Question

I have the following code that I am using to randomly display PHP widgets from a folder:

<?php 
function random_widget($dir = 'wp-content/themes/zonza/elements')
{
    $files = glob($dir . '/*.*');
    $file = array_rand($files);
    return $files[$file];
}
?>

<?php include random_widget();?>
<?php include random_widget();?>
<?php include random_widget();?>

random_widget(); outputs a URL, which I then use in the include function to display the widget.

The code randomly chooses between 6 php files and displays one randomly. I include it 3 times to get 3 widgets. However, I get the same widget displayed more than once sometimes.

What can I do to modify the code to prevent this from happening?

Answer 1

Try this:

<?php 
function random_widget($dir = 'wp-content/themes/zonza/elements')
{
    static $files = false;
    if(!$files) $files=glob($dir . '/*.*');
    $key = array_rand($files);
    $file=$files[$key];
    unset($files[$key]);
    return $file;
}
?>

It works by removing the file returned from $files, and maintaining $files over multiple function calls (it only globs() on the first time you call the function)