Control content before and after custom post type loop

Question

I am trying to create a left nav menu that contains a couple of different taxonomy lists of a custom post type. For example, the left menu might look like this...

<h2>New Stuff</h2>
<ul>
<li>Item 3</li>
<li>Item 4</li>
</ul>

<h2>Old Stuff</h2>
<ul>
<li>Item 2</li>
<li>Item 1</li>
</ul>

Below is the code I currently have in my sidebars template...

<h2>New Stuff</h2>
<ul>
<?php
    $args = array(
        'post_type' => 'stuff',
        'taxonomy' => 'stuff-type',
        'term' => 'new-stuff',
        'orderby' => 'date',
        'order' => 'DESC',
        'posts_per_page' =>-1
    );
    query_posts($args);
        if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
?>
        <li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
    <?php endwhile; ?>
<?php else : ?>
<?php endif; ?>
</ul>

<h2>Old Stuff</h2>
<ul>
<?php
    $args = array(
        'post_type' => 'stuff',
        'taxonomy' => 'stuff-type',
        'term' => 'old-stuff',
        'orderby' => 'date',
        'order' => 'DESC',
        'posts_per_page' =>-1
    );
    query_posts($args);
        if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
?>
        <li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
    <?php endwhile; ?>
<?php else : ?>
<?php endif; ?>
</ul>

This all works fine expect that I need the h2 and ul tags to not appear if there are no posts assigned to the taxonomy. How can I get the opening h2 title and ul wrappers somehow in the WordPress loop (just before and after), leaving the else/endif statement to print nothing (printing nothing if there are no posts for that taxonomy)?

Answer 1

When you initiate a Loop, split it up like so:

<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>
           <?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>    
           <!-- do stuff ... -->
           <?php endwhile; ?>
 <?php endif; ?>

Anything inside the if statement but outside the while statement will run if have_posts is true, but will not be Looped for each Post.

Also, it's recommended that you use WP_Query, not query_posts - see here for more information. Be sure to reset the Loop after your query - it's recommended here that wp_reset_postdata is the best option when using WP_Query.

So, in conclusion you should be writing something like this:

<?php

// Your arguments    
$args = array(
    'post_type' => 'stuff',
    'taxonomy' => 'stuff-type',
    'term' => 'new-stuff',
    'orderby' => 'date',
    'order' => 'DESC',
    'posts_per_page' =>-1
);

// Let's get the query, using WP_Query
$loop = new WP_Query($args);

// Check if there are posts for our query
if ( $loop->have_posts() ) : ?> 

<h2>New Stuff</h2>
<ul>

    <?php 
    // Get looping    
    while ( $loop->have_posts() ) : $loop->the_post(); ?>

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

    <?php endwhile; ?>

</ul>     

<?php endif; ?>
<?php wp_reset_postdata(); ?>

Hope that helps!