WP Query Related Posts - Custom Post Type

wp-related-stories.php

  <aside class="related-stories">

    <h3>Related Stories</h3>
  <?php

    // wp_reset_query(); // running into strange problems
  	// remove_all_filters('posts_orderby'); // http://www.reinaris.nl/wp/wordpress-random-post-order-not-working-orderbyrand/
    // problem was that WP Engine dislikes random queries because it hits server hard
    // thus I decided to avoid random and chose another meaningful way of pulling related posts

  	$args=array( 
  		'post_type' => 'emancipation-stories',
  		'orderby' => 'date',
      'offset' => '5',
      'order' => 'ASC',
  		'posts_per_page' => '3',
      'post__not_in' => array($wp_query->post->ID) // http://wordpress.org/support/topic/getting-current-post-id-out-of-the-loop

  		);

		$related_stories = new WP_Query( $args );

		while ($related_stories -> have_posts()) : $related_stories -> the_post();

			if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) { ?>
				<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
					<?php the_post_thumbnail( 'thumbnail' ); ?>
				</a>

			<?php }; ?>
    	<h4><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h4>
    	<p><?php the_excerpt(); ?></p>

    <?php
		endwhile;
		wp_reset_postdata(); // do not know if this is needed
	?>
  </aside>