Best way to access getPrev and getNext asset fields

Question

I am trying to access the previous and the next blog entries from my current post. Here is what I am doing

{% set params = craft.entries.section('blog').order('postDate asc') %}

    {% set prevEntry = entry.getPrev(params) %}
    {% set nextEntry = entry.getNext(params) %}
    {# to access url, I use #}
    {{ prevEntry.url }}
    {# to access title, I use #}
    {{ prevEntry.title }}

The above works. However, I have an asset under the field handle "featuredImage". I need to access the image URL as well as I need to apply a transform. I am not sure the code below is the most efficient way to do this. Also the image transform is giving me an error (server returns 500 error)

{% for asset in prevEntry.featuredImage %}
    {% do asset.setTransform({ mode:crop, width: 200, height: 200 }) %}
    <a href="{{ prevEntry.url }}"><img alt="{{ prevEntry }}" class="img-responsive center-block" src="{{ asset.url }}">
{% endfor %}

Is looping the best way to access the data considering that there is only one image? Is there a better way? Image transform is also not working (not sure why).

Answer 1

If you need only one image, you can use the first() function instead of a for loop.

I recommend to check always if a image or entry exists, befor use it. Otherwise you risk to get an error. During development you should turn on the devMode, to see all errors (https://craftcms.com/docs/config-settings).

Here is a code example i would use in your case:

{% if prevEntry %}

    {% set asset = prevEntry.featuredImage.first() %}

    {% if asset|length %}

        {% set thumb = {
            mode: 'crop',
            width: 200,
            height: 200,
            quality: 75,
            position: 'center-center'
        } %}

        <a href="{{ prevEntry.url }}">
            <img src="{{ asset.getUrl(thumb) }}" class="img-responsive center-block"  alt="{{ prevEntry.title }}">
        </a>

    {% else %}
        <a href="{{ prevEntry.url }}">
            <img src="noImg.png" class="img-responsive center-block"  alt="{{ prevEntry.title }}">
        </a>    

    {% endif %}
{% else %}
    <!-- There's no previous entry. -->
{% endif %}