Yii2 Display Recently Added Members - php

Question

I have a "Latest Staff Members" panel where it should display my recently added users. All I have is a static display of these users:
<div class="box box-danger <?= !User::isBizAdmin() ? 'hidden' : '' ?>">
<div class="box-header with-border">
<h3 class="box-title">Latest Staff Members</h3>
<div class="box-tools pull-right">
<span class="label label-danger">8 New Members</span>
<button class="btn btn-box-tool" data-widget="collapse"><i class="fa fa-minus"></i></button>
<button class="btn btn-box-tool" data-widget="remove"><i class="fa fa-times"></i></button>
</div>
</div><!-- /.box-header -->
<div class="box-body no-padding">
<ul class="users-list clearfix">
<li>
<img src="https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/avatar-2/512/frank_man-128.png" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#">Alexander Pierce</a>
<span class="users-list-date">Today</span>
</li>
<li>
<img src="https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/avatar-2/512/Ben_man-128.png" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#">Norman</a>
<span class="users-list-date">Yesterday</span>
</li>
<li>
<img src="https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/avatar-2/512/iri_girl_face-128.png" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#">Jane</a>
<span class="users-list-date">12 Jan</span>
</li>
<li>
<img src="https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/avatar-2/512/Jay_man-128.png" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#">John</a>
<span class="users-list-date">12 Jan</span>
</li>
<li>
<img src="https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/avatar-2/512/Fred_man-128.png" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#">Alexander</a>
<span class="users-list-date">13 Jan</span>
</li>
<li>
<img src="https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/avatar-2/512/michela_face_young-128.png" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#">Sarah</a>
<span class="users-list-date">14 Jan</span>
</li>
<li>
<img src="https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/avatar-2/512/carla_girl-128.png" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#">Nora</a>
<span class="users-list-date">15 Jan</span>
</li>
<li>
<img src="https://cdn2.iconfinder.com/data/icons/avatar-2/512/hena_woman_face-128.png" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#">Nadia</a>
<span class="users-list-date">15 Jan</span>
</li>
</ul><!-- /.users-list -->
</div><!-- /.box-body -->
<div class="box-footer text-center">
View All Users
</div><!-- /.box-footer -->
</div>
Something like that. Now, in the user table in my database, I added a date_added column and I manually put dates in row.
Do I loop the data? Or use a widget? I don't know how else I should implement this.
EDIT
My controller:
public function actionIndex()
{
if(Yii::$app->user->isGuest){
return $this->render('../site/index');
}
else{
$latestStaffMembers = User::find()->orderBy(['date_added' => SORT_DESC])->limit(8);
return $this->render('dashboard', [
'latestStaffMembers' => $latestStaffMembers,
]);
}
}
In my view:
<?php foreach ($latestStaffMembers as $user) { ?>
<li>
<img src="<?php echo $user->avatar; ?>" alt="User Image"/>
<?= $user->username ?>
<span ><?= $user->date_added ?></span>
</li>
<?php } ?>
Then I get this error:
Trying to get property of non-object
I tried var-dumping $user and it says null.

Answer 1

I'm not sure if this is what you want. I hope it helps somehow.
In your controller action:
$latestStaffMembers = User::find()->orderBy(['date_added' => SORT_DESC])->limit(8)->all();
return $this->render('some-view-file', [
'latestStaffMembers' => $latestStaffMembers,
]);
In your view:
<?php foreach ($latestStaffMembers as $user) { ?>
<li>
<img src="<?= $user->imagePath ?>" alt="User Image"/>
<a class="users-list-name" href="#"><?= $user->name ?></a>
<span class="users-list-date"><?= Yii::$app->formatter->asDate($user->dateAdded, 'd m'); ?></span>
</li>
<?php } ?>
Btw: I saw !User::isBizAdmin() in your code. Is it yours? I would not just hide the list if it is important that only admins may see that. Just don't print it if user is not admin.