Exercise 6.6: Build the related content block

Next we’ll add the related content block, as per the screenshot below.

Image of Related content menu

Check content tags

Make sure you have some Job posting content tagged with the State/Territory terms.

Create the View

Follow the process outlines in Exercise 6.5 to create a new View Block called Related content.

Image of Related content View

Your view should look like the following screenshot on the edit View page. Note that the Advanced section has been expanded, as it is used in the next steps

Image of Related content View

Add dynamic "contextual" filter

The contextual filter allows us to show a list of the content with the same tags as the current content.

1. Expand the Advanced items on the right hand side.

2. Click Add next to Contextual filters.

3. Search for "Has taxonomy term ID" then select the checkbox.

4. Click Add and configure contextual filters.

   

5. Under "When the filter value is NOT available" select the "Provide a default value" option. For the Type, select "Taxonomy term ID from URL". Also check "Load default filter from term page" and "Load default filter from node page, that's good for related taxonomy blocks"

   

6. Click Apply.

7. Click Save on the View page.

Place the block

1. Go to Structure → Block layout and scroll down to the “Sidebar” area.

2. Click the Place block button.

3. In the pop-up, filter by text “Related content” in the Lists (Views) category.

   

4. Click Place block.

5. Under Visibility settings, configure block to display on all pages except the homepage. Remember to use the <front> token as the homepage identified. You may also use “/”. In addition, filter the block to only show on the Job Posting content type.

   

6. Click Save block.

Review and test

Go to the frontend of your site and check that the Related content block has been added, as in the below screenshot.

Image of Related content menu

Check that you have some content in certain states/territories, so you can see how the block works.

• When you click on a state (tag) on a specific article you should see a list of related content, listed by the taxonomy term. You should not see the block.

• You should see the Related Content block when you view a Job posting.

Filter out currently displayed page

While testing the Related content block, did you notice anything unusual?

The Related content block displays the article title of the currently displayed page:

Image of Related content menu

Let’s remove it by adding one more Contextual Filter.

1. Return to editing the Related Content view.

2. Expand the Advanced pane and you should see the Contextual Filter Content: Has taxonomy term ID that we created earlier.

3. Add another contextual filter.

4. Search for ID (in Category Content).

   

5. Select Provide default value in the When the filter value is NOT available pane → Content ID from URL.

   

6. Under the More pane, select Exclude.

7. Apply the changes.

8. Save the View.

9. Test your block from the previous example. Now it should not display the current page in the block.

Image of Related content menu