Stash set variable from POST variable and use in Entries Loop

Question

I have the following code, and the stash variable doesn't seem to parse. I believe it's an issue with parse order. Apologies, this is the first time I've used stash. I'm trying to show a multiple entry page filtered by categories sent from a HTML form:

<form action="" method="post">
    <input type="checkbox" value="62" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="63" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="59" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="64" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="61" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="60" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="hidden" name="XID" value="{XID_HASH]">
    <input type="submit" name="submit" value="GO!">
</form>

An array of category IDs are POSTed to the page, it then sets the ids to a stash variable.

 {exp:stash:get name="recipe_type_categories" dynamic="yes" save="yes"}

My template looks like this:

{exp:channel:entries channel="recipes" dynamic="no" 
limit="18" uncategorized_entries="no" 
disable="member_data|comments|category_fields" 
category="{exp:stash:recipe_type_categories}" 
status="not Closed" paginate="both"}

{title}

{paginate}
    {pagination_links}
        <span>page {current_page} of {total_pages}</span>
        <ul>
        {first_page}
            <li><a href="{pagination_url}" class="page-first">first</a></li>
        {/first_page}

        {previous_page}
            <li><a href="{pagination_url}" class="page-previous">&lt;</a></li>
        {/previous_page}

        {page}
            <li><a href="{pagination_url}" class="page-{pagination_page_number} {if current_page}active{/if}">{pagination_page_number}</a></li>
        {/page}

        {next_page}
            <li><a href="{pagination_url}" class="page-next">&gt;</a></li>
        {/next_page}

        {last_page}
            <li><a href="{pagination_url}" class="page-last">last</a></li>
        {/last_page}
    </ul>
    {/pagination_links}
{/paginate}
{/exp:channel:entries}

Unfortunately, I see this in template debugging:

(0.012391 / 8.23MB) Tag: {exp:channel:entries channel="recipes" dynamic="no" limit="18" uncategorized_entries="no" disable="member_data|comments|category_fields" category="{exp:stash:recipe_type_categories}" status="not Closed" paginate="both"}

Hopefully someone can suggest a solution.

Answer 1

The standard way of handling this is with the Dynamic Parameters parameter - have you tried this instead of Stash? http://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/add-ons/channel/dynamic_parameters.html

==== Edit to add alternatives ====

Here's how the Stash approach could work. I've tested this and it seems to work fine for me. (You need to use parse="inward"):

<form action="" method="post">
    <input type="checkbox" value="62" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="63" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="59" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="64" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="61" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="checkbox" value="60" name="recipe_type_categories[]">
    <input type="hidden" name="XID" value="{XID_HASH}">
    <!-- (note you should use {csrf_token} instead of {XID_HASH} in EE 2.8+) -->
    <input type="submit" name="submit" value="GO!">
</form>

{exp:channel:entries
    channel="recipes"
    dynamic="no"
    limit="18"
    uncategorized_entries="no"
    disable="member_data|comments|category_fields"
    category="{exp:stash:get name='recipe_type_categories' dynamic='yes' save='yes'}"
    paginate="both"
    parse="inward"
}
    <li>{title}</li>
    {paginate}...{/paginate}
{/exp:channel:entries}

If pagination is still a problem you might consider some alternative solutions:

1. Native advanced search form
2. Reefine add-on
3. Low Search or Solspace SuperSearch add-ons