Query Loop Block: Sticky posts do not stay at the top when used in template

[thekingsprojects]

Quick summary

When using the Query Loop block to show posts as part of an FSE template (e.g., on the theme's "Index" template), any sticky posts appear in the normal post flow, rather than at the top/front of the post list.

This does not seem to happen when a Query Loop block is used within the content of a page; I've only been able to replicate it in a template so far.

Steps to reproduce

1. Make a post sticky.
2. If the sticky post would be the newest post, create another, non-sticky post that is newer.
3. Open the Editor on an FSE-enabled site.
4. Open a template that contains a Query Loop set to show posts, or add this block to a template.
5. Make sure that the "Sticky posts" setting for the Query Loop is set to "Include", not Exclude or Only.

What you expected to happen

Any sticky posts should appear above other, more recent posts.

What actually happened

Posts appear in the normal newest-to-oldest sort order, ignoring any "sticky" settings.

Context

Customer report here: 4839669-zen

Confirmed by testing on my own Atomic site.

Possibly related to this issue? In this case, however, both the editor and the live site are ignoring the sticky setting, rather than the live site still functioning correctly.

Simple, Atomic or both?

No response

Theme-specific issue?

No response

Browser, operating system and other notes

No response

Reproducibility

Consistent

Severity

No response

Available workarounds?

Yes, easy to implement

Workaround details

Option 1: Add a second Query Loop above the first one. Set the "top" query loop to show Only sticky posts, while the "bottom" one Excludes sticky posts.

Option 2 (not applicable to every case, but was offered to this user): Write the desired text (in this case, an introduction) directly into the template, above the Query Loop, instead of relying on a sticky post.

[kimerlin81]

Thanks for submitting this bug report @thekingsprojects! I was able to reproduce this on a test site with several themes activated. I've added this report to the HE Cross-Reference Watchlist since there is a related issue in the Gutenberg Repo: WordPress/gutenberg#38979

[jamiepalatnik]

Another report: 4839596-zd-woothemes

Edit: Looks like this is a different report for the same user site.

[helenaartmann]

Another report: 5183244-zen

Gave them the two workarounds suggested above.

[kimerlin81]

Another report of this. Shared option 1 workaround

• please update user in 5311021-zd-woothemes once this is fixed

[Trekky12]

Unfortunately the workaround option 1 is not usable since the sticky posts option is hidden when the query is inherit.
Is there another option to create two query loops with and without sticky posts?

[github-actions]

Support References

This comment is automatically generated. Please do not edit it.

• 4839669-zen
• 4839596-zen
• 5183244-zen
• 5311021-zen
• 7448744-zen

[cuemarie]

Encountered this issue here: 7448744-zen

[cuemarie]

Its unclear if this was fixed in core or not, based on WordPress/gutenberg#38979

[annezazu]

sticky.post.query.loop.mov

Definitely fixed :) Closing this out both due to no further reports and inability to replicate.

[lancewillett]

Question for @cuemarie CC @tashabishop02 & @andrewspittle

Do we need reach back out to all the above "attached" customer reports in Zendesk (etc.) to close the loop after a fix?

Or, how would we handle getting the word out if someone had this issue?

Reading the comments on this ticket, there are a few that say, "Please update the customer when this is fixed." But, it's from 2022... so maybe we missed the window of opportunity.

[andrewspittle]

I'll defer to @tashabishop02 here on the decision. In an ideal world I think we follow up with people. But, as you note, that may require a more timely fix than we arrived at here.