Hey Elliot. I need to create a Query based on a dropdown menu that sets a var equal to the selected option.
I’ve used this example of yours below and it has worked for a simple example of another Custom Post Type I have but in the case of the “Search Engine” I need to create, the user will select two dropdown menus and once these are set and the search button clicked, the Query needs to run.
Problem I am having is that the meta_value looks like this in the database:
a:1:{i:0;s:9:”Merlot”;}
How do I access the “Merlot” in this, what I assume is an array?
<?php
// args
$args = array(
'numberposts' => -1,
'post_type' => 'wines',
'meta_key' => 'type',
'meta_value' => $wine //this needs to be Merlot from the dropdown menu
);
// get results
$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );
// The Loop
?>
<?php if( $the_query->have_posts() ): ?>
<ul>
<?php while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post(); ?>
<li>
<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
</li>
<?php endwhile; ?>
</ul>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php wp_reset_query(); // Restore global post data stomped by the_post(). ?>
Many thanks.
Hi @sixfootjames
Is the drop down box an ACF selection?
If so, the currently selected element can be accessed by using
$wine = get_field('name-of-drop-down-box');
before defining $args
Cheers
Hi Elliot. Thanks for this.
I realise my next question is not related to this one but, let me take a step back and first ask, how do I generate the select html tag based on the ACF selection I have created?
Based on all my findings, I will document all the results in this post on How to create a search engine using Advanced Custom Fields in the hope that it might help someone else understand this.
Cheers
Hi @sixfootjames,
Just so you know. This is not Elliot, we are here to help him with his super popular plugin. 🙂
I would consider doing this using jQuery and AJAX. You could use ACF to generate your original select and a blank select.
And then write some generic PHP to accept an AJAX request with the selection and then return a data set to populate the second select.
IMO, this would make for a better UX.
I misunderstood the post below and still in need of some help with this please.
Thanks guys. I managed to get a little further with this from this great article I found about dynamically populating select field’s choice in Advanced Custom Fields
Hi @sixfootjames
To respond to your original question, to query a value which is saved as an array, you will need to perform a LIKE compare. You can read about this here:
http://www.advancedcustomfields.com/resources/field-types/checkbox/
For a good understanding of how to create a front end search engine, try this:
http://www.advancedcustomfields.com/resources/tutorials/creating-wp-archive-custom-field-filter/
Thanks
E
Good man, thanks so much Elliot. It helps when you use the right search terms. I would never have thought to use Archive as a “Search Engine” term when I normally google something like
http://site:advancedcustomfields.com search engine
Thanks for this much appreciate!
