Change style of stories in category list

Howdy Adam,
Let’s give it a shot, based off your code above.

<?php
if( have_posts() ) {
$counter = 0;
while( have_posts() ) {
the_post();
// check to see if we are on one of the first 2 items
if( $counter < 2 ) {
// do whatever in your theme for the design of your first 2 posts
} else {
// do whatever you want for posts after the 2nd one
}
$counter++;
} // end while
} // end if
?>

Anyway, give that a shot, and let me know if you have questions.
Take care,
Paul

This works great. Now, I want to skip stories 3,4,5. I am just going to make an extra entry in the if statement to do nothing for these stories. I want them to display with their own style in a sidebar. How do I get stories 3,4,5 on any given page?

If you need any more information, just let me know.

Thank you,
Adam

Glad you’re headed in the right direction.

1. Do you have your blog set up to show “newest 5 posts,” then, in “Settings > Reading?” I’m assuming so, but needed to check.
2. You want 3,4,5 to show up in a sidebar, in a widget, then?
— Do they HAVE to be in a widget, or is it okay if they just show up in the sidebar by any means?
3. What theme are you currently using?

While you can search on the internet for what you want (mostly) by searching for “access posts from outside the loop,” almost all of these approaches you find are inefficient, requiring a new set of queries.

If you would please answer my questions above, I’d like to show you how to do this WITHOUT all those extra queries.

Paul

1. Blog pages show at most 10 posts
Syndication feeds show the most recent 10 items

2. Widget would be nice.

3. Currently using Organic News https://organicthemes.com/demo/news/

Oops, I forgot to ask question number 4:
What page(s) do you want to do this special situation for?
Is it a page where you can use a specific Page Template?
Or, is it on the Home Page?
Or…?

This will affect the best approach to the solution.

Thx,
Paul

It is on the category pages (category.php)

How would I do this with an additional query?

Thanks

Hi again,
Here is my recommendation:
1. skip stories 3, 4, 5 in your main loop (you already know how to do that above.)
2. In your sidebar, include a widget or custom code that does a query for stories 3, 4, and 5.

Here’s how to do a custom query:
https://www.sjlwebdesign.co.uk/sjl-blog/index.php/web-design/wordpress/display-posts-outside-the-wordpress-loop/

In your query, you’ll need to use the “offset” parameter so you can get just 3, 4, 5:
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Class_Reference/WP_Query#Offset_Parameter

Good luck!
Paul

Thanks! Perfect