tag: code  

<!--?php ///////////////   CREATE A CATEGORY ARRAY ///////////////
$cat_array = array();
$args=array(
  'post_type' =--> 'post',
  'post_status' => 'publish',
  'posts_per_page' =>10 //number of posts to collect from... could be higher, I chose 10
);
$my_query = null;
$my_query = new WP_Query($args);
if( $my_query->have_posts() ) {
  while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post();
    $cat_args=array('orderby' => 'none');
    $cats = wp_get_post_terms( $post->ID , 'category', $cat_args);
    foreach($cats as $cat) {
      $cat_array[$cat->term_id] = $cat->term_id;
    }
  endwhile;
}
// remove categories that are not the main 5
//I want these 5 specific cats to show - their category ID's are 31,32,33,34,35
if ($cat_array) {
  foreach($cat_array as $cat)  {
    $category = get_term_by('ID',$cat, 'category');
    if ( $category->term_id == 31 ||
         $category->term_id == 32 ||
         $category->term_id == 33 ||
         $category->term_id == 34 ||
         $category->term_id == 35 ){
    }else{
      unset($cat_array[$category->term_id]);
    }
  }
}
//make sure all of the 5 main categories are in the 10 test posts
//otherwise I'll add them to the end of the array (hack)
if (!in_array(31, $cat_array)) {  $cat_array[31] = 31; }
if (!in_array(32, $cat_array)) {  $cat_array[32] = 32; }
if (!in_array(33, $cat_array)) {  $cat_array[33] = 33; }
if (!in_array(34, $cat_array)) {  $cat_array[34] = 34; }
if (!in_array(35, $cat_array)) {  $cat_array[35] = 35; }
 
///////////////   GET POSTS FOR EACH CATEGORY  ///////////////
// GET THE CATEGORY
if ($cat_array) {
  foreach($cat_array as $cat)  {
    $category = get_term_by('ID',$cat, 'category');
    $args=array(
      'cat' => $category->term_id,
      'showposts'=>3, //number of posts to show
      'caller_get_posts'=>1
    );
    $post_count = 1; //reset post count to 1
    // GET THE POSTS
    $my_query = new WP_Query($args);
    if( $my_query->have_posts() ) {
      while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post();
 
	 //////////////////////////////////////// YOUR CATEGORY HERE
	if( $post_count == 1){
   	  echo '' . $category->name .'';
	}
        //////////////////////////////////////// YOUR POSTS HERE
        echo the_title() .'';
 
      $post_count++; endwhile;
    }
    wp_reset_query();
  }
}
wp_reset_query(); ?>