How can I use the WordPress Loop and Pagination in multiple instances but different scenarios throughout my site?

Question

I am using the Starker Theme as a foundation to build my custom WordPress theme. The Starker Theme comes with a loop.php file for setting up the main loop. I decided to use the loop.php file to display content on the homepage of my site. I would like to incorporate this loop as well as the pagination on other pages of my site but I would only like to query specific categories. Below is the code I have in my loop.php. What's the best way to setup other pages or templates on my site and have their own unique queries without conflicting with the main loop?

            <!-- 960 16 Column Grid -->
            <div class="container_16"> 

            <!-- Featured News -->
            <section class="grid_10 featured-news">

            <!-- Featured News Heading -->
            <h1></h1>
            <!-- /Featured News Heading -->

            <!-- Featured News Loop -->
            <?php
            $paged = (get_query_var('paged')) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;
            $args=array(
            'post_type'=>'post',
            'cat' => 'featured-news',
            'posts_per_page' => 2,
            'paged'=>$paged
            );
            $temp = $wp_query;
            $wp_query= null;
            $wp_query = new WP_Query($args);

            if (function_exists('wp_pagenavi')) { wp_pagenavi(); }
            if ( $wp_query->have_posts() ) : while ( $wp_query->have_posts() ) : $wp_query->the_post();
            ?> 
            <!-- /Featured News Loop -->

            <!-- Post --> 
            <article class="post" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class(); ?> >

            <!-- Featured News Title -->
            <span><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( '%s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
            </span>
            <!-- /Featured News Title -->

            <!-- Featured News Meta -->
            <p class="featured-news-post-meta">By <span class="featured-news-author"><?php echo get_the_author(); ?></span> / <?php echo get_the_date('m.d.Y'); ?></p>
            <!-- /Featured News Meta -->

            <!-- Featured News Thumbnail -->
            <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_post_thumbnail(array(640,320)); ?></a>
            <!-- /Featured News Thumbnail -->

            <!-- Featured News Excerpt -->
            <p class="featured-news-excerpt"><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>
            <!-- /Featured News Excerpt -->

            <!-- Featured News Social Links -->
            <?php include('includes/social.php'); ?>
            <!-- /Featured News Social Links -->

            </article>
            <!-- /Post -->

            <?php
            endwhile; endif;
            /* PageNavi at Bottom */
            if (function_exists('wp_pagenavi')){wp_pagenavi();}
            $wp_query = null;
            $wp_query = $temp;
            wp_reset_query();
            ?>
            <!-- /Featured News Loop -->

            <!-- Pagination -->
            <?php if ($wp_query->max_num_pages > 1) : ?>
            <div class="grid_10 pagination older-news">
            <?php next_posts_link( __( '<span class="arrow">&larr;</span> Older News', 'twentyten' ) ); ?>
            <div class="pagination newer-news">
            <?php previous_posts_link( __( 'Newer News <span class="arrow">&rarr;</span>', 'twentyten' ) ); ?>
            </div>
            </div>

            <?php endif; ?>
            <!-- /Pagination -->

            </section>
            <!-- /Featured News -->

            <!-- Other News -->
            <aside class="grid_5 other-news">

            <!-- Other News Heading -->
            <h3></h3>
            <!-- /Other News Heading -->

            <!-- Other News Loop -->
            <?php query_posts('category_name=other-news&showposts=6'); ?>
            <?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

            <!-- Other News List -->
            <ul>
            <li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php printf( esc_attr__( '%s', 'twentyten' ), the_title_attribute( 'echo=0' ) ); ?>" rel="bookmark"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
            </li>
            <li class="other-news-post-date"><?php echo get_the_date('d.m.Y'); ?>
            </li>
            </ul>
            <!-- /Other News List -->

            <?php endwhile; ?>
            <!-- /Other News Loop -->

            <!-- View More -->
            <div class="view-more">
            <a href="/other-news">View More <span class="arrow">&rarr;</span></a>
            <div>
            <!-- /View More -->

            </aside>
            <!-- /Other News -->

            </div>
            <!-- /960 16 Column Grid -->

Answer 1

In your main loop file, check the $args. It filters the query. you can use the same query on other pages using your own options.

suppose, on another page, you want to fetch the posts of a different category. your query parameters may be like:

$args = array(
  'post_type' => 'post',
  'cat' => 'DIFFERENT_CATEGORY',
  'posts_per_page' => 2,
  'paged' => $paged
);

change the DIFFERENT_CATEGORY with specific category ID.

then you can pass these arguments to WP_Query as in your loop.php.

if your page has multiple such queries, you should use wp_reset_query before running further query. More her: http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_reset_query

Does it help?

Answer 2

create a new loop-otherpage1.php (with a different otherpage1 name) for each of these other pages; http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/get_template_part

within the loop-otherpage1.php templates, use different category parameters for the query; http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query#Category_Parameters

in the page templates, use: <?php get_template_part('loop','otherpage1'); ?> to call this loop template - with a different otherpage1 for each of the templates.