ACF Relationship Field posts output with shortcode

acf-relationship-field-posts-shortcode.php

<?php 
// ACF Relationship Shortcode 
function shortcode_acf_relationship_news( $atts ) { 

	// begin output buffering
	ob_start();

	// variable to check if it has any News posts chosen
	$news_post_variable = get_field('news');

	/*
	// if it does have News posts chosen, then continue...
	if( $news_post_variable ): 
		// echo the array of IDs of the posts
		echo '<pre>';
			print_r( $news_post_variable );
		echo '</pre>';
		// helps us know if it does have posts chosen or not
		echo 'Yes it has News posts chosen';
	endif;
	*/

	$args = array(
		'post_type' => array( 'post' ),
		'orderby' => 'ASC',
		'posts_per_page' => -1,
		'post__in' => get_field('news')
	);

	$query = new WP_Query( $args );
	
	// if it the News posts exist, and the CPT actually has some chosen
	if ( $query->have_posts() && $news_post_variable ) {

		// we have posts, so lets wrap them
		echo'<h4 class="styled-acf-label acf_label">Related News Posts</h4>';
		echo '<ul class="documents-wrapper">';

		// Start looping over the query results.
		while ( $query->have_posts() ) { 

			// Set up post data.
			$query->the_post(); 

			/* Contents of the queried post results go here. */
			echo '<li class="documents-list">
					<a href="'. get_permalink() .'" class="documents-link">
						<h5 class="documents-link-title">'. get_the_title() .'</h5>
					</a>
					<span class="documents-date">'. get_the_date( 'F j, Y' ) .'</span>
				</li>';

			// close the loop WHILE
		}

		wp_reset_postdata();

		// close post wrapper
		echo '</ul>';
		
		// end output buffering, grab the buffer contents, and empty the buffer
		return ob_get_clean();
	
	// close the query IF
	}

} 
add_shortcode( 'acf_relationship_news', 'shortcode_acf_relationship_news' );