Around this time last year, I wrote a post on how to create an Upcoming Events section on your WordPress blog.

The events can be displayed as a list of posts, ordered by the date in which they occur (And events that come and go will automatically be taken off the list of course).

As several of you found out this January though, that code had an issue in it that meant it stopped working with the new year. In this post, we’re going to fix that (Sorry it’s taken me to now to publish a tutorial with the solution!).

How to Add Events

The most important thing is that we won’t be making any changes to how events are added. WordPress 3.0 was released a few months after I wrote the original post, and its custom post types feature could be very useful for this, but the idea here is to fix the system for everyone already using it.

For that reason, we’ll keep adding events by:

• Adding posts to a category called Events.
• Specifying the date of the event using a custom field called Date. The format of the date is: mm/dd/yy

To get started, go and and add a few test posts to your Events category now.

Building Our MySQL Query

Instead of a regular WordPress query_posts(), this time we’ll be building a MySQL query.

Start off by finding where in your template you want to insert your list (I’m adding it to the sidebar in this example). Begin by pasting in the following:

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<ul>
<?php
// Build a custom query to get posts from future dates.
$querystr = "
    SELECT wposts.*
    FROM $wpdb->posts wposts, $wpdb->postmeta wpostmeta
    WHERE wposts.ID = wpostmeta.post_id

The code above starts our list, but then we move straight into making the query. The first line of the query (SELECT…) says that we want to return all of the data about each post from the wp_posts table.

The next two lines (FROM and WHERE) specify that we want to work with 2 tables in our query (With the WHERE telling MySQL how to match up corresponding rows).

Now we need to tell MySQL how to find the event posts. To do that, paste the following after what we just added (Although this is on multiple lines, the whole query is just one big PHP string for now).

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AND wpostmeta.meta_key = 'Time'
AND STR_TO_DATE(wpostmeta.meta_value,'%m/%d/%Y') >= CURDATE()
 
AND wposts.post_status = 'publish'
AND wposts.post_type = 'post'

The first line specifies that we’re only interested in posts that have the “Date” custom field. In the second line, we’re using 2 MySQL functions to ask MySQL to work out which events are upcoming (not yet passed).

The STR_TO_DATE function takes the date in the format we entered (mm/dd/yy) and converts it to a datetime value. The CURDATE() function enters the current date as a datetime value as well, so we can compare the two properly (This is where the previous method failed).

Now we’ll finish up our query by specifying how many events we want to list and we’ll use the STR_TO_DATE function again to tell MySQL to order them by the soonest first.

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ORDER BY STR_TO_DATE(wpostmeta.meta_value,'%m/%d/%Y') ASC
LIMIT 5
";

Displaying Our Events

The query above will find exactly what we need, so now we need to display it.

The first step is of course to run the query and save the results.

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$events = $wpdb->get_results($querystr, OBJECT);

With the results in the $events variable, we’ll now set up a loop to run through each one and display it in the list.

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 if ($events):
 	foreach ($events as $event):
 		setup_postdata($event); ?>
			<li>
			<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
			</li>
	<?php endforeach;
else : ?>
	<li>Sorry, no events coming up.</li>
<?php endif; ?>
</ul>

The first line checks to see if we found any results. If we did, we then move into a foreach loop that will go through each of the posts individually.

For each one, we use WordPress’ setup_postdata() function to take the data in our resulting post objects and set up the functions we’re used to working with (the_title(); the_permalink(); etc.).

The last few lines just close up our loop, if-statement, and list. And of course, we’ll show a message if there aren’t any events coming up.

And that’s us set! There are plenty of enhancements you could make to this, e.g. custom post types for events, a meta box for entering the date, or even a traditional calendar layout (Though for a small area like a sidebar, I’d stick with the list view).

If you use this code and would like to see how to do any of those, let me know in the comments!

In today’s quick tip screencast, we’re going to learn a MySQL query trick. You might be already familiar with the SUM() and IF() functions. We will be combining them to come up with some useful queries. This can reduce the number of queries you need to run for fetching certain types of summary data, and also provide a performance improvement.

Go to Source

The CSS

table.db-table 		{ border-right:1px solid #ccc; border-bottom:1px solid #ccc; }
table.db-table th	{ background:#eee; padding:5px; border-left:1px solid #ccc; border-top:1px solid #ccc; }
table.db-table td	{ padding:5px; border-left:1px solid #ccc; border-top:1px solid #ccc; }

The CSS I’m styling the table with is as basic as it gets — style as you wish!

The PHP / MySQL

/* connect to the db */
$connection = mysql_connect('localhost','username','password');
mysql_select_db('my_db',$connection);

/* show tables */
$result = mysql_query('SHOW TABLES',$connection) or die('cannot show tables');
while($tableName = mysql_fetch_row($result)) {

	$table = $tableName[0];

	echo '
',$table,'

';
	$result2 = mysql_query('SHOW COLUMNS FROM '.$table) or die('cannot show columns from '.$table);
	if(mysql_num_rows($result2)) {
		echo '
';
		echo '


';
		while($row2 = mysql_fetch_row($result2)) {
			echo '
';
			foreach($row2 as $key=>$value) {
				echo '


';
			}
			echo '

';
		}
		echo '

Field
Type
Null
Key
Default
Extra
',$value,'

';
	}
}

The first step in the process is accessing all of the tables within the database.  Once all tables have been fetched, the next step is to loops through the array of tables we receive and, for each table, build a new HTML table with column information.

Nothing groundbreaking but surely has use.  I’ve also written a blog post about backing up your MySQL database with PHP titled Backup Your MySQL Database Using PHP; check that out if you’d prefer to backup your databse information in SQL format!

Follow Me! Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | MooTools Forge.

Full David Walsh Blog Post: Build HTML Tables From MySQL Tables with PHP

Related posts:

1. PHP / MySQL Database Optimization Function
2. Backup Your MySQL Database Using PHP
3. Build a Calendar Using PHP, XHTML, and CSS
4. PHP, Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL), and IIS: Connect and Query with ODBC
5. MooTools Zebra Tables Plugin

Go to Source

About Designious

Designious is a small design studio that specializes in creating amazing vector art and design elements for designers. They provide designers all over the world with stock vector art, photoshop brushes and fonts to help them create or improve their art work.

What’s up for Grabs?

3 lucky readers will win their choice of any vector mega pack from Designious. These packs are a huge collection of awesome designs that are incredible useful.

Some Samples

Here are some samples of what you can choose from.

How to enter

For a chance to win, signup to follow MyInkBlog on Twitter, then drop me a comment below and be sure to include your twitter name. If you are already following MyInkBlog, awesome, just add a comment with your twitter name. The 3 winners will be chosen by a random mysql query. The deadline to enter is May 10th, 2010, after that point commenting on this post will be turned off. I will announce the winners in a followup post, so it’s a good idea to grab the RSS feed to find out if you win.

Go to Source

Last week, Pixmac, a microstock photo site (read more about them on the microstock:insider blog) teamed up with Six Revisions to give five readers 20 credits to use on their site. Over 30 participants shared a photos they found on the Pixmac site that they thought to be representative of design or development. Today, we’re happy to announce the winners.

The Winners

The five winners of 20 credits on Pixmac are:

• Anparasu
• Sebastian
• Michael L.
• Mary
• Zach S

Here is a screen grab of the MySQL query used to select the winners at random.

Congratulations to the winners! The winners should already have received an email regarding how to obtain their Pixmac credits.

Thank you!

Thank you Pixmac for sponsoring a wonderful and fun giveaway on Six Revisions, and thank you to the participants of the giveaway.

About the Author

Jacob Gube is the Founder and Chief Editor of Six Revisions. He’s also a web developer/designer who specializes in front-end development (JavaScript, HTML, CSS) and PHP development. If you’d like to connect with him, head on over to the contact page and follow him on Twitter: @sixrevisions.

Go to Source

Today, we are happy to announce the two lucky winners!

The winners are…

• chris
• grishy

Congratulations to the winners! We will contact you soon regarding details on how to claim your wonderful prize.

The screenshot

In case you were wondering how the selection process was administered, you can check out the screenshot below to see the MySQL query that was used to pick out the contestants. The contact information of the contestants (email address) was removed to protect their privacy.

Thank you Warm Forest and participants

To Warm Forest, a provider of high-quality Flash templates: I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude for sponsoring this survey/contest.

Thank you to the people who kindly participated and put in their vote on the best Flash portfolio – I hope to summarize the votes into another post coming soon.

Stay tuned!

Did you miss out on winning? Well, there are more contests to come, so subscribe to the RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss any of them!

Related content

• Best Flash Portfolio Site?

Warm Forest, a provider of high-quality Flash templates made specifically for designers, and Six Revisions have teamed up to give a couple of winners a chance to win an Aspen Flash template worth $89 each. By stating what you think the best Flash portfolio site is – you automatically receive the chance to be one of the winners of the Flash template.

How to participate

To vote, simply leave a comment below with the URL of the best Flash portfolio site in the following format:

vote: http://websiteurl.com

The details

• You must leave a valid email address when filling up the comment form so that we can contact you if you’ve won.
• You can only cast your vote once.
• Contest ends on April 27, 2009, after which comments will be disabled.
• Winners will be selected at random using a MySQL query similar to other contests.
• Format your vote as specified or you risk the chance of not being able to participate.

About Warm Forest

Warm Forest offers super-customizable Flash templates made specifically for designers. Easily customize all aspects of the site – from adding your own logo to changing all the colors – without knowing any ActionScript or even owning Flash. All sites are designed with a strong focus on typography, grids and usability. The ActionScript source code is included so designers with an interest in Flash can learn how a professional, best practices following Flash site is put together.

The winners

1. bobby

comment #33119

2. Manuel

comment #32989

You should be contacted soon regarding the details on how to claim your prize.

The Screenshot

Here is the screenshot of the MySQL query (using phpMyAdmin):

Thank you SnobbySlice and participants

Let me take a moment to thank our contest sponsor: SnobbySlice, providers of PSD to HTML CSS created by coders, for coders.

I’d also like to thank the people who kindly participated and put in their vote on the best web design gallery: I hope to summarize the votes into another post coming soon.

Stay Tuned!

Missed out on winning this time? Well, there are more contests to come, so subscribe to the RSS feed to make sure you don’t miss any of them!

Related content

• Best Web Design Gallery?

Two prizes to give away!

To make things interesting, SnobbySlice, a top-notch PSD to XHTML service for coders and by coders, is offering two lucky winners a 2-page PSD to XHTML/CSS conversion service, a $498 value. Two participants of this survey will be selected at random to win their excellent PSD to XHTML service. You can see the SnobySlice prices here.

How to vote

To vote, simply leave a comment below in the following format:

vote: http://urlofwebdesigngallery.com

For example, my personal favorite is The Best Designs, so my vote would be: vote: http://www.thebestdesigns.com/

The details

• You must leave a valid email address when filling up the comment form so that we can contact you if you’ve won.
• You can only cast your vote once.
• Contest ends on April 13, 2009, after which comments will be disabled.
• Winners will be selected at random using a MySQL query similar to other contests.
• Format your vote as specified or you risk the chance of not being able to participate.

About SnobbySlice

SnobbySlice takes your design, in many formats, and then converts it into “code” which makes it ready for the web (XHTML/CSS). They promise high-quality, rapid, timely, and very competitive prices for all projects they partake in: here’s where you can learn more about their services.

Sup dawg, we heard you like polls, so we put a poll in this poll so you can vote while voting!

How often should we run contests?
( polls)

Related content

• Announcement: FlashOtaku Contest Winners
• Best Text Editor for Developers? 10 Prizes to Give Away.
• The Winners of the 10,000 Business Cards Giveaway