WP Query: How to get posts from a specific author OR those with a specific meta value

DORSETRIGS

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06-10-2024

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Mastering the WP_Query: Fetching Posts by Author OR Meta Value

In the world of WordPress development, the WP_Query object is your trusty sidekick for crafting custom post queries. It allows you to precisely target and retrieve specific posts based on various criteria. But what if you need to grab posts from a particular author OR those tagged with a specific meta value? This is where the power of WP_Query really shines!

The Scenario

Let's say you want to display blog posts from a specific author named "John Doe" or those marked with a custom meta field called "featured" set to "true". The naive approach might involve two separate queries, but we can streamline this with a single, elegant WP_Query command.

$args = array(
    'author' => 123, // Replace 123 with the author ID
    'meta_query' => array(
        'relation' => 'OR',
        array(
            'key' => 'featured',
            'value' => 'true',
            'compare' => '=',
        ),
    )
);

$query = new WP_Query( $args );

if ( $query->have_posts() ) {
    while ( $query->have_posts() ) {
        $query->the_post();
        // Your code to display posts here
    }
}

wp_reset_postdata(); 

Breaking it Down

The code above leverages the meta_query argument within WP_Query. Here's a breakdown:

• relation => 'OR': This tells the query to retrieve posts that meet at least one of the specified conditions.
• key: The name of the custom meta field we're checking ("featured" in our example).
• value: The desired value for the custom meta field ("true" in our example).
• compare: The comparison operator to apply. In this case, we use "=" for an exact match.

By combining the author argument with the meta_query argument and setting the relation to "OR", we effectively create a query that fetches posts from either the specified author or those matching our custom meta criteria.

Additional Tips

• Multiple Meta Conditions: You can add more conditions to the meta_query array, allowing you to target posts with a combination of meta values.
• Other Query Arguments: Explore the extensive list of WP_Query arguments to fine-tune your queries further, including post types, taxonomies, and date ranges.

Conclusion

The ability to combine multiple criteria within a single WP_Query is incredibly powerful. By mastering this technique, you can efficiently retrieve specific sets of posts from your WordPress site, ensuring a smoother development process and enhanced user experience.

Remember to test and validate your queries thoroughly. And always refer to the official WordPress Codex for detailed documentation and examples: https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/