Allow gallery shortcode to accept a maximum number of items

[dtorbert]

A "would be nice" feature of the gallery would be to allow for a maximum number of items to be displayed.

The main use of this feature would be to allow a page to show a "preview" of some of the images contained within one or more subpages, eg:

• Some event

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="rand" maximum="4" id="164"]

• Some other event

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="rand" maximum="4" id="200"]

[dtorbert]

Suggested replacement for gallery_shortcode()

[BinaryMoon]

Hi - I have a use case for this - specifically for gallery custom post types where I want to display a subset of the gallery on the archive/ homepage. As such - is there an update for when this might happen as I think it would be really useful.

[jamescollins]

12799.diff adds an optional numberimages="" parameter to the [gallery] shortcode.

This parameter is named similarly to the numberposts attribute in get_posts().

If the numberimages parameter is set to a number greater than zero, then it controls the maximum number of images displayed by the [gallery] shortcode.

Examples:

[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="rand" numberimages="4" id="256"]
[gallery link="file" columns="4" orderby="rand" numberimages="4" include="263,264,261,260,259"]

In both cases, only 4 images (at most) will be displayed.

The code on line 836-839 is only necessary because in get_posts(), when specifying include="", the numberposts parameter is ignored (it's set to match the number if items in include="").

[BinaryMoon]

that looks perfect for my needs - does this diff mean that it will be added to core, or is it just a proposal for inclusion (I'm new to Trac - don't know how it works)?

[chriscct7]

Replying to BinaryMoon:

that looks perfect for my needs - does this diff mean that it will be added to core, or is it just a proposal for inclusion (I'm new to Trac - don't know how it works)?

It means it's something we can merge into core, but not marked for inclusion (that's the milestone for the ticket)

Other devs: Do we want to support a max param, or do we want to relegate that to a plugin to support?

[antpb]

I like the idea of having a maximum number of images to display. I could see a use case of this if someone is wanting to randomly cycle through a preset list of images.

I like this...I'll work on updating the patch. I think this will also need docs on the new option.

[antpb]

Woot! Below is the new patch. Tested on the nightly and it seems to be working like a charm now! After using it, I really like the addition. I think it could be useful. It's kinda cool refreshing the page and getting different random images.

I went with maxdisp as the shortcode attribute for the sake of keeping it short and sweet. Also added docs to the shortcode listing.

Usage looks like the below shortcode:

[gallery include="8,7,6,5,4" maxdisp="2" orderby="rand"]

Would still like a lead dev to thumbs up this so leaving dev feedback.

Patch below!

[BinaryMoon]

Nice - thanks :)

Not sure about maxdisp as the attribute name though. I'd imagine something like 'count' would be clearer?

To me maxdisp sounds very programmery (like a variable name) and I'm not sure the average user would understand it's use.

[Stagger Lee]

Thanks.

It is something I needed on several websites. Both max and random. If used in widget and Users dont have access to widget managament better to use "post ID" than "include".

[antpb]

Completely agree. It's the robot in me that decided on maxdisp. I like count much better. Also, this works just the same with ids= as well.

[gallery ids="8,7,6,5,4" count="2" orderby="rand"]

Updated patch below!

[michaelbeil]

This looks great @dtorbert!

@antpb your most recent diff has a few spacing issues in the first phpdoc block (L1397) and then the array (L1448).

Also, I noticed a typo on L1476:
Necessary because in get_posts(), when specifying include="", the numberposts parameter is ignored (it's set to match the number if items in include="")`

I believe you meant number of items.

[antpb]

Replying to michaelbeil: Thanks! Good catch. I actually copied the line from a previous diff.

I went ahead and fixed the spacing issue as well. Patch to follow...

This looks great @dtorbert!

@antpb your most recent diff has a few spacing issues in the first phpdoc block (L1397) and then the array (L1448).

Also, I noticed a typo on L1476:
Necessary because in get_posts(), when specifying include="", the numberposts parameter is ignored (it's set to match the number if items in include="")`

I believe you meant number of items.

[helen]

Replying to slackbot:

This ticket was mentioned in ​Slack in #design by antpb. ​View the logs.

Having a UI for this by default does not make sense, though an unexposed shortcode attribute seems reasonable. See the discussion for more details.

[helen]

I'm not sure count is the right name for the attribute either, even if that's what it's called in the code.

[desrosj]

With the introduction of the block editor and full site editing, shortcodes (though still supported) are no longer the recommended way to display a gallery.

With that in mind, I'm going to add a close suggestion as a maybelater. I won't close this out right now because I think it's a fair attribute to introduce, even in block editor times. If someone is interested in taking the time to create a new patch, this can be looked at. If there's no new activity in a few months, I'll return and close it out.

Because it has not received any attention in over 7 years, 12799-4.diff​ certainly will need a refresh.

Replying to helen:

I'm not sure count is the right name for the attribute either, even if that's what it's called in the code.

I also don't like count as the attribute name. limit feels like a more natural name to give this one.

[viralsampat]

I have checked it from my end and added my patch

I renamed the shortcode parameter that limits the number of images shown by the schortcode to 'limit'.

Limiting the number of images should be possible for shortcodes using the include-parameter, exclude-parameter and for those that use neither. For that I combined some elements of the previous patch( 12799-2.diff ) with some elements of the one before that( 12799-4.diff ).

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/12799