Custom query of custom post type by custom date field

[ardelmedia]

Hi there.

I am trying to create a custom query in Elementor, but it's complex and you have very kindly offered to help.

Importantly this needs to be in a format so I can save the query and use it as a custom query in Elementor.

I have put all of the information below which I think you need, but please tell me anything I've missed.

Post type: courses Taxonomy: coursetypes Taxonomy term: one-day-courses Date field (which I need to query) by): start-date-for-course Order: Ascending order (i.e. next course first, later courses follow from there)

Thank you so much for your time. Andrew.

[dudaster]

Many people ask how to use the Elementor Custom Query Filter especially with custom fields.

You can take a look here to learn the basics: https://developers.elementor.com/custom-query-filter/

And you can see how a query looks here: https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/resources/orde-posts-by-custom-fields/

What you need to know that you won't need to set an entire query inside the Custom Query Filter hook, you can alter it by changing/adding values.

For example we have this query (example from ACF):

$the_query = new WP_Query(array(
    'post_type'         => 'event',
    'posts_per_page'    => -1,
    'meta_key'          => 'featured',
    'orderby'           => 'meta_value',
    'order'             => 'DESC'
));

If we want to change the meta_key value we just say in the hook:

$query->set( 'meta_key', 'start-date-for-course' );

And the new query would look like this:

array(
    'post_type'         => 'event',
    'posts_per_page'    => -1,
    'meta_key'          => 'start-date-for-course',
    'orderby'           => 'meta_value',
    'order'             => 'DESC'
)

Hope you understand how it works.

So in the hook there is no need to add post_type and other values that you can set in the query section of elementor, just add the new ones.

In your case the hook should look like this:

// Adding a Hook to the Elementor Query Filter
add_action( 'elementor/query/my_custom_query', function( $query ) {

    // ordered by meta_value 
    $query->set( 'orderby', 'meta_value' );

    // Here we need to set the meta_key with meta_value = 'start-date-for-course'
    $query->set( 'meta_key', 'start-date-for-course' );

} );

As you can see there is no need to add/change other values like post_type, order etc., everything else can be set in Elementor Editor.

Hopefully it makes sense.

[dudaster]

if you use toolset you need to put wpcf- in front of the field name

[ardelmedia]

Thank you so much for all of your help on this. You were incredible!

[Mrsnibs]

Yes, thanks, this is great. spent hours trying to work this out from elementor instructions. This worked straight using toolset custom fields.