_name' => 'coupons',
   'posts_per_page' => '1',
 );
$query = new WP_Query($args);

if ( $query->have_posts() ) {
	while ( $query->have_posts() ) {
		$query->the_post();
		return '<div class="coupon">' . get_the_content() . '</div>';
	}
} else {
}

wp_reset_postdata();
}

function register_shortcodes(){
   add_shortcode('recent-posts', 'recent_posts_shortcode');
}

add_action( 'init', 'register_shortcodes');

One issue with it is that if I change the number of posts per page, it doesn't show more than one. In this case, it doesn't matter because I only want one, but I'm curious why it doesn't work. If I use "echo" instead of "return" it does work. However, it also puts the post above my content.

[wyattwerner]

I'm liking this. How do I get the post title to show up?

[Author]

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