Wordpress: get_posts() function problem

I am trying to write an add-on to my wordpress blog that show the most recent post in each category. whenever I try to use the get_posts() method, it always returns the most recent post, regardless of what argument I use. even if I tell it to get 5 posts, it just returns the first post 5 times! here is a snippet of the code I am using:

function the_category_box(){

     $catIDs = get_all_category_ids(); 
     $control = 0;  //total number posted so far
     $columns = 3; //number of columns in table
     
     echo "<table>";
     foreach($catIDs as $cat){
	         $catName = get_catname($cat); //getting cagegory name
	         $args = array(
	                 'numberposts' => 1
                         'category' => $cat
	                 );
	         $catPosts = get_posts($args); //<-- THE PROBLEM
	         if($control%$columns == 0){   echo "<tr>";   } 
	         echo "<td> <h4> Latest in <b>$catName</b></h4>";
	             foreach($catPosts as $post){
		             setup_postdata($post);
			         the_title();
			         echo "<a href=\"";
			         the_permalink();
			         echo"\">Read More--></a>";
	             }
	         echo"</td>";
	         if($control%$columns == 2){   echo "</tr>";   }
	         $control++;
          }     
     }
     echo "</table></div>";   
     return;
}

PHP:

Is there a better way to do this, or how can I get this function to work?

 

I usually don't like using other developer's functions, especially when I don't understand them or when they don't work properly. That's why I would recommend you just query the database directly, without using Wordpress' native functions. It does require some PHP and MySQL knowledge, but the results are just the way you want.

I'm not familiar with Wordpress' backend so I'm not sure how to guide you further, but basically you need to see how the database looks like and then query 5 rows for each category id, ordering the results descending by date.

 

<?php query_posts("cat=$cat&showposts=1");?>

Code (markup):