How to get one random entry from among multiple sections

Question

I'm trying to pull a random entry from among an array of sections, but I can't get it to work.

I tried the code below, but I'm just getting errors. I've tried multiple ways of listing the sections -- "section","section" ['section,section'],etc, but none work. Do I need to specify my sections in a different way?

{% set random = craft.entries.section('quotes,didYouKnow').limit(1).order('RAND()').find() %}
{% for content in random %}
...
{% endfor %}

Answer 1

According to the docs, you can pass an array into the "section" parameter:

{% set entries = craft.entries.section(['quotes','didYouKnow']) %}

There are several ways to get a random entry, but the method you've chosen is a very good one, because it randomizes during the initial SQL call:

.order('RAND()')

Lastly, you can cut out some of the extra legwork from your original example by calling first instead of find:

{% set entry = craft.entries.section('mySection').first() %}

When you retrieve your entry using first, you'll get a single entry instead of an array of entries. You can skip the for loop entirely, since you're already dealing with a single entry.

So to put that all together...

{% set randomEntry = craft.entries.section(['quotes','didYouKnow']).order('RAND()').first() %}

<h1>{{ randomEntry.title }}</h1>