Sean

Perfect. Tested this and works perfect. Thank you for your assistance, Jory. I will implement your recommendations.
Cheers!

@keraweb I totally appreciate that and will definitely investigate/debug on my end regarding the shortcode. However, the part of the issue which is relevant to you is not the shortcode, but an issue with the Pods plugin itself. (Admittedly, we went on a tangent when discussing the shortcode).

As mentioned, I have a User (extended) Pod Type. The purpose of this Pod is to add additional fields to my Users.

One of the fields I created has the label Program and the name staff_program

The Field Type is Relationship and related to Simple (custom defined list). Additional field options are a Multiple Select Selection Type, with a format of Checkboxes.

I have created a list of Custom Defined Options.

For the sake of example, here are my options:

Administration & Finance
Client Services
GIS & Planning
Transportation

When I create a new User, if I select Administration & Finance or GIS & Planning and save the User, the option does not save. I never had an issue with this Pod before. I’ve always been able to choose one of those options for a User and the value is stored when I save. If I select Client Services or Transportation options and save the User, those options will save. Furthermore, I can see that existing users who previously had either Administration & Finance or GIS & Planning options selected for the staff_program field still have that meta stored but if I were to uncheck that option, save, and then re-check it and save it does not get stored. So this new issue affects not only new users but also existing users if they get edited.

After troubleshooting, I can say with confidence that the & character causes this problem. If I used the encoded ampersand & the problem goes away. That leads me to believe there was a change in the Pods plugin that created this issue. I just want to know if that’s a bug because I certainly can’t believe I am the only one who uses an ampersand in options.

You see, the solution to this problem is what I desire. Please disregard everything else about the shortcode, Jory.

PS. Thank you for this plugin and the continued development over the years. It is a great plugin with a quality build.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Sean. Reason: Added troubleshooting info near end of reply

Again, my point is for over two years I have been able to user the special char & in a Custom Defined Option for a Simple (custom defined list) Relationship field. Now whenever I select an option that contains that special char (in my example, Administration & Finance and Save or Update a user, that option does not commit. It now only commits if I change the option in the Pod to Administration & Finance.

Yes, since I began using this function with Pods as a shortcode, I have used the special character & in the meta value for staff_program field as well as in the shortcode to display program staff. I’ve never converted it. As mentioned, now if the ampersand character is an option in the choice field the value does not save when I update a user.

It now only works if I use the encoded HTML entity & on both the user entry side and the display side on the front end. (If you suggest I should always be using the encoded entity rather than the special char please let me know, PHP is not my native language, lol).

For the $args, I have several custom user roles defined. I use roles to differentiate between our different levels of management. In the function above, I am looking for get_users() who don’t have a management role and who match a program specified in the shortcode. IE: [TCOG_Program_Staff program="Administration & Finance" columns="1"] will find all users with Administration & Finance meta_value in the staff_program field/meta_key. The users will be displayed in 1 column ordered by last_name.

@keraweb sorry for the delayed response as I have been out of office over the last week.

Oops! I pasted the wrong function. The below code includes the program argument and $atts variable.

// Displaying TCOG Program Staff in # columns based on program parameter [TCOG_Program_Staff program="Program Name" columns="#"]

function display_tcog_program_staff($atts) {
	extract( shortcode_atts( array('program'=>'program','columns'=>'columns'), $atts) );
	// $program = esc_attr($program);
	$column_count = esc_attr($columns);
	$col_class = $column_count;
	switch ($col_class) {
		default:
			$col_class = 'one-third';
		case '1':
			$col_class = 'one';
			break;
		case '2':
			$col_class = 'one-second';
			break;
		case '3':
			$col_class = 'one-third';
			break;
		case '4':
			$col_class = 'one-fourth';
			break;
		case '5':
			$col_class = 'one-fifth';
			break;
		case '6':
			$col_class = 'one-sixth';
			break;
	}
	$args = array(
		'role__not_in' => array( 'senior_leadership', 'program_manager', 'executive_director' ),
		'meta_key' => 'staff_program',
		'meta_value' => $program,
		'meta_query' => array( 'lastname' => array('key' => 'last_name') ),
		'orderby' => 'lastname',
		'order' => 'ASC',
);
	$users = get_users($args);
	$current_col = 0;
	$colnums = $column_count - 1; // Number of Columns
	// $column_count += 1;
	$v = '<div class="mfn_heading heading_lines align_center"><h4 class="title" style="color:#3a80f1;"><span class="line line_l" style="background:#000;"></span>Program Staff<span class="line line_r" style="background:#000;"></span></h4></div>';
	foreach ($users as $user) {
		// Let's make variables
    	$staff_name = esc_attr($user->user_firstname) . ' ' . esc_attr($user->user_lastname);
    	$staff_id = esc_attr($user->ID);
    	$staff_nickname = esc_attr($user->user_login);
    	$staff_email = esc_attr($user->user_email);
    	$staff_phone = esc_attr($user->staff_phone);
    	$staff_title = esc_attr($user->staff_title);
    	$staff_program = esc_attr($user->staff_program);
    	$staff_department = esc_attr($user->staff_department);
		$staff_role = esc_attr(array_shift($user->roles));
	    $staff_bio = esc_attr($user->user_description); //User biography 
	if('' != pods_image($user->staff_picture, 'thumbnail')){
		$staff_avatar = pods_image_url($user->staff_picture, array(400,400), $default, true);}
	else {
		$staff_avatar = '[URL TO DEFAULT AVATAR REMOVED]';};
		$staff_department = esc_attr($user->staff_department);

		// Let's start displaying staff
			if($current_col == 0) {
					$v .= '';
			}
			$v .= do_shortcode('<div class="column mcb-column ' . $col_class . '">[our_team image="' . $staff_avatar . '" title="' . $staff_name . '" subtitle="' . $staff_title . '" email="' . $staff_email . '" phone="' . $staff_phone . '" style="circle"]<p>' . $staff_bio . '</p>[/our_team]</div>');
			if ($current_col == $colnums) {
				$current_col = 0;
				$v .='<div class="column mcb-column one column_divider"><hr class="no_line"></div>';
			}
			else {
				$current_col += 1;
			}
		}
return $v;
}
add_shortcode('TCOG_Program_Staff','display_tcog_program_staff');

// Displaying TCOG General Staff

function display_tcog_general_staff($atts) {
	$args = array(
		'role' => 'general_staff',
		'meta_key' => 'last_name',
		'orderby' => 'meta_value',
		'order' => 'ASC',
);
	$users = get_users($args);
	$current_col = 0;
	$colnums = 3; // Number of Columns (we want four per row)
	$v = '<div class="mfn_heading heading_lines align_center"><h4 class="title" style="color:#3a80f1;"><span class="line line_l" style="background:#000;"></span>Program Staff<span class="line line_r" style="background:#000;"></span></h4></div>';
	foreach ($users as $user) {
		// Let's make variables
    	$staff_name = esc_attr($user->user_firstname) . ' ' . esc_attr($user->user_lastname);
    	$staff_id = esc_attr($user->ID);
    	$staff_nickname = esc_attr($user->user_login);
    	$staff_email = esc_attr($user->user_email);
    	$staff_phone = esc_attr($user->staff_phone);
    	$staff_title = esc_attr($user->staff_title);
    	$staff_program = esc_attr($user->staff_program);
    	$staff_department = esc_attr($user->staff_department);
		$staff_role = esc_attr(array_shift($user->roles));
	//  $staff_bio = esc_attr($user->user_description); //User biography 
	if('' != pods_image($user->staff_picture, 'thumbnail')){
		$staff_avatar = pods_image_url($user->staff_picture, array(400,400), $default, true);}
	else {
		$staff_avatar = '[URL TO DEFAULT AVATAR REMOVED]';};
		$staff_department = esc_attr($user->staff_department);

		// Let's start displaying staff
			if($current_col == 0) {
					$v .= '<div class="wrap mcb-wrap one valign-top clearfix">';
			}
			$v .= do_shortcode('<div class="column mcb-column one-fourth">[our_team image="' . $staff_avatar . '" title="' . $staff_name . '" subtitle="' . $staff_title . '" email="' . $staff_email . '" phone="' . $staff_phone . '" style="circle"][/our_team]</div>');
			if ($current_col == $colnums) {
				$current_col = 0;
				$v .='</div><div class="column mcb-column one column_divider "><hr class="no_line"></div>';
			}
			else {
				$current_col += 1;
			}
		}
$v .='</div>';		
return $v;
}
add_shortcode('TCOG_General_Staff','display_tcog_general_staff');

Here’s the function for the shortcode.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Sean.

Thanks for the response, @keraweb

Allow me to clarify:

I use Pods to extend my Users so I can add additional fields for the purpose of displaying that data in a staff directory on the front end of my website through a custom shortcode I wrote. One of the Fields is called staff_program and is a Relationship field related to a Simple (custom defined list). The Custom Defined Options contains the program/department names at my office. The Selection Type is Multiple Select and the Format is Checkboxes. If one of the Custom Defined Options has the & character (not the HTML entity) and I check that Option when creating a New User or editing an Existing User, it does not commit on Save. However, that has not always been the case.

For example:

I am adding a new User, Jack Black. Jack works in Administration & Finance so I check that Option in the staff_program field and Save.

I use a custom shortcode to output all users on the front-end of the website, filtered by the staff_program (see below):

[TCOG_Program_Staff program="Administration & Finance" columns="1"]

This shortcode should list all Users with the Administration & Finance checkbox selected from the staff_program field in a single column. Up until recently, it worked as expected, so user Jack Black would have displayed.

However, the Meta does not commit on save, and if I go back to edit user Jack Black it’s like I never checked the box. If I selected a different option that doesn’t contain the ampersand and then saved, it works.

In troubleshooting, I changed the option from Administration & Finance to Administration & amp; Finance (without the space in the HTML entity for ampersand), saved those changes and the meta was retained. But on the front end of the website in the directory, Jack Black still isn’t displayed with other existing users in the directory who I had previously assigned to the Administration & Finance option.

So I updated my custom shortcode to be:

[TCOG_Program_Staff program="Administration & amp; Finance" columns="1"]

and now ‘Jack Black’ appears in the directory on the front end but the others don’t. I’ve gone back in, re-added the Administration & amp; Finance option to the existing users and everyone appears as designed in the output on the front end.

===

So I’m assuming there was an update to the plugin’s code at some point fairly recently which does not like non-HTML ampersands in the options of a Custom Defined List relationship field.

Happy to try to re-explain again, lol.

I’ve narrowed down the culprit of this issue.

So, I’ve used this relationship field to query the Users. I want to select the user’s name in order to access their email address. Although I’ve not changed this pod or its configuration since I created it in late 2017, in order for the names to start appearing again I had to remove {@email} from the Display Field in Selection List. I really need the email though.

I hope this makes sense.

I’m currently troubleshooting and created a new field – the autocomplete field now works with users.

Interesting: in the original field I have limited the list to specific roles (which includes custom user roles). The checkboxes usually are on/off, but now there are three states of the checkbox – on/on/off

I renamed the old field and gave the new field the name of the old field. Problem repeats itself.

I have not had any conflicts when using both of these plugins together. I am experiencing other issues at the moment with UAM, but URE and UAM worked fine together.

Awesome, thanks for your prompt and promising reply. While you’re at it, another feature that may be beneficial to folks is to have an exclude option when using the shortcode.
This should presumably be exclusive of the attribute for including specific IDs where you cannot use both in the same shortcode. So like [dg exclude=1,5] where 1 or 5 are the ids of the files which should be excluded from being displayed.

@dan, I too receive an error:

Warning: array_key_exists(): The first argument should be either a string or an integer in ********\wp-content\plugins\document-gallery\models\class-document.php on line 140

This error is present only when NOT logged in and, interestingly, appears before my main post content. The document gallery still appears where I’ve inserted the dg shortcode: [dg orderby="menu_order"] within the content of my post.

I’m running WP 3.8 on a localhost install, Version 1.4.1 of Document Gallery plugin.

Also, if this has any relevance, the icon displayed for the document type .htm is DIFFERENT when logged in vs. logged out. I thought that is odd. The other filetypes I have displayed don’t change icons when logged in or out.

Logged in icon displayed for .htm file: /wp-content/plugins/document-gallery/icons/html.png
Logged out icon displayed for .htm file: /wp-includes/images/crystal/code.png

Finally, this error is printed five times, which is the number of documents in the gallery with the .htm filetype. I am not seeing this error on other pages or posts using the [dg] shortcode where there is not a .htm file in the gallery (though I haven’t tested out on other doc types).

I’ll have to do some more research into why I’m not getting the notifications…
They don’t appear to be going to spam. I do receive notifications from some users but not all (even though they share the same role).
Here’s a screenshot of the user role I’ve modified.
https://i46.tinypic.com/fe2ves.png

I updated to 1.3.1 and submitted another change by my test user but have not received the admin notification.
I do not get the array or modify header warnings though.
Additionally, all changes are still being published to the live page (whether the checkbox is selected or not.)

My test user is allowed to edit pages & edit published pages but cannot publish new pages. If I remove either of these options my user cannot even access the pages admin menu.

I tested a submission and got the following error:

Warning: array_pop() [function.array-pop]: The argument should be an array in /home/[xxxxx]/public_html/wp-content/plugins/approval-workflow/approval-workflow.php on line 248

Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/[xxxx]/public_html/wp-content/plugins/approval-workflow/approval-workflow.php:248) in /home/[xxxx]/public_html/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 881