How to make the following loop break/stop when it reaches 2 posts (custom post types called Topics)?

Question

This is the topic loop of the bbPress plugin. How can I make it stop when it reaches two posts? (Topics custom post types)?

<?php

/**
 * Topics Loop
 *
 * @package bbPress
 * @subpackage Theme
 */

?>

<?php if ( bbp_get_query_name() || bbp_has_topics() ) : ?>

    <?php get_template_part( 'pagination', 'bbp_topics' ); ?>

    <table class="bbp-topics" id="bbp-forum-<?php bbp_topic_id(); ?>">
        <thead>
            <tr>
                <th class="bbp-topic-title"><?php _e( 'Topic', 'bbpress' ); ?></th>
                <th class="bbp-topic-voice-count"><?php _e( 'Voices', 'bbpress' ); ?></th>
                <th class="bbp-topic-reply-count"><?php _e( 'Replies', 'bbpress' ); ?></th>
                <th class="bbp-topic-reply-count"><?php _e( 'Votes', 'bbpress' ); ?></th>
                <th class="bbp-topic-freshness"><?php _e( 'Freshness', 'bbpress' ); ?></th>
                <?php if ( ( bbp_is_user_home() && ( bbp_is_favorites() || bbp_is_subscriptions() ) ) ) : ?><th class="bbp-topic-action"><?php _e( 'Remove', 'bbpress' ); ?></th><?php endif; ?>
            </tr>
        </thead>

        <tfoot>
            <tr><td colspan="<?php echo ( bbp_is_user_home() && ( bbp_is_favorites() || bbp_is_subscriptions() ) ) ? '5' : '4'; ?>">&nbsp;</td></tr>
        </tfoot>

        <tbody>

            <?php while ( bbp_topics() ) : bbp_the_topic(); ?>

                <tr id="topic-<?php bbp_topic_id(); ?>" <?php bbp_topic_class(); ?>>

                    <td class="bbp-topic-title">
                        <a href="<?php bbp_topic_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php bbp_topic_title(); ?>"><?php bbp_topic_title(); ?></a>

                        <p class="bbp-topic-meta">

                            <?php printf( __( 'Started by: %1$s', 'bbpress' ), bbp_get_topic_author_link( array( 'size' => '14' ) ) ); ?>

                            <?php if ( !bbp_is_forum() || ( bbp_get_topic_forum_id() != bbp_get_forum_id() ) ) printf( __( 'in: <a href="%1$s">%2$s</a>', 'bbpress' ), bbp_get_forum_permalink( bbp_get_topic_forum_id() ), bbp_get_forum_title( bbp_get_topic_forum_id() ) ); ?>

                        </p>

                    </td>

                    <td class="bbp-topic-voice-count"><?php bbp_topic_voice_count(); ?></td>

                    <td class="bbp-topic-reply-count"><?php bbp_topic_reply_count(); ?></td>

                    <td class="bbp-topic-reply-count"><?php DisplayVotes(get_the_ID()); ?></td>

                    <td class="bbp-topic-freshness">

                        <?php bbp_topic_freshness_link(); ?>

                        <p class="bbp-topic-meta">

                            <?php bbp_author_link( array( 'post_id' => bbp_get_topic_last_active_id(), 'size' => 14 ) ); ?>

                        </p>
                    </td>

                    <?php if ( bbp_is_user_home() ) : ?>

                        <?php if ( bbp_is_favorites() ) : ?>

                            <td class="bbp-topic-action">

                                <?php bbp_user_favorites_link( array( 'mid' => '+', 'post' => '' ), array( 'pre' => '', 'mid' => '&times;', 'post' => '' ) ); ?>

                            </td>

                        <?php elseif ( bbp_is_subscriptions() ) : ?>

                            <td class="bbp-topic-action">

                                <?php bbp_user_subscribe_link( array( 'before' => '', 'subscribe' => '+', 'unsubscribe' => '&times;' ) ); ?>

                            </td>

                        <?php endif; ?>

                    <?php endif; ?>

                </tr><!-- #topic-<?php bbp_topic_id(); ?> -->

            <?php endwhile; ?>

        </tbody>

    </table><!-- #bbp-forum-<?php bbp_topic_id(); ?> -->

    <?php get_template_part( 'pagination', 'bbp_topics' ); ?>

<?php else : ?>

    <div id="topic-0" class="post">
        <div class="entry-content">
            <p><?php _e( 'Oh bother! No topics were found here! Perhaps searching will help.', 'bbpress' ); ?></p>

            <?php get_search_form(); ?>

        </div><!-- .entry-content -->
    </div><!-- #post-0 -->

<?php endif; ?>

Answer 1

I think including a counter like this would do the trick. Does this help?

<?php

$showposts=2;

$counter=0;
while ( bbp_topics() ) : bbp_the_topic();
   $counter++;
   if(counter<=$showposts) {
?>

      /*** Do stuff ***/

<?php
   }   
   else {
      break;
   }
endwhile;
?>