I'm trying to figure out which is best way to alter query so that image changes every time page is refreshed.

The query is ordered by rand at the moment and the code looks like this:

$settings=array(  'post_type' => 'banner-up', 'numberposts' => 1, 'orderby' => 'rand' );    

query_posts( $settings);

if ( have_posts() ) : the_post();   

    $spacing=apply_filters('the_content',get_the_content());

    echo '<div class="top banner">'.$spacing.'</div><!--banner-->'; 

endif; wp_reset_query();

I'm pretty bad at PHP and coding overall so would be grateful if anyone could tell me some tips for that what would be the best way to execute an alternating query. Thank you in advance!

I'm trying to figure out which is best way to alter query so that image changes every time page is refreshed.

The query is ordered by rand at the moment and the code looks like this:

$settings=array(  'post_type' => 'banner-up', 'numberposts' => 1, 'orderby' => 'rand' );    

query_posts( $settings);

if ( have_posts() ) : the_post();   

    $spacing=apply_filters('the_content',get_the_content());

    echo '<div class="top banner">'.$spacing.'</div><!--banner-->'; 

endif; wp_reset_query();

I'm pretty bad at PHP and coding overall so would be grateful if anyone could tell me some tips for that what would be the best way to execute an alternating query. Thank you in advance!

• custom-post-types
• wp-query

• I would keep in mind this isn't a discussion forum, it's a Q&A site, so your question needs to be answerable in a concrete and total canonical fashion. If it's just a discussion you're after for reassurance and tips this might not be the best place – Tom J Nowell ♦ Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 12:19

1 Answer 1

Your code is functional, however, it has several major flaws:

query_posts

query_posts and wp_reset_query are used, I would recommend never using this function, it has major problems, and encourages bad habits.

• if you want to modify the posts pulled in by WordPress, use the pre_get_posts filter, don't replace the main query with a second and double the work done, modify it
• If you want a new subquery for a small section of a site, use WP_Query and wp_reset_postdata
• Sometimes it's useful to use get_posts, but keep in mind that this uses WP_Query internally

Ordering by Random

Asking the database to order things randomly has a huge cost. The database has to take the entire posts table, randomly shuffle it to create a brand new table in memory, then run your query on the new table. It's at a minimum as expensive as copying the entire posts table.

So never ask the database to order things randomly, instead, do it in PHP. E.g. ask for 10 posts then skip the first X posts, where X is a random number chosen via rand, e.g. $random = rand(1,10). You can grab the posts WP_Query fetches via $query->posts

the_content

there's no need to fetch the content and pass it through the filter like that just so you can put it in a variable, the variable is unnecessary and overcomplicates things:

echo '<div class="top banner">';
the_content();
echo '</div><!--banner-->';

Caching

Fundamentally, this means you can never use browser cache, CDN, or page caching plugins with this code. Browser caches will always show the very first banner it encounters, CDNs will cache the first banner shown to a visitor, and page caches will do the same.

So instead, avoid showing things randomly, you want the same page request to always give the same result.

This means any "randomness" you might want has to be done in javascript. So fetch a few banner images, and have Javascript pick one in the browser.