Wordpress page template to show posts as per category dynamically

Question

New to PHP.

I have a custom page template that I want to use to show a list of posts. The idea is that each post has a category and I can provide a category to a page. For example let's say there are 5 posts with category "news" and a page called latest news, where I pass the "news" category as query-args. But then I can also use the same page template for another page, let's say with category "blog" to receive another category. So I believe the page template should read the category assigned to the page dynamically.

Here is the code I have so far. It's working for multiple categories as long as I pass them through an array. But then that's not dynamic, since the categories themselves are static.

The page is not a category page, just a normal page.

                          'posts_per_page' => 6,'orderby' => 'date')); 
  if(have_posts()) : while(have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
   <div class="custom_page">
    <div class="latest_news_cont">

     <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?></a>

     <!--  <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2></a> -->
     <div id ="helloworld" class="portfolio-work"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" 
        '" style="text-decoration:none;">'<h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2></a></div>
     
     <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
     <p style="text-align:left;"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" 
                                    class="readmore_news">CONTINUE READING </a></p>
     <br>
     <div class="clear"></div>
    </div>
   </div>
  <?php endwhile; ?>
  <?php else : ?>

I found some info about custom taxonomy, but couldn't figure out how to use it. Would really appreciate any help here.

Answer 1

It sounds very much like you are trying to do something that Wordpress already does? There is a template called 'category.php' that you can use. It renders any Category of posts, so it accepts the category dynamically. Assuming you want all Category pages to render the same way, it would mean creating one file for any Category you have now or create in future.

Have a quick look at the Wordpress template hierarchy to see how this all works.

Template hierarchy

And also, here is a default Category template.

Category template

You can also create category specific templates using category names or IDs in the file name, to override the output. All explained in the above.

Does that help you in the right direction?