Question

I have created WordPress loop for custom post type – portfolio and it does work. However I need to add message when no posts are displayed but it returns error in any way I have tried.

Here is my working WordPress loop:

            $gallery = new WP_Query($args);

        while($gallery->have_posts()): $gallery->the_post();
            if(has_post_thumbnail()):

            $data_types = '';
            $item_cats = get_the_terms($post->ID, 'portfolio_category');
            if($item_cats):
            foreach($item_cats as $item_cat) {
                $data_types .= $item_cat->slug . ' ';
            }
            endif;

            $full_image = wp_get_attachment_image_src(get_post_thumbnail_id($post->ID), 'portfolio-full'); ?>

              <li data-id="<?php echo $post->ID;?>" class="portfolio_item" data-type="<?php echo $data_types;?>">
                <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" rel="prettyPhoto" title="">
                    <span class="pic"><?php the_post_thumbnail('portfolio-medium'); ?><div class="img_overlay"></div></span>
                    <h4><?php the_title(); ?></h4>
                </a>
              </li>         

        <?php endif; endwhile; ?>

And I have tried to close the loop like this:

<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php else : ?>
<p>My Text Here</p>
<?php endif; ?>

Instead of the current:

<?php endif; endwhile; ?>

I get error “syntax error, unexpected T_ENDWHILE”

Am I missing something important here?

Answer 1

i would wrap the loop in an if statement, which you can use to check whether there are any posts – like so:

<?php
$gallery = new WP_Query($args); // initialize query
if( $gallery->have_posts() ): // if there are posts
    while( $gallery->have_posts() ) : $gallery->the_post(); // the loop
    // do stuff with the post here
    endwhile; // end of the loop
else: // if there aren't any posts
    echo "<p>no posts found!</p>";
endif; // end of the if statement
?>