gistfile1.txt

To call the function I do something like this:

$cat = '2,6,3,4,12,11,17,16,125,1,13,9,7,15,49,51';
$posts = get_popular_posts_array( array( 'range' => 'all', 'limit' => 24, 'cat' => $cat, 'pid' => '2694,2696,2699' ) );

And then I do a foreach using the $posts array. This way I can even use it twice or as many times as I want without repeating the query.

popular.posts.php

<?php

// This function requires Wordpress Popular Posts plugin to be active.
// http://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-popular-posts/

function get_popular_posts_array($instance, $return = false) {
  if( !class_exists( 'WordpressPopularPosts' ) ) return array();

  $wpp = new WordpressPopularPosts();

  // update instance's settings
  // echo "<pre>"; print_r($instance); echo "</pre>";
  $instance = $wpp->array_merge_recursive_distinct($wpp->defaults, $instance);
  // echo "<pre>"; print_r($instance); echo "</pre>";

  global $wpdb;
  $table      = $wpdb->prefix . "popularpostsdata";
  $fields     = "";
  $from       = "";
  $where      = "";
  $post_types = "";
  $pids       = "";
  $cats       = "";
  $authors    = "";
  $content    = "";

  // post filters
  // * post types - based on code seen at https://github.com/williamsba/WordPress-Popular-Posts-with-Custom-Post-Type-Support
  $types          = explode(",", $instance['post_type']);
  $i              = 0;
  $len            = count($types);
  $sql_post_types = "";
  $join_cats      = true;

  if ($len > 1) { // we are getting posts from more that one ctp
    foreach ( $types as $post_type ) {
      $sql_post_types .= "'" .$post_type. "'";

      if ($i != $len - 1) $sql_post_types .= ",";

      $i++;
    }

    $post_types = " p.post_type IN({$sql_post_types}) ";
  } else if ($len == 1) { // post from one ctp only

    $post_types = " p.post_type = '".$instance['post_type']."' ";

    // if we're getting just pages, why join the categories table?
    if ( strtolower($instance['post_type']) == 'page' )
      $join_cats = false;

  }

  // * posts exclusion
  if ( !empty($instance['pid']) ) {
    $ath = explode(",", $instance['pid']);
    $len = count($ath);

    if ($len > 1) { // we are excluding more than one post
      $pids = " AND p.ID NOT IN(".$instance['pid'].") ";
    } else if ($len == 1) { // exclude one post only
      $pids = " AND p.ID <> '".$instance['pid']."' ";
    }
  }

  // * categories
  if ( !empty($instance['cat']) && $join_cats ) {
    $cat_ids = explode(",", $instance['cat']);
    $in      = array();
    $out     = array();
    $not_in  = "";

    usort($cat_ids, array(&$wpp, 'sorter'));

    for ($i=0; $i < count($cat_ids); $i++) {
      if ($cat_ids[$i] >= 0) $in[] = $cat_ids[$i];
      if ($cat_ids[$i] < 0) $out[] = $cat_ids[$i];
    }

    $in_cats  = implode(",", $in);
    $out_cats = implode(",", $out);
    $out_cats = preg_replace( '|[^0-9,]|', '', $out_cats );

    if ($in_cats != "" && $out_cats == "") { // get posts from from given cats only
      $cats = " AND p.ID IN (
        SELECT object_id
        FROM $wpdb->term_relationships AS r
           JOIN $wpdb->term_taxonomy AS x ON x.term_taxonomy_id = r.term_taxonomy_id
           JOIN $wpdb->terms AS t ON t.term_id = x.term_id
        WHERE x.taxonomy = 'category' AND t.term_id IN($in_cats)
        ) ";
    } else if ($in_cats == "" && $out_cats != "") { // exclude posts from given cats only
      $cats = " AND p.ID NOT IN (
        SELECT object_id
        FROM $wpdb->term_relationships AS r
           JOIN $wpdb->term_taxonomy AS x ON x.term_taxonomy_id = r.term_taxonomy_id
           JOIN $wpdb->terms AS t ON t.term_id = x.term_id
        WHERE x.taxonomy = 'category' AND t.term_id IN($out_cats)
        ) ";
    } else { // mixed, and possibly a heavy load on the DB
      $cats = " AND p.ID IN (
        SELECT object_id
        FROM $wpdb->term_relationships AS r
           JOIN $wpdb->term_taxonomy AS x ON x.term_taxonomy_id = r.term_taxonomy_id
           JOIN $wpdb->terms AS t ON t.term_id = x.term_id
        WHERE x.taxonomy = 'category' AND t.term_id IN($in_cats)
        ) AND p.ID NOT IN (
        SELECT object_id
        FROM $wpdb->term_relationships AS r
           JOIN $wpdb->term_taxonomy AS x ON x.term_taxonomy_id = r.term_taxonomy_id
           JOIN $wpdb->terms AS t ON t.term_id = x.term_id
        WHERE x.taxonomy = 'category' AND t.term_id IN($out_cats)
        ) ";
    }
  }

  // * authors
  if ( !empty($instance['author']) ) {
    $ath = explode(",", $instance['author']);
    $len = count($ath);

    if ($len > 1) { // we are getting posts from more that one author
      $authors = " AND p.post_author IN(".$instance['author'].") ";
    } else if ($len == 1) { // post from one author only
      $authors = " AND p.post_author = '".$instance['author']."' ";
    }
  }

  $fields = "p.ID AS 'id', p.post_title AS 'title', p.post_date AS 'date', p.post_author AS 'uid' ";

  if ($instance['range'] == "all") { // ALL TIME

    $fields .= ", p.comment_count AS 'comment_count' ";

    if ($instance['order_by'] == "comments") { // ordered by comments

      if ($instance['stats_tag']['views']) { // get views, too

        $fields .= ", IFNULL(v.pageviews, 0) AS 'pageviews' ";
        $from   = " {$wpdb->posts} p LEFT JOIN {$table} v ON p.ID = v.postid WHERE {$post_types} {$pids} {$authors} {$cats} AND p.comment_count > 0 AND p.post_password = '' AND p.post_status = 'publish' ORDER BY p.comment_count DESC LIMIT {$instance['limit']} ";

      } else { // get data from wp_posts only
        $from = " {$wpdb->posts} p WHERE {$post_types} {$pids} {$authors} {$cats} AND p.comment_count > 0 AND p.post_password = '' AND p.post_status = 'publish' ORDER BY p.comment_count DESC LIMIT {$instance['limit']} ";
      }

    } else { // ordered by views / avg

      if ( $instance['order_by'] == "views" ) {

        $fields .= ", v.pageviews AS 'pageviews' ";
        $from   = " {$table} v LEFT JOIN {$wpdb->posts} p ON v.postid = p.ID WHERE {$post_types} {$pids} {$authors} {$cats} AND p.post_password = '' AND p.post_status = 'publish' ORDER BY pageviews DESC LIMIT {$instance['limit']} ";

      } else if ( $instance['order_by'] == "avg" ) {

        $fields .= ", ( v.pageviews/(IF ( DATEDIFF('{$wpp->now()}', MIN(v.day)) > 0, DATEDIFF('{$wpp->now()}', MIN(v.day)), 1) ) ) AS 'avg_views' ";
        $from   = " {$table} v LEFT JOIN {$wpdb->posts} p ON v.postid = p.ID WHERE {$post_types} {$pids} {$authors} {$cats} AND p.post_password = '' AND p.post_status = 'publish' GROUP BY p.ID ORDER BY avg_views DESC LIMIT {$instance['limit']} ";

      }

    }

  } else { // CUSTOM RANGE

    $interval = "";

    switch( $instance['range'] ){
      case "yesterday":
        $interval = "1 DAY";
      break;

      case "daily":
        $interval = "1 DAY";
      break;

      case "weekly":
        $interval = "1 WEEK";
      break;

      case "monthly":
        $interval = "1 MONTH";
      break;

      default:
        $interval = "1 DAY";
      break;
    }

    if ($instance['order_by'] == "comments") { // ordered by comments

      $fields .= ", c.comment_count AS 'comment_count' ";
      $from   = " (SELECT comment_post_ID AS 'id', COUNT(comment_post_ID) AS 'comment_count', MAX(comment_date) AS comment_date FROM {$wpdb->comments} WHERE comment_date > DATE_SUB('{$wpp->now()}', INTERVAL {$interval}) AND comment_approved = 1 GROUP BY id ORDER BY comment_count DESC, comment_date DESC) c LEFT JOIN {$wpdb->posts} p ON p.ID = c.id ";

      if ($instance['stats_tag']['views']) { // get views, too

        $fields .= ", IFNULL(v.pageviews, 0) AS 'pageviews' ";
        $from   .= " LEFT JOIN (SELECT id, SUM(pageviews) AS pageviews, MAX(day) AS day FROM {$table}cache WHERE day > DATE_SUB('{$wpp->now()}', INTERVAL {$interval}) GROUP BY id ORDER BY pageviews DESC, day DESC) v ON p.ID = v.id ";

      }

      $from .= " WHERE {$post_types} {$pids} {$authors} {$cats} AND p.post_password = '' AND p.post_status = 'publish' LIMIT {$instance['limit']} ";

    } else { // ordered by views / avg

      if ( $instance['order_by'] == "views" ) {

        $fields .= ", v.pageviews AS 'pageviews' ";
        $from   = " (SELECT id, SUM(pageviews) AS pageviews, MAX(day) AS day FROM {$table}cache WHERE day > DATE_SUB('{$wpp->now()}', INTERVAL {$interval}) GROUP BY id ORDER BY pageviews DESC, day DESC) v LEFT JOIN {$wpdb->posts} p ON v.id = p.ID ";

      } else if ( $instance['order_by'] == "avg" ) {

        $fields .= ", ( v.pageviews/(IF ( DATEDIFF('{$wpp->now()}', DATE_SUB('{$wpp->now()}', INTERVAL {$interval})) > 0, DATEDIFF('{$wpp->now()}', DATE_SUB('{$wpp->now()}', INTERVAL {$interval})), 1) ) ) AS 'avg_views' ";
        $from   = " (SELECT id, SUM(pageviews) AS pageviews, MAX(day) AS day FROM {$table}cache WHERE day > DATE_SUB('{$wpp->now()}', INTERVAL {$interval}) GROUP BY id ORDER BY pageviews DESC, day DESC) v LEFT JOIN {$wpdb->posts} p ON v.id = p.ID ";

      }

      if ( $instance['stats_tag']['comment_count'] ) { // get comments, too

        $fields .= ", IFNULL(c.comment_count, 0) AS 'comment_count' ";
        $from   .= " LEFT JOIN (SELECT comment_post_ID AS 'id', COUNT(comment_post_ID) AS 'comment_count', MAX(comment_date) AS comment_date FROM {$wpdb->comments} WHERE comment_date > DATE_SUB('{$wpp->now()}', INTERVAL {$interval}) AND comment_approved = 1 GROUP BY id ORDER BY comment_count DESC, comment_date DESC) c ON p.ID = c.id ";

      }

      $from .= " WHERE {$post_types} {$pids} {$authors} {$cats} AND p.post_password = '' AND p.post_status = 'publish' ";

      if ( $instance['order_by'] == "avg" ) {
        $from .= " GROUP BY v.id ORDER BY avg_views DESC ";
      }

      $from .= " LIMIT {$instance['limit']} ";

    }

  }

  $query = "SELECT {$fields} FROM {$from}";
  //echo $query;

  $mostpopular = $wpdb->get_results($query);

  // Custom WP Post array output.

  $posts_array = array();

  foreach ( $mostpopular as $mp ) {
    array_push( $posts_array, get_post( $mp->id ) );
  }

  // echo '<pre>' . print_r($posts_array) . '</pre>';
  return $posts_array;
}