Page Navigation Outside the Loop

Question

I have a series of pages for individual products. I'd like to page between them using a navigation that sits outside of the loop.

               |              |
( <= prev )    |    <loop>    |    ( next => )
               |              |

I've tried posts_nav_link. I've tried is_paged conditionals within the loop. I've tried everything I can think of.

Anyone know how to accomplish this without hacking the hell out of WP?

Answer 1

I use previous_post_link() and next_post_link() (Codex previous_post_link()/next_post_link()) outside of the Loop, with no problems.

Note that the Codex entries indicate that these functions must be used within the Loop, but IMX that isn't true. The functions call the $post global, and pass it to get_previous_post() and get_next_post(), respectively.

By the way, posts_nav_link() is the incorrect function to use in the single-post context, anyway. It is intended for navigation of archive index pages, not of single posts.

Answer 2

Not entirely clear on the question. But If it's navigation OUTSIDE the loop that you want. Then get wp-pagenavi and set it up however you want (prev/next only, or numbered navigation) and then simply call the following in the footer OR anywhere in the template files you want the navigation to show.

<?php wp_pagenavi(); ?>