Displaying Entries That Are Not Related

Question

I have two channels set up, the first creates entries called "databytes" the second is a channel for relating certain databytes to each other called "databyteSeries". In my template I want to output all databytes but if they are related just show the first in the series. I have the following code which is displaying the first in the databyteSeries no problem (sectionId 8):

{% paginate craft.entries.section(['databytes','databyteSeries']).limit(6) as entries %}

{% for entry in entries %}

  {% if entry.sectionId == 8 %}

  {% for series in entry.relatedDatabytes %}
    {% if loop.first %}
      {# TEMPLATE CODE FOR ENTRY HERE #}
    {% endif %}
  {% endfor %}

  {% else %}

    {# THIS NEEDS TO DISPLAY ALL DATABYTES THAT ARE NOT RELATED #}

  {% endif %}

{% endfor %}

{# PAGINATION CODE HERE #}

{% endpaginate %}

It's the second part where I now only want to display the databytes that have NOT been related where I am struggling. I guess it needs some kind of reverse relationship where I have put the {# THIS NEEDS TO DISPLAY ALL DATABYTES THAT ARE NOT RELATED #} but I am not sure.

Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Your question is just about entries without relationships but your code example is attempting to display both items with a relationship and without a relationship. I think your example is making things a bit more complicated than this needs to be. Rather than looping through both sections (databytes and databyteSeries), I believe you only need to loop through one section. The databyteSeries section, as you've described it, has a relation field for databytes, so all the info you need to know about databytes should be available to you in the relation field.

Let me know if the following example gets at what you are going for. It simplifies your loop to just the databyteSeries section, and then uses Twig's length filter to test the entry.relatedDatabytes field to see if it has any entries. If there are related databytes, it displays one output, and if there are not, it displays an alternative output.

I've also updated the method in which you were using to output the first item in the series. Rather than loop through the entire entry.relatedDatabytes field and just output the first item using a loop.first conditional, I've updated the code to use entry.relatedDatabytes.first(). Using the first() method on an EntryModel will just grab the first item, and then you can output it as you wish with whatever variable you assign it to. Below, I've assigned the first item to the firstInSeries variable.

{% paginate craft.entries
     .section('databyteSeries')
     .limit(6)
     as entries 
%}

    {# Loop through databyteSeries entries #}
    {% for entry in entries %}

        {% if entry.relatedDatabytes|length %}

            {# Display the first item in a Databyte Series that has a relationship #}
            {% set firstInSeries = entry.relatedDatabytes.first() %}
        {{ firstInSeries.title }}

      {% else %}

        {# Display the Databyte Series name that has no relationships #}
        {{ entry.title }}

      {% endif %}

    {% endfor %}

{% endpaginate %}

UPDATE

Based on your clarification in the comments and your potential solution, here's another method to consider using Craft's without filter:

{# Get all databyteSeries and databytes #}
{% set databyteSeries = craft.entries.section('databyteSeries').limit(null) %}
{% set databytes = craft.entries.section('databytes').limit(null).indexBy('id') %}

{# Determine which databytes already have a relationship to a databyteSeries #}
{% set alreadyUsedDatabytes = craft.entries.section('databytes').relatedTo(databyteSeries).indexBy('id') %}

{# Use the without filter to remove all 'alreadyUsedDatabytes' from the complete 'databytes' result, so you are left with only 'unusedDatabytes'  #}
{% set unusedDatabytes = databytes|without(alreadyUsedDatabytes) %}

{# Output the unusedDatabytes #}
<ul>
{% for entry in unusedDatabytes %}
  <li><a href="{{ entry.url }}">{{ entry.title }}</a></li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>

I have not tested this code so let me know if you run into any issues to troubleshoot.

Answer 2

I think I have a solution: if I create an array and add the entry id's for the databytes that are being used in the databyteSeries collections, then I can check that the entries are not in the array and display all the remaining entries from the databytes and databyteSeries channels. Here is a simple test that I am working with:

{% set alreadyUsedDatabytes = [] %}

{% set databyteSeries = craft.entries.section('databyteSeries') %}
{% for entry in craft.entries.section('databytes').relatedTo(databyteSeries) %}
  {% set alreadyUsedDatabytes = alreadyUsedDatabytes|merge([entry.id]) %}
{% endfor %}
<ul>
  {% for entry in craft.entries.section(['databytes','databyteSeries']) %}
  {% if entry.id not in alreadyUsedDatabytes %}
  <li>
    <a href="{{ entry.url }}">{{ entry.title }}</a>
  </li>
  {% endif %}
  {% endfor %}
</ul>

Answer 3

I think you should consider using a structure for your entries. Try a structure with Max Levels = 2 and two field types: single and series. Organize the structure like this:

• single
• single
• series
  • single
  • single
• etc.

Then to loop over the entries:

{% for dataByte in craft.entries.section('dataByte').level(1) %}
  {% switch dataByte.type %}
  {% case 'single' %}
      {# TEMPLATE CODE FOR STAND ALONE ENTRY HERE #}
      single: {{dataByte.title}}<br/>
  {% case 'series' %}
    {% set firstInSeries = dataByte.getChildren().first() %}
    {% if firstInSeries %}
      {# TEMPLATE CODE FOR FIRST ENTRY IN SERIES HERE #}
      seriesFirst: {{firstInSeries.title}}<br/>
    {% endif %}
  {% endswitch %}
{% endfor %}