counting channel field rows

Question

I want to check if there are any channel field entries so something like

{exp:channel:entries channel="vacancies" author_id="{logged_in_member_id}"}

{if count==0}
there are no entries in this channel
{/if}

{/exp:channel:entries}

is there are count, rows or total_rows variables I can use?

Answer 1

Almost there, take a look at the available parameters and variables, here:
http://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/add-ons/channel/channel_entries.html

{exp:channel:entries channel="vacancies" author_id="CURRENT_USER" limit="1" dynamic="no"}
{if no_results}
there are no entries in this channel
{/if}
{/exp:channel:entries}

When using CURRENT_USER it only works if the visitor is logged in (see user guide)
so you probably also want to check {if logged_in} or {if logged_out}.
The {if_no_results} conditional is a dedicated conditional for this purpose.

• author_id=CURRENT_USER the logged_in_member_id is parsed late,
  therefore this special parameter setting is available: current_user.
• dynamic=no prevent the system from interpreting and acting on the url segments
• limit=1 no need to for more entries