localizing variable on front-page.php template fails but succeeds on single page and taxonomy archive

Question

I have the following code in a php include file:

function pass_the_var() {
    $video_embed_code = jkaw_oembed_code();
    return array(
        'embedCode' => $video_embed_code
        );
}

earlier in the same file I also enqueue my scripts:

wp_register_script('jkaw-js', get_template_directory_uri() . '/lib/js/jkaw.js', false, '1.0', true);
wp_enqueue_script( 'jkaw-js' );
wp_localize_script( 'jkaw-js', 'phpVars', pass_the_var() );

I am using this code on a custom post type 'portfolio'. wp_localize_script successfully returns the array and populates the $video_embed_code variable on single-portfolio.php and on taxonomy-portfolio-cat.php.

However on front-page.php template (I am using a static front page with it's own wp_query to list all the 'portfolio' posts), the $video_embed_code is returned as an empty string.

single-portfolio.php, taxonomy-portfolio-cat.php and front-page.php all call

get_template_part( 'content', 'portfolio' ); which contains an if.. else.. statement.

    if ( !is_single() ) { ?>

        <a class="wrapper" style="width:100%; padding-bottom: <?php echo $thumb['padding']; ?>%" href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>">
            <div class="inner">
                <img class="ll" data-original="<?php echo $thumb['src']; ?>" />
            </div>
        </a>

    <?php } else { 
        // code for a single post 
    } ?>

If I call pass_the_var() inside the if(!is_single) statement it returns the correct code but for some reason when it's called via the wp_localize_script on front-page.php it fails.

I guess this has something to do with the loop and the order that things are fired but I cannot work out why it is failing and how to solve the problem. Any suggestions would be gratefully received, thanks.

Answer 1

Managed to work it out, the problem was down to how I had set up my home page to display only my custom posts.

I had set a static home page in Settings > Reading and I was using the following new WP_Query in front-page.php to show all my CPT 'portfolio' posts.

<?php 
$args = array(
    'post_type' => array('portfolio'),
    'posts_per_page' => '-1'
    );

$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );

    if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) :
        while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post();
            get_template_part( 'content', 'portfolio' );
        endwhile;
    endif; ?>

The Fix:

I changed the Settings > Reading back to their default settings

I changed the query on front-page.php to the standard query:

<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();

get_template_part( 'content', 'portfolio' );

endwhile; ?>

I used the pre_get_posts to modify the main query to only show my custom post type as explained here http://justintadlock.com/archives/2010/02/02/showing-custom-post-types-on-your-home-blog-page

After this my function to localize the variable worked on the front-page.php template.