PHP conditional inside EE conditional - parse order problem

Question

This is a bit of a hard one to explain, but I will do my best. If you need any clarification just ask :)

I have a template that needs to display a list of 3 upcoming events, listed by date ascending (nearest first, farthest away last). I have this working with the following code:

{exp:channel:entries channel="news-article" dynamic="no" order_by="entry_date" sort="asc" category="1" sticky="no" show_future_entries="yes"}
    {if '{entry_date format="%Y%m%d"}' >= '{current_time format="%Y%m%d"}'}
            <article>
                <a href="{url_title_path='news'}">
                    <p>
                        {title}
                        <span class="time-block">{entry_date {long-date}}</span>
                    </p>
                </a>
            </article>
    {/if}
{/exp:channel:entries}

However, this shows all future events, not just the closest 3. I have tried adding limit="3" to the channel entries tag but as there are past events, the conditional is never true so nothing shows at all.

So I tried adding a PHP counter to it like so:

<?php $counter = 0; ?>
{exp:channel:entries channel="news-article" dynamic="no" order_by="entry_date" sort="asc" category="1" sticky="no" show_future_entries="yes"}
    {if '{entry_date format="%Y%m%d"}' >= '{current_time format="%Y%m%d"}'}
        <?php if ($counter<3): ?>
            <article>
                <a href="{url_title_path='news'}">
                    <p>
                        {title}
                        <span class="time-block">{entry_date {long-date}}</span>
                    </p>
                </a>
            </article>
            <?php $counter ++;
        endif; ?>
    {/if}
{/exp:channel:entries}

Parsing PHP on input still displays all results today or in the future, and parsing PHP on output displays nothing. Does anybody know how to get something like this working?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

This is easily accomplished using the start_on parameter.

If the start_on date/time should be current time use:

{exp:channel:entries 
    channel="events" 
    limit="3" 
    sort="asc" 
    start_on="{current_time format='%Y-%m-%d %H:%i'}" 
    show_future_entries="yes"
}

---

If the start_on date/time should be dynamic, enable PHP in the template and set it to be parsed on "input". This is the code you use:

<?php
    $current_time = ee()->localize->format_date('%Y-%m-%d %H:%i', ee()->localize->now - 3600);
?>

Change the 3600 in the php code to whatever number you need.

{exp:channel:entries 
    channel="events" 
    limit="3" 
    sort="asc" 
    start_on="<?php echo $current_time; ?>"
    show_future_entries="yes"
}

Answer 2

Not a solution to your specific question, but a solution to your general problem (how to display only upcoming events):

This is exactly why I wrote EEvent Helper years ago. The idea is that you set events to expire at the end of their event date, allowing you to easily pull just past events, or just upcoming events.

{!-- Upcoming Events --}
{exp:channel:entries channel="events" show_future_entries="yes" sort="asc"}

{!-- Past Events --}
{exp:channel:entries channel="events" show_expired="yes" sort="desc"}

(The add-on is not required to do this, but it automates the setting of the expiration date, making it more client-friendly.)