Display links to WordPress blog posts on non-WP pages using the WordPress API.

functions.php

//add this code at the end of "functions.php" (Theme Functions). This can be accessed through the WP admin menu under Appearance -> Editor -> Theme Functions

//this is the logic to get the posts you want

function displayHomePosts(){
	//default values obj from post.php.
	//pass these in as args that you really want
	$defaults = array(
    		'numberposts' => 5, 'offset' => 0,
    		'category' => 0, 'orderby' => 'post_date',
    		'order' => 'DESC', 'include' => '',
    		'exclude' => '', 'meta_key' => '',
    		'meta_value' =>'', 'post_type' => 'post',
    		'suppress_filters' => true
	);
		
		
	$args = array(
    		'numberposts' => 4
	);
		
	//explore why the redirect error occurs?
	//$num = 5;
	$post_array = get_posts($args  ); //as found in wp-includes/post.php
	//var_dump($post_array); 
		
	//add the last className for the bottom border?
		
	for($i=0; $i<count($post_array); $i++){
		$post_title = $post_array[$i]->post_title;
		$post_name = $post_array[$i]->post_name;
			
		$post_permalink = "http://www.yourwebsite.com/blog/" . $post_name;
		
                //actually output the html with the php variables included
		echo "<li><a href=\"$post_permalink\" rel=\"bookmark\" title=\"Permanent Link to $post_title\">$post_title</a></li>";
	
	

	}

}
		

index.php

<?php 
    //some of these settings are necessary for older WP versions. This was tested on 3.3.2 and works fine.

    //define('WP_USE_THEMES', false); //don't style it like the WP stuff
    
    //Loads the WordPress environment and template. This makes all the fn's available.
    //point this at the location of the current WordPress installation.
    require('blog/wp-blog-header.php'); 

    //require_once('blog/wp-config.php'); //loads the db settings 
    //get_header();
		  
?>

index_later.php

<h2 id="hThoughts"><a href="blog">Thoughts</a></h2>
<ul>
    <?php displayHomePosts(); ?>
</ul>