Paginate recent posts widget

Question

I've created a clone of the core Recent Posts widget as suggested here Code for Recent Posts Widget, but how would I go about adding pagination to that widget?

I intend on using auto-pagination for infinite scroll, but I'm not sure where to start...

Using Wordpress 3.9.1 so the most popular widget pagination plugin isn't compatible.

I added this:

function my_app_latest_add_query_var() {
  global $wp;
  $wp->add_query_var('latest_page');
}
add_filter('init', 'my_app_latest_add_query_var');

Then the widget I've got pulls out the posts as I want, but the pagination links don't show:

class MyApp_Widget_Recent_Posts extends WP_Widget {
public function __construct() {
    $widget_ops = array('classname' => 'widget_recent_entries', 'description' => __( "Your site’s most recent Posts.") );
    parent::__construct('recent-posts', __('MyApp Recent Posts'), $widget_ops);
    $this->alt_option_name = 'widget_recent_entries';
    add_action( 'save_post', array($this, 'flush_widget_cache') );
    add_action( 'deleted_post', array($this, 'flush_widget_cache') );
    add_action( 'switch_theme', array($this, 'flush_widget_cache') );
}
public function widget($args, $instance) {
    $cache = array();
    if ( ! $this->is_preview() ) {
        $cache = wp_cache_get( 'widget_recent_posts', 'widget' );
    }
    if ( ! is_array( $cache ) ) {
        $cache = array();
    }
    if ( ! isset( $args['widget_id'] ) ) {
        $args['widget_id'] = $this->id;
    }
    if ( isset( $cache[ $args['widget_id'] ] ) ) {
        echo $cache[ $args['widget_id'] ];
        return;
    }
    ob_start();
    $title = ( ! empty( $instance['title'] ) ) ? $instance['title'] : __( 'MyApp Recent Posts' );
    /** This filter is documented in wp-includes/default-widgets.php */
    $title = apply_filters( 'widget_title', $title, $instance, $this->id_base );
    $number = ( ! empty( $instance['number'] ) ) ? absint( $instance['number'] ) : 5;
    if ( ! $number )
        $number = 5;
    $show_date = isset( $instance['show_date'] ) ? $instance['show_date'] : false;
    $latest_page = ( get_query_var( 'latest_page' ) ) ? absint( get_query_var( 'latest_page' ) ) : 1;
    $r = new WP_Query( apply_filters( 'widget_posts_args', array(
      'posts_per_page'      => $number,
      'paged'               => $latest_page,
      'no_found_rows'       => true,
      'post_status'         => 'publish',
      'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
      'suppress_filters'    => true
    ) ) );
    if ($r->have_posts()) :
    ?>
    <?php echo $args['before_widget']; ?>
    <?php if ( $title ) {
      echo $args['before_title'] . $title . $args['after_title'];
    } ?>
    <div class="latest-list">
      <?php while ( $r->have_posts() ) : $r->the_post(); ?>
        <?php get_template_part( 'content-block', get_post_format() ); ?>
      <?php endwhile; ?>
    </div>
    <?php echo $args['after_widget']; ?>
    <?php
      echo '<div class="paginate-links">';
      $args = array(
        'base' => '/' . '%_%',
        'format' => '?latest_page=%#%',
        'current' => $latest_page,
        'total' => $r->max_num_pages
      );
      echo paginate_links( $args );
      echo '</div>'; ?>
    <?php // This doesn't seem to work at all... ?>
    <?php // echo get_next_posts_link( 'Load more', $r->max_num_pages ); ?>
    <?php
    // Reset the global $the_post as this query will have stomped on it
    wp_reset_postdata();
    endif;
    if ( ! $this->is_preview() ) {
      $cache[ $args['widget_id'] ] = ob_get_flush();
      wp_cache_set( 'widget_recent_posts', $cache, 'widget' );
    } else {
      ob_end_flush();
   }
}
}

I also created a function, which works for both i.e. displays posts and pagination links:

function my_app_recent_posts() {
  global $post;
  $latest_page = (get_query_var('latest_page')) ? get_query_var('latest_page') : 1;
  $args = array(
      'posts_per_page' => 1,
      'order' => 'DESC',
      'post_status'         => 'publish',
      'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
      'paged' => $latest_page
  );
  $rposts = new WP_Query($args);
  if ( $rposts->have_posts() ) :
    while ( $rposts->have_posts() ) : $rposts->the_post();
      get_template_part( 'content-block', get_post_format() );
    endwhile;
    echo '<div class="pagination-links">';
    $args = array(
        'base' => '/' . '%_%',
        'format' => '?latest_page=%#%',
        'current' => $latest_page,
        'total' => $rposts->max_num_pages
    );
    echo paginate_links( $args );
    // This doesn't work as it just used the 'paged' query param
    // echo get_next_posts_link( 'Load more', $rposts->max_num_pages );
    wp_reset_postdata();
    echo '</div>';
  endif;
}

This doesn't seem right to me - there has got to be a way to just use the widget code surely?

Answer 1

Remove:

'no_found_rows' => true,

from your WP_Query call inside the widget code.

Additionally I would suggest to make this change :

'base' => add_query_arg( 'latest_page', '%#%' ),

in your paginate_links call, because add_query_arg() will handle if ? or & is used.

This should make the pagination work in your widget.

Note: I'm almost, haven't tested it, certain that this won't work on the front page if a static page is selected to show.

---

Update:

After I have taken a quick look at some code of mine I'm sure that the pagination won't work on the front page if a static page is selected to show there. In this code I introduced a additional $_GET variable, which should not be registered as query variable, to work around it. Below a outlined approach how to use this:

1. Setup the $latest_page variable differently

   if ( is_front_page() ) {
      $latest_page = ( isset( $_GET[ 'fplp' ] ) ) 
        ? $_GET[ 'fplp' ]
        : 1;
   } else {
      $latest_page = ( get_query_var( 'latest_page' ) ) 
        ? get_query_var( 'latest_page' ) 
        : 1;
   }
   

2. Additionally setup the base and format parameter of paginate_links differently

   $base = ( is_front_page()
     ? add_query_arg( 'fplp', '%#%' )
     : add_query_arg( 'latest_page', '%#%' )
   );
   $format = ( is_front_page()
     ? '?fplp=%#%' 
     : '?latest_page=%#%' 
   );
   $args = array(
     'base' => $base,
     'format' => $format
      // some other parameter
   );
   paginate_links( $args );
   

With this you can the paginate the widget under above mentioned conditions.

Note: Of course adding the query variable could be dropped completely and one could solely work with a $_GET variable.