Getting the wrong page ID

Question

I am developing a theme and I need to get the actual page ID, when I do:

global $post;
$thePostID = $post->ID;

I get the wrong ID. I tried get_the_ID() and I get the same ID that in the code above, but both are wrong. I also tried to do wp_reset_query() before getting the ID but I still get the same wrong ID. I am running the code above in a template and it is NOT inside of a loop. I also want to clarify that I am trying to get a page ID, not a post ID, although the function seems to be the same. What I am doing wrong and how could I fix it?

**Context

I have been testing the different suggestions and here I will try to clarify some. The template page that doesn't show the right page ID displays the posts of a custom field that I created using ACF. The ID that I am getting when executing the_ID() or its variants is the first ID of the first post of the custom field. I retrieved the ID on the header of the template before executing any query and the result is the same, also when I reset the query the ID doesn't change.

Any suggestions?

thanks

Answer 1

As mentioned in the comments, you are trying to get the ID in the taxonomy archive (template-taxonomy.php) which is not a post object and has no record in the database. It just tries to show some posts and you may get the first post ID when you use get_te_ID() function in that archive page.

Using some themes or plugins, you are able to create a page and use that as an archive page. In that case, the get_the_ID() function is able to return the actual page ID (Out of the loop) because it is a real post object and it has a place in the database.

Answer 2

As I mentioned in the comments, context matters when getting a post ID.

Try using get_queried_object() to determine what WordPress thinks you're trying to get based on the url. This will return the full object for you to better understand what's being queried.

From the get_queried_object() Codex:

• if you're on a single post, it will return the post object
• if you're on a page, it will return the page object
• if you're on an archive page, it will return the post type object
• if you're on a category archive, it will return the category object
• if you're on an author archive, it will return the author object
• etc.

This will give you a bit more information to determine if you have the page ID available to you or if you'll have to do a query for the page to get the ID.

If this is the object you're looking for, you can use get_queried_object_id() to retrieve the ID.

Answer 3

--- UPDATED ---

Ok now that I understand more about what you're doing (querying for a CPT and displaying it on a Page using a template file), here is how I handle a similar function:

On one of my sites I have a Page that describes hiking in a particular area, below which I query for all custom posts of the CPT "hike" that have a custom field that holds a (future) date for the hike (it's a guided hike that has a scheduled date and a form for folks to signup for the hike).

The Template file for the Hiking Page starts out as previously mentioned with

if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();

followed by some HTML, within which is

the_content();

in order to display the generic verbiage on the page about hiking in that area.

Below that I use get_posts(); to fetch all of the CPT posts for upcoming hikes, so older (past) hikes are not displayed

    global $post;
    $args = array (
    'post_type' => 'hike',
    'meta_key' => 'hike_date_start',
    'orderby' => 'meta_value_num',
    'order' => 'ASC',
    'posts_per_page' => -1);

    $myposts = get_posts($args); 
    foreach ( $myposts as $post ) : setup_postdata( $post );

    $exp_date = strtotime(get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_date_start',true));
    $today = time();
    if ($today <= $exp_date) {

    $hikedate = get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_date_start',true);
    $hikedate2 = get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_date_end',true);
    $hikedateend = strtotime(get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_date_end',true));
    $hikerating = get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_rating',true);
    $hikeleader = get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_leader',true);
    $hikecontactph = get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_contact_phone',true);
    $hikecontactem = get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_contact_email',true);
    $hikedirections = get_post_meta($post->ID,'hike_directions',true);

Below that is some more HTML to display the data in the format I want, like so:

    <div class="hikeentry">
      <div class="time">
      <div class="month"><?php echo date('M', $exp_date); ?></div>
      <div class="wkday"><?php echo date('l', $exp_date); ?></div>
      <div class="day"><?php echo date('d', $exp_date); ?></div>
      <div class="year"><?php echo date('Y', $exp_date); ?></div>
   </div>
   <div class="hikedata">
     <h4><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h4>
     <div class="hikemeta">
     <div class="left">
     <span>Rating:</span> <?php echo $hikerating; ?><br />
     <span>Leader:</span> <?php echo $hikeleader; ?><br />
     <span>Contact:</span> <a href="mailto:<?php echo antispambot($hikecontactem); ?>"><?php echo antispambot($hikecontactem); ?></a> &nbsp;&nbsp; <?php echo $hikecontactph; ?> 
     </div>
    <div class="left bordered rounded bkgd"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>">Click here to read full<br />description and Sign Up</a>
    </div>
    </div>
    <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
    </div>
    </div><!-- end .hikeentry -->

ALSO when you're done with the foreach loop, it's important to reset the postdata, like so

    } endforeach; wp_reset_postdata();

Because I use get_posts($args); and not wp_query(); then you don't need to reset the query, just the postdata.

I'm not specifically using the_ID(); but you can, wherever you need it WITHIN the foreach loop just call the_ID(); as it's part of each individual CPTs data retrieved with setup_postdata();

I hope this helps, ask more questions in the comments and I'm happy to explain more about how/why I use this......I prefer to use the WP built-in methods for retrieving and using data instead of ACFs but I love ACF for making it easy for my users to enter custom data. :-)

--- prior answer, updated above -- It's difficult to know exactly how to advise you without knowing more about your specific use, but if I understand your question correctly, you're creating a Template file for a specific Page, yes?

In that case in your Pages>Add New where you've added your page and specified your new template to use, you still need at the top of your Template file:

if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();

then where you need the ID you use the_ID();

I use this to assign the page's ID (which for all intents and purposes in current versions of WP is the same as a 'post' - pretty much everything is a 'post' nowadays) to a specific element on the page.

If you can post more details about what you're trying to accomplish it will help us to give you better suggestions.

Answer 4

You get the ID after another post appear or after another loop.

if you want to get the original main query (current page ID)

use this function wp_reset_query, before you get the ID