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    Dated blog entries: the singular blog_post object, the blog_posts list, and the methods that load them.

    A blog post is a publishable entry that belongs to a Blog. Use the singular blog_post object when you already have one post—for example the current page entity, or a post returned by the {% blog_post %} method. Use blog_posts when you need a filtered, sorted, or paginated list for indexes and feeds.

    Typical fields include title, summary_html, content_html, post date, the parent blog, and an optional featured image. Because posts are entities, shared properties such as url and canonical_url are available as well.

    The sections below document the objects and methods together so you can move from a single post to a list without leaving this page.

    {{ blog_post }}

    Properties
    Name Type Description
    object_type string Will always be blog_post
    is_valid boolean True if this references a published blog_post
    guid string The unique identifier for this blog_post
    value string Synonym for guid
    name {{ text }} The name of the blog_post
    title {{ text }} The title of the blog_post
    linked_title string A link to the blog_post if it has a URL, or the escaped title if not
    blog_guid string The unique identifier of the related blog
    blog {{ blog }} Reference to the related blog object
    image_guid string The unique identifier of the related image
    image {{ image }} Reference to the related image object
    summary_html {{ html }} Short HTML summary used in list views
    content_html {{ html }} The primary HTML content for the blog post
    post_date {{ datetime }} The primary date associated with this blog post - typically the date that it was originally written or posted and set by the content editor
    tags {{ tags }} The list of tags associated with this blog_post
    authors {{ authors }} The list of authors associated with this blog_post
    has_url boolean True if the blog_post has a URL
    include_in_search boolean Whether or not this blog_post should be returned in on-site search results
    domain_name {{ text }} The domain name used by the URL for this blog_post
    url {{ text }} The portion of the URL for this blog_post following the domain name
    full_url string The full URL for this blog_post including the scheme, domain name, and path
    visited boolean Whether or not the user has visited this URL previously in their current session. Note that this will always be false if the user has not allowed session permission (see the Permissions and Personalization documentation). Using this property prevents the page from being fast-cached
    template_guid string The unique identifier for the template that would be used to respond to this URL
    template {{ template }} The template that would be used to respond to this URL
    canonical_url {{ url }} The canonical URL if this is not the original source of content for this URL
    browser_title {{ text }} The browser title to use for this URL
    meta_description {{ textarea }} The meta description for this URL
    meta_robots {{ text }} The meta robots for this URL
    keywords {{ textarea }} The SEO keywords for this URL
    search_entity_guid string The unique identifier for the entity that search results should be directed to (if this blog_post does not have a URL)
    search_entity {{ entity }} The entity that search results should be directed to (if this blog_post does not have a URL)
    folder_guid string The unique identifier for the folder that contains this blog_post.
    folder {{ folder }} The folder that contains this blog_post.
    field_id string The identifier for this field
    label string The label for this field
    output string The default output that the blog_post produces when output directly to the template. The default output may change at any time. Template developers should avoid using this and should handle the output of blog posts themselves
    data {{ data }} Object containing the custom fields on this blog_post
    * string Specific custom fields may be accessed using {{ entity.fieldid }} or {{blog_post['field-id']}}
    Example Search only blog post entities by a query parameterFilter blog post entities using a query parameter (e.g. tag or search term) and output the results.
    Liquid
    {% search output_to_template request.query_params.q type:blog_post %}

    {{ blog_posts }}

    Contains multiple blog_posts.

    Properties
    Name Type Description
    object_type string Will always be blog_posts
    is_valid boolean True if this contains at least one published blog_post
    output string The default output that the blog_posts will produce when it is output directly to the template - using the "output_in_list" property of each blog_post in the items list
    prepended list List containing any prepended blog_posts.
    fetched list List containing all of the blog_posts that were fetched from the database (as opposed to prepended or appended).
    appended list List containing any appended blog_posts.
    appended_unique list List containing any appended blog_posts excluding any blog_posts that are in either the list of prepended or fetched blog_posts.
    items list List containing all of the combined blog_posts from the prepended, fetched, and appended lists. If unique is true, this list will not contain any duplicates. If max_size is set, this list will not contain more than the number of blog_posts specified.
    size integer The total number of blog_posts in the items list, including prepended, fetched, and appended lists, and respecting the unique and max_size properties.
    max_size integer If set, this is the maximum number of items that will be returned in the items list and the maximum number of items that will be included when this blog_posts object is enumerated as a list. When not set, this value will be 0.
    unique boolean When true, the items list will not contain any duplicates. Only the first instance of each blog_post will be included.
    limit integer The maximum number of items that were allowed to be in the list of fetched blog_posts. May be 0 in some cases (such as when when there are no fetched blog_posts.
    start integer The 1-based index of the first item in the list of fetched blog_posts.
    page integer The 1-based index of the paginated results returned in the list of fetched blog_posts, which is calculated from the start and limit parameters. Useful for paginated results.
    total_count integer The 1-based index of the first item in the list of fetched blog_posts
    total_pages integer If any items were fetched from the database, total_pages will contain the number of paginated result pages in the database for the provided arguments. This may also be calculated using the total_count and limit properties.
    Example Group blog posts by blog (group filter)Use the group_by filter to group objects by a specific property. For example, you can group a list of blog posts by blog.
    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts posts = limit: 40 start: 1 sort_by: 'date_posted' sort_direction: 'desc' -%}
{%- var grouped_by_blog = posts | group_by: 'blog' -%}
{%- for group in grouped_by_blog -%}
	<p>{{ group.Key.title }}: {{ group.Value | size }}</p>
{%- endfor -%}
    Output
    <p>General Blog: 22</p>
<p>Announcements: 10</p>
<p>Events: 8</p>
    Example Get request parameters and fetch blog_posts with pagination and tag filterRead page and tag from query params, then fetch blog_posts with limit and sort.
    Liquid
    {%- assign var postsPerPage = 10 -%}
{%- assign pageParam = 1 -%} 
<!-- Did a page param get passed in the url? -->
{%- if request.query_params['page'] -%}
	{%- assign pageParam = request.query_params['page'] | to_int -%}
{%- endif -%}
<!-- Did a tag param get passed in the url? -->
{%- if request.query_params['tag'] and request.query_params['tag'] != "" -%}
	{%- assign tagFilter = request.query_params['tag'] | url_decode | downcase -%}
{%- endif -%}

{%- blog_posts assign posts = blog:"The Kitchen Essentials" tag:tagFilter limit:postsPerPage page:pageParam sort_by:"post_date" sort_direction:"desc" -%}

{%- for post in posts -%}
	{{-post.title-}}
{%- endfor -%}
    Example Getting random items with the rand filterUse the rand filter to pick one or more random items from a list, get random numbers, or build random strings. Assign results to a variable so the same random choice is used everywhere on the page; use prevent_cache: false when you want the page response to be cacheable.

    One random item from an existing list (prevents fast-caching)

    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts posts = start:1 limit:10 -%}
{%- var randompost = posts | rand -%}
<p>Random pick: {{ randompost.linked_title }}</p>

    Get a random item from an existing list. Every time the page is loaded a new random item will be chosen.

    One random item from an existing list (allows fast-caching)

    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts posts = start:1 limit:10 -%}
{%- var randompost = posts | rand:1, false, false -%}
<p>Fast-Cached Random pick: {{ randompost.linked_title }}</p>

    Get a random item from an existing list and allow the page to be fast-cached. Subsequent pageloads will have the same random item chosen until the cache expires unless there is something else on the page that prevents fast-caching.

    Improved: Fetch only one item from the database

    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts intermediate = limit:1 sort_by:'random' cache_random:true -%}
{%- var randompost = intermediate | first -%}
<p>Today's pick: {{ randompost.linked_title }}</p>

    Functionally equivalent to the previous example, but only one item has to be fetched from the database. With the cache_random:true argument the result may be fast-cached and can be reused for subsequent pageloads and without the cache_random argument the page will not able to be fast-cached.

    Multiple random items, no duplicates

    Liquid
    {%- var numbers = (10..20) -%}
{%- var randomitems = numbers | rand:3, false -%}
{{- randomitems | join:' ' -}}

    Get 3 random numbers between 10 and 20 without repeats and outputs them as a space-separated list. Because the third argument is not provided the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random numbers.

    Multiple random numbers with duplicates allowed

    Liquid
    {%- var rolls = 6 | rand: 4 -%}
<p>Dice rolls: {{ rolls | join: ', ' }}</p>

    Get 4 random numbers between 1 and 6 and output them as a comma-separated list. Because the second argument is not provided, duplicates are allowed. Because the third argument is not provided, the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random numbers.

    Multiple random numbers with duplicates allowed and fast-cacheable

    Liquid
    {%- var rolls = 6 | rand: 4, true, false -%}
<p>Dice rolls: {{ rolls | join: ', ' }}</p>

    Functionally identical to the previous example except the page may be fast-cached so that future pageloads are significantly faster, but may include the same set of random numbers until the cache expires.

    Multiple unique random numbers

    Liquid
    {%- var picks = 10 | rand: 4, false -%}
<p>Unique picks: {{ picks | join: ' ' }}</p>

    Gets 4 unique random numbers between 1 and 10 and outputs them as a space-separated list. Because the third argument is not provided, the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random numbers.

    Single random number between 0 and 10

    Liquid
    {{ 11 | rand: 1 | minus: 1 }}

    To get a random number starting with 0 we need to subtract 1 from the result. To allow the page to be fast-cached: Specify either true or false for the second argument (it doesn't matter which for this example) and specify false for the third argument.

    Random character from a string (cache in page)

    Liquid
    {{ "aaabcdeeefghjkmnpqrstuuuvwxyz123456789-_" | rand }}

    Gets a single random character from the set of characters in the string. In this example, the set of characters includes lowercase letters, numbers, and the hyphen and underscore characters with some characters excluded and some repeated to increase their probability of being chosen.

    Random alphanumeric string

    Liquid
    {{ "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789" | rand: 10 }}

    Pick 10 random characters from the set, with duplicates allowed. Because the third argument is not provided, the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random characters.

    Random alphanumeric string without duplciates

    Liquid
    {{ "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789-----_____" | rand: 10, false }}

    Pick 10 random characters from the set, with no duplicates allowed. However, because the set itself contains 5 hyphens and 5 underscores the result may also contain up to 5 hyphens and 5 underscores. Because the third argument is provided as false, the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random characters.

    Example Map a list of blog posts to their linked titlesUse the map filter to map blog posts to their linked title. The map filter could just as easily be used for any other property as well.
    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts posts = limit: 10 sort_by: 'post_date' sort_direction:'desc' -%}
{{- posts | map: 'linked_title' | join: '<br />' }}

    {% blog_post %}

    {% blog_post output_to_template? [[var, set, or assign]? variable]? output_to_template? = value %}
    Parameters
    output_to_template optionalflag
    If included the {% blog_post %} will be output directly to the template.
    var, set, or assign optionalkeyword
    Optional. Specify either "var", "set" or "assign" to change which scope this {% blog_post %} is stored on. "var" is the default behavior.
    variable_name optionalvariable
    Specify a variable name in order to save this blog_post to a variable. If not specified, it will be output to the template instead.
    value requiredexpression
    Should evaluate to an object of type blog_post, or the name or guid of one. May use liquid filters.

    Fetches a single {{ blog_post }}.

    {% blog_posts %}

    {% blog_posts output_to_template? [[var, set, or assign]? variable]? output_to_template? = arguments %}
    Parameters
    output_to_template optionalflag
    If included the {% blog_posts %} will be output directly to the template.
    var, set, or assign optionalkeyword
    Optional. Specify either "var", "set" or "assign" to change which scope this {% blog_posts %} is stored on. "var" is the default behavior.
    variable optionalvariable
    arguments requiredcollection
    Key:value pairs. May use the variable arguments syntax.

    Options

    prepend optionallist
    May be a single blog_post, a list of blog_posts, or the name or guid of one blog_post, to be included at the beginning of the blog_posts list.
    append optionallist
    May be a single blog_post, a list of blog_posts, or the name or guid of one blog_post, to be included at the end of the blog_posts list.
    exclude optionallist
    May be a single blog_post, a list of blog_posts, or the name or guid of one blog_post that should NOT be included in the fetched results. Has no effect on prepended or appended blog_posts.
    exclude_prepended optionalboolean
    True to specifically exclude all prepended blog_posts from the fetched results. If "unique:true" is specified this is the default behavior, although you may also specify "exclude_prepended:false" to allow any prepended items to be fetched along with other results anyway.
    exclude_appended optionalboolean
    True to specifically exclude all appended blog_posts from the fetched results. This is false by default - even if "unique:true" is specified - so that results are returned in the proper order.
    unique optionalboolean
    True to remove duplicates from each of the resulting lists (prepended, fetched, appended, and items), although there may be duplicates between the prepended, fetched, and appended lists. The "items" list will include objects in the order in which they appear - with prepended items first, then fetched items, then appended items.
    max_size optionalinteger
    The maximum number of items to be included in the "items" list. If there are any prepended or appended items, this will automatically lower the "limit" to only fetch as many blog_posts as needed. Note that this may also impact both the "page" and "total_pages" values in the resulting blog_posts. In order to use pagination with a list loaded using "max_size" use "start" instead of "page" and "limit".
    filter optionalvalue
    Only include blog posts that match the given string filter
    blog optionalvalue
    May include multiple blogs. Only include blog posts with one of the given blogs
    start_date optionalvalue
    Only include blog posts with a post_date greater than or equal to start_date
    end_date optionalvalue
    Only include blog posts with a post_date less than or equal to end_date
    tag optionalvalue
    May include multiple tags. Only include blog posts with one of the given tags
    author optionalvalue
    May include multiple authors. Only include blog posts with one of the given authors
    folder optionalvalue
    May include multiple folders. Only include blog posts with one of the given folders
    date_created_start optionalvalue
    Only include blog posts with date_created greater than or equal to date_created_start. Remember that date_created will typically be the date that the blog post was first published.
    date_created_end optionalvalue
    Only include blog posts with date_created less than or equal to date_created_end. Remember that date_created will typically be the date that the blog post was first published.
    has_url optionalboolean
    If true, only return blog_posts that have a URL. If false, only return blog_posts that do NOT have a URL.
    template optionalobject
    Only return blog_posts with one of these templates. May be a single template, a list of templates, or the name or guid of a template to filter the results by.
    include_in_search optionalboolean
    True or false to only return blog_posts whose include_in_search property matches the provided value.
    domain_name optionalobject
    Only return blog_posts from the given domain.
    start optionalinteger
    Set the 1-based index of the first blog_post to fetch.
    page optionalinteger
    Used to automatically calculate the first blog_post to fetch based on both the "limit" and the 1-based "page" value. Defaults to 1, but is ignored if "start" is set.
    limit optionalinteger
    The maximum number of blog_posts to fetch. Defaults to 10. Note that if "max_size" is defined, then "limit" may be automatically lowered even if specified separately.
    sort_by optionalstring
    Specify which property to sort the results by. Has no effect on prepended or appended blog_posts. By default, results will be sorted by relevance if there is a filter string and date_created desc (newest first) if not. Options include:
    • relevance: only applies when there is a filter string. When sorting by relevance sort_direction is ignored.
    • date_created: the date each blog_post was first published. Unpublishing and republishing one resets date_created to the current date.
    • random: results will be returned in a random order, which prevents the page from being fast-cached. Setting cache_random:true overrides this behavior and allows the page to be fast-cached anyway.
    • name
    • title
    • url
    • browser_title
    sort_direction optionalstring
    asc or desc.
    cache_random optionalboolean
    True to allow the results to be cached when sort_by is "random".

    Fetches a list of {{ blog_posts }}.

    Example Group blog posts by blog (group filter)Use the group_by filter to group objects by a specific property. For example, you can group a list of blog posts by blog.
    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts posts = limit: 40 start: 1 sort_by: 'date_posted' sort_direction: 'desc' -%}
{%- var grouped_by_blog = posts | group_by: 'blog' -%}
{%- for group in grouped_by_blog -%}
	<p>{{ group.Key.title }}: {{ group.Value | size }}</p>
{%- endfor -%}
    Output
    <p>General Blog: 22</p>
<p>Announcements: 10</p>
<p>Events: 8</p>
    Example Get request parameters and fetch blog_posts with pagination and tag filterRead page and tag from query params, then fetch blog_posts with limit and sort.
    Liquid
    {%- assign var postsPerPage = 10 -%}
{%- assign pageParam = 1 -%} 
<!-- Did a page param get passed in the url? -->
{%- if request.query_params['page'] -%}
	{%- assign pageParam = request.query_params['page'] | to_int -%}
{%- endif -%}
<!-- Did a tag param get passed in the url? -->
{%- if request.query_params['tag'] and request.query_params['tag'] != "" -%}
	{%- assign tagFilter = request.query_params['tag'] | url_decode | downcase -%}
{%- endif -%}

{%- blog_posts assign posts = blog:"The Kitchen Essentials" tag:tagFilter limit:postsPerPage page:pageParam sort_by:"post_date" sort_direction:"desc" -%}

{%- for post in posts -%}
	{{-post.title-}}
{%- endfor -%}
    Example Getting random items with the rand filterUse the rand filter to pick one or more random items from a list, get random numbers, or build random strings. Assign results to a variable so the same random choice is used everywhere on the page; use prevent_cache: false when you want the page response to be cacheable.

    One random item from an existing list (prevents fast-caching)

    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts posts = start:1 limit:10 -%}
{%- var randompost = posts | rand -%}
<p>Random pick: {{ randompost.linked_title }}</p>

    Get a random item from an existing list. Every time the page is loaded a new random item will be chosen.

    One random item from an existing list (allows fast-caching)

    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts posts = start:1 limit:10 -%}
{%- var randompost = posts | rand:1, false, false -%}
<p>Fast-Cached Random pick: {{ randompost.linked_title }}</p>

    Get a random item from an existing list and allow the page to be fast-cached. Subsequent pageloads will have the same random item chosen until the cache expires unless there is something else on the page that prevents fast-caching.

    Improved: Fetch only one item from the database

    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts intermediate = limit:1 sort_by:'random' cache_random:true -%}
{%- var randompost = intermediate | first -%}
<p>Today's pick: {{ randompost.linked_title }}</p>

    Functionally equivalent to the previous example, but only one item has to be fetched from the database. With the cache_random:true argument the result may be fast-cached and can be reused for subsequent pageloads and without the cache_random argument the page will not able to be fast-cached.

    Multiple random items, no duplicates

    Liquid
    {%- var numbers = (10..20) -%}
{%- var randomitems = numbers | rand:3, false -%}
{{- randomitems | join:' ' -}}

    Get 3 random numbers between 10 and 20 without repeats and outputs them as a space-separated list. Because the third argument is not provided the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random numbers.

    Multiple random numbers with duplicates allowed

    Liquid
    {%- var rolls = 6 | rand: 4 -%}
<p>Dice rolls: {{ rolls | join: ', ' }}</p>

    Get 4 random numbers between 1 and 6 and output them as a comma-separated list. Because the second argument is not provided, duplicates are allowed. Because the third argument is not provided, the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random numbers.

    Multiple random numbers with duplicates allowed and fast-cacheable

    Liquid
    {%- var rolls = 6 | rand: 4, true, false -%}
<p>Dice rolls: {{ rolls | join: ', ' }}</p>

    Functionally identical to the previous example except the page may be fast-cached so that future pageloads are significantly faster, but may include the same set of random numbers until the cache expires.

    Multiple unique random numbers

    Liquid
    {%- var picks = 10 | rand: 4, false -%}
<p>Unique picks: {{ picks | join: ' ' }}</p>

    Gets 4 unique random numbers between 1 and 10 and outputs them as a space-separated list. Because the third argument is not provided, the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random numbers.

    Single random number between 0 and 10

    Liquid
    {{ 11 | rand: 1 | minus: 1 }}

    To get a random number starting with 0 we need to subtract 1 from the result. To allow the page to be fast-cached: Specify either true or false for the second argument (it doesn't matter which for this example) and specify false for the third argument.

    Random character from a string (cache in page)

    Liquid
    {{ "aaabcdeeefghjkmnpqrstuuuvwxyz123456789-_" | rand }}

    Gets a single random character from the set of characters in the string. In this example, the set of characters includes lowercase letters, numbers, and the hyphen and underscore characters with some characters excluded and some repeated to increase their probability of being chosen.

    Random alphanumeric string

    Liquid
    {{ "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789" | rand: 10 }}

    Pick 10 random characters from the set, with duplicates allowed. Because the third argument is not provided, the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random characters.

    Random alphanumeric string without duplciates

    Liquid
    {{ "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789-----_____" | rand: 10, false }}

    Pick 10 random characters from the set, with no duplicates allowed. However, because the set itself contains 5 hyphens and 5 underscores the result may also contain up to 5 hyphens and 5 underscores. Because the third argument is provided as false, the page will not be fast-cached and every pageload will have a new set of random characters.

    Example Map a list of blog posts to their linked titlesUse the map filter to map blog posts to their linked title. The map filter could just as easily be used for any other property as well.
    Liquid
    {%- blog_posts posts = limit: 10 sort_by: 'post_date' sort_direction:'desc' -%}
{{- posts | map: 'linked_title' | join: '<br />' }}