Here's the situation:

In wordpress I'm trying to reset a post WP_Query so that I can rewrite the post link based on whether or not a custom field exists in the post. I'm trying to give the post a NEW link in the custom field.

All I've managed to do here is kill the link entirely. Any and all help is greatly appreciated, I'm pretty green to php.

Here's my WP_Query:

  <?php
                     $recentPosts = new WP_Query();
   $recentPosts->query('showposts=3');
  ?>

                    <?php while ($recentPosts->have_posts()) : $recentPosts->the_post(); ?>

                     <div <?php post_class() ?> id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
   <?php
    $attribute = the_title_attribute();
    $title = the_title();
    $key = 'NewPostLink';
    $newLink = get_post_meta( $post->ID, $key, TRUE );
    if ($newLink != '') {
     $theLink = get_permalink ($post->ID );
     if (has_post_thumbnail()) {
      $image = get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID );
      echo '<div class="thumbnailbox"><div class="thumbnail"><a href="'.$theLink.'">'.$image.'</a></div></div>';
      echo '<h2><a href="'.$theLink.'" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to '.$attribute.'">'.$title.'</a></h2>';
     } else {
      echo '<h2><a href="'.$theLink.'" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to '.$attribute.'">'.$title.'</a></h2>';
     }
    } else {
     $theLink = $newLink;
     if (has_post_thumbnail()) {
      $image = get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID );
      echo '<div class="thumbnailbox"><div class="thumbnail"><a href="'.$theLink.'">'.$image.'</a></div></div>';
      echo '<h2><a href="'.$theLink.'" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to '.$attribute.'">'.$title.'</a></h2>';
     } else {
      echo '<h2><a href="'.$theLink.'" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to '.$attribute.'">'.$title.'</a></h2>';
     }
    }
   ?>
                     <small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?></small>

                      <div class="entry">
                      <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
                     </div>

                     </div>

                     <?php endwhile; ?>