get_posts() loop returns the same the_title() for each post

Question

I'm using get_posts() to fetch posts from a particular category to display at the top of my homepage, separate from the main homepage Loop. Everything seems to work fine, but for the title (returned through the_title()) which is always the same; the title of the first post fetched by get_posts(). the_permalink() does the same as well, but the_excerpt() returns the correct result for each post.

Here's my code (I have removed only a few lines for fear I might inadvertently remove what is causing this problem):

$query = get_posts(array(
    'numberposts'=>-1,
    'category'=>3
    ));
$events = array();

if ($query) {
    foreach ($query as $tpost) {
        $fields = get_post_custom($tpost->ID);
        if (isset($fields['event_start'])) {
            $usetime = $fields['event_start'][0];
            if (isset($fields['event_end'])) {
                $usetime = $fields['event_end'][0];
                }
            if ($usetime>time()) {
                $events[] = array("post"=>$tpost,"fields"=>$fields);
                }
            }
        }
    usort($events,function($a,$b){
        $a = $a['fields']['event_start'][0];
        $b = $b['fields']['event_start'][0];
        if ($a==$b) { return 0; }
        return ($a < $b) ? -1 : 1;
        });
    }

if (count($events)>0) { ?>
    <div class="pad10 tac">
    <h2 class="mar10">Upcoming Events</h2>
    <div class="tiles">
    <?php foreach ($events as $event ) { ?>
        <?php setup_postdata( $event['post'] );?>
        <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" class='noshow'>
        <div class="tile smalltile"><div id='post-<?php the_ID(); ?>'>
            <h2><?php the_title();?></h2>
            <b><?php
            echo(date_i18n("D, F j @ g:ia",$event['fields']['event_start'][0]));
            ?></b>
            <p><?php the_excerpt();?></p>
        </div></div>
        </a>
    <?php }?>
    </div></div>
<?php }?>

I'm really scratching my head on this, especially as this code is, for the most part, based off of the get_posts() example from this article, where it is reportedly working fine.

I'm thinking that this likely has something to do with my use of setup_postdata, but I suppose this is really just wild speculation.

Answer 1

Making Milos's comment into an answer....

The problem you are facing is the result of many wordpress template oriented functions expect some global variables. In WP_Query based loops setting those variable is done by calling the the_post() method of the WP_Query object, but with get_posts you need to call setup_postdata() for that.

My personal preference is to just try to avoid functions like the_title in favor of functions like get_the_title, that accept an explicit post id, whenever possible.

Answer 2

Use setup_postdata() for that.

Important setup_postdata() does not assign the global $post variable so it’s important that you do this yourself.

Important use wp_reset_postdata() after your foreach loop.

For more information visit: https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/setup_postdata/

<?php
    // Get posts
    global $post;
    $posts = get_posts([
        'post_type' => 'post',
        'numberposts' => 6
    ]);
?>

<?php foreach ($posts as $key => $post): ?>
    <?php setup_postdata($post); ?>
    <h3>
        <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title(); ?>">
            <?php the_title(); ?>
        </a>
    </h3>
<?php endforeach; ?>
<?php wp_reset_postdata(); ?>