Code for MH_slider widget

mh_widgets.php

/***** Slider Widget (Homepage) *****/	

class mh_slider_hp_widget extends WP_Widget {
    function mh_slider_hp_widget () {
        $widget_ops = array('classname' => 'mh_slider_hp', 'description' => __('Slider widget for use on homepage templates', 'mh'));
        $this->WP_Widget('mh_slider_hp', __('MH Slider Widget (Homepage)', 'mh'), $widget_ops);
    }
    function widget($args, $instance) {
        extract($args);
        $postcount = empty($instance['postcount']) ? '5' : $instance['postcount'];
        $cats = empty($instance['cats']) ? '' : $instance['cats'];
        $tags = empty($instance['tags']) ? '' : $instance['tags'];
        $offset = empty($instance['offset']) ? '' : $instance['offset'];
        $order = isset($instance['order']) ? $instance['order'] : 'date';  
               
        echo $before_widget; ?>
        
        <section id="slider" class="flexslider">
			<ul class="slides">
			<?php
			$args = array('posts_per_page' => $postcount, 'cat' => $cats, 'tag' => $tags, 'offset' => $offset, 'orderby' => $order);
			$slider = new WP_query($args);
			while ($slider->have_posts()) : $slider->the_post(); ?>
				<li>
				<article class="slide-wrap">
					<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title(); ?>">
						<?php if (has_post_thumbnail()) { the_post_thumbnail('slider'); } else { echo '<img src="' . get_template_directory_uri() . '/images/noimage_940x400.png' . '" alt="No Picture" />'; } ?>
					</a>
					<div class="slide-caption">
						<div class="slide-data">
							<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="<?php the_title(); ?>"><h2 class="slide-title"><?php the_title(); ?></h2></a>
							<div class="slide-excerpt"><?php the_excerpt(); ?></div>
						</div>
					</div>										
				</article>	
				</li>		
			<?php endwhile; wp_reset_postdata(); ?>
		</ul>
		</section>
        <?php 
        
        echo $after_widget;            
    }