Put php into a function to shortcut - php

Question

New to php, but I've learned how it works (I mean, I can write php and do the things in the YouTube tutorials). I'm having difficulty applying it to actual use though:
I want to shorten the amount of php I need to put on frontpage.php (WordPress, but I hear this question is not a WordPress question; just a php one).
I'm going to call the same php many times to display 1 post each time, just changing the category to display in the php - so, now I have:
lots of php cat=33 lots of php
I want to make a function so that on my frontpage.php, I just need to write:
whatever cat=33 whatever
or just
whatever 33
If it helps to have my code, it is (this has tag, but I use both tag and cat here and there):
<?php
$args=array(
'tag' => 'feature-left',
'showposts'=>1,
'caller_get_posts'=>1
);
$my_query = new WP_Query($args);
$offset = 3;
if( $my_query->have_posts() ) {
while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post(); ?>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting" itemprop="blogPost">
<h4><?php the_excerpt(); ?> </h4>
</a>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" >
<div class="front-first-article-title" itemprop="headline"><h2 style="color:#00589C; margin-bottom:5px;"><b><?php the_title(); ?></b></h2>
</div>
<?php
endwhile;
} //if ($my_query)
wp_reset_query(); // Restore global post data stomped by the_post().
?>

Answer 1

In your theme folder, find your functions.php file.
In that file, place this code (from your question) into a function, like so:
function my_custom_loop($category) {
$args=array(
'tag' => 'feature-left',
// showposts has been replaced, use 'posts_per_page' instead
// 'showposts' =>1,
'posts_per_page' => 1,
// this has been replaced, use 'ignore_sticky_posts'
// 'caller_get_posts' => 1,
'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
'cat' => $category
);
$my_query = new WP_Query($args);
$offset = 3;
if( $my_query->have_posts() ) {
while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post(); ?>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting" itemprop="blogPost">
<h4><?php the_excerpt(); ?> </h4>
</a>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" >
<div class="front-first-article-title" itemprop="headline"><h2 style="color:#00589C; margin-bottom:5px;"><b><?php the_title(); ?></b></h2>
</div>
<?php
endwhile;
} //if ($my_query)
wp_reset_query(); // Restore global post data stomped by the_post().
}
Now, in your home page file, you can drop in my_custom_loop(33) to have it output your custom post loop.
NOTE
There's a few issues with your HTML inside your loop. You shouldn't put <div> or <h2> or <h4> elements inside of an <a> tag. Also, your <a> tag is not getting closed properly. Lastly, I'd suggest using classes / CSS rather than inline styles on your <h2>, as it's going to be output to the screen many times, and it's sorta silly to output the exact same inline CSS a bunch of times.
EDIT
Per your recent comments, yes, you could make the function also handle tags, and have the "number" be dynamic. Note that there are a variety of approaches to this sort of issue, but the most direct (given your existing function) would be something like so:
/* Note the "default values" for $tag and $offset.
* You can call this function in many ways:
* my_custom_loop(33); just get the categories, with an offset of 3
* my_custom_loop(33, NULL, 5); get the categories, offset of 5
* my_custom_loop(NULL, 'feature-left'); get the tags, offset of 3
* my_custom_loop(NULL, 'feature-left', 5); get the tags, offset of 5
*/
function my_custom_loop($category, $tag = NULL, $offset = 3) {
$args=array(
// showposts has been replaced, use 'posts_per_page' instead
// 'showposts' =>1,
'posts_per_page' => 1,
// this has been replaced, use 'ignore_sticky_posts'
// 'caller_get_posts' => 1,
'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
);
if ($category) {
$args['cat'] = $category;
}
if ($tag) {
$args['tag'] = 'feature-left';
}
$my_query = new WP_Query($args);
// ... rest of function to output loop
}

Answer 2

if you dont want your functions to be crowded you can create folder lets call it templates/parts/
for each part you want to reuse put inside one .PHP file .
then any where you need this block you call it
<?php include(locate_template( 'templates/parts/slider-box.php' ));?>
this is better from design prospective . for example the main page for one website I am building looks like this
<?php $catNum = 23; ?>
<?php include(locate_template( 'templates/parts/slider-box.php' ));?>
<?php include(locate_template( 'templates/parts/ads3.php' ));?>
<?php $catNum = 2; ?>
<?php include(locate_template( 'templates/parts/catBlox-main.php' ));?>
<?php $catNum = 4; ?>
<?php include(locate_template( 'templates/parts/catBlox-main.php' ));?>
<?php $catNum = 3; ?>
<?php include(locate_template( 'templates/parts/catBlox-main.php' ));?>
and I have all the files for each parts in one folder I can move them to other project or when there is problem it easer to go to file other than go to function in 1 big function.php