Query Number of Loaded Posts in Loop

Question

I'm loading posts via a query of a custom taxonomy called 'band':

$args = array(
'tax_query' => array(
    array(
        'taxonomy' => 'band',
        'field' => 'slug',
        'terms' => array('learn', 'trade', 'invest', 'spend')
        )
    ),
'post_type' => 'post',
'showposts' => 50 );

Because some bands feature less content than others, by the end of the loop I'm left with lots of one kind and only a couple of another so in order to balance the content I want to get to the end of my loop and ask something like:

if( number of posts in band 'learn' <= 6 ) {
    #load more learn posts
}

With this method I hope to get my most recent 50 posts but then ensure that I have a minimum of six in each band. I'm using Isotope to filter the Masonry layup so if the user hits the 'Learn' filter button I want to guarantee that the filtered results will find a minimum number of posts in any 'band'.

Answer 1

The literal implementation would be to:

1. Create array variable
2. While looping add to it ID of each post, using term name as key (so you have array of arrays)
3. After main loop check the array and query additional posts if needed, using stored IDs for post__not_in so there are no duplicates

Syntax will be something like this:

$post_counts = array( 'learn' => array()  );

// append ID, $post_counts['learn'] will hold array of IDs
$post_counts['learn'][] = $post_id;

It might make sense however to rather loop through terms and retrieve six posts for each. It will not probably be significantly heavier computationally, but it will be simpler and easier to maintain logic.