Wordpress WP_Query on custom page

Question

Below is a file that is inside a theme I have for Wordpress, this page is pulled in by a jQuery Ajax post that posts the variable page .

echo offset retuns the value 3.

but

echo "hi"; doesn't return at all, what have I done wrong?

/inc/feed.php

<?php
include('./wp-load.php');
            $display_count = 3;
            $page = $_POST['page'];
            $offset = ( $page - 1 ) * $display_count;
            echo $offset;
            $temp = $wp_query; 
            $wp_query = null; 
            $wp_query = new WP_Query();
            $wp_query->query('post_type=project'.'&paged='.$page.'&offset='.$offset); 

            while ($wp_query->have_posts()) : $wp_query->the_post(); 
            echo "hi";
            ?>

            <section class="block project <?php echo( basename(get_permalink()) );?> project--white">
                <div class="wrapper">
                    <div class="project__item">
                        <div class="project__item--block desk--two-fifths">
                            <h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
                            <p><?php echo content(35);?></p>
                            <p><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" class="btn">View Case Study</a></p>
                            <p><?php the_tags( __( ' ' ), '<br/>');?></p>
                        </div>
                        <div class="project__item--block desk--three-fifths">
                            <?php if ( ( function_exists('has_post_thumbnail') ) && ( has_post_thumbnail() ) ) :  ?>
                                <?php the_post_thumbnail( 'full' ); ?>
                            <?php endif; ?>
                        </div>
                    </div>
                 </div>
             </section>
            <?php endwhile; ?>

Answer 1

$path = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];
$path .= "/wp-load.php";
include_once($path);

I had to change the wp-load.php inclusion to the following.

Answer 2

Try this

/** Absolute path to the WordPress directory. */
if ( !defined('ABSPATH') )
    define('ABSPATH', dirname(__FILE__) . '/');

if ( defined('ABSPATH') )
    require_once(ABSPATH . 'wp-load.php');
else
    require_once( dirname( dirname( __FILE__ ) ) . '/wp-load.php' );