Extending the search context in the admin list post screen

Question

I have created a custom post type and have attached some custom fields to it. Now I would like to the search that authors can perform on the custom post list screen (in the admin backend) to also be performed on the meta fields and not only look in the title and content as usual.

Where can I hook in and what code I have to use?

Example image

Stefano

Answer 1

I solved filtering the query by adding the join on the postmeta table and changing the where clause. tips on filtering the WHERE clause (often require regular expression search&replace) are here on codex:

add_filter( 'posts_join', 'segnalazioni_search_join' );
function segnalazioni_search_join ( $join ) {
    global $pagenow, $wpdb;

    // I want the filter only when performing a search on edit page of Custom Post Type named "segnalazioni".
    if ( is_admin() && 'edit.php' === $pagenow && 'segnalazioni' === $_GET['post_type'] && ! empty( $_GET['s'] ) ) {    
        $join .= 'LEFT JOIN ' . $wpdb->postmeta . ' ON ' . $wpdb->posts . '.ID = ' . $wpdb->postmeta . '.post_id ';
    }
    return $join;
}

add_filter( 'posts_where', 'segnalazioni_search_where' );
function segnalazioni_search_where( $where ) {
    global $pagenow, $wpdb;

    // I want the filter only when performing a search on edit page of Custom Post Type named "segnalazioni".
    if ( is_admin() && 'edit.php' === $pagenow && 'segnalazioni' === $_GET['post_type'] && ! empty( $_GET['s'] ) ) {
        $where = preg_replace(
            "/\(\s*" . $wpdb->posts . ".post_title\s+LIKE\s*(\'[^\']+\')\s*\)/",
            "(" . $wpdb->posts . ".post_title LIKE $1) OR (" . $wpdb->postmeta . ".meta_value LIKE $1)", $where );
        $where.= " GROUP BY {$wpdb->posts}.id"; // Solves duplicated results
    }
    return $where;
}

Answer 2

Stefano answer is great but it lacks a distinct clause :

function segnalazioni_search_distinct( $where ){
    global $pagenow, $wpdb;

    if ( is_admin() && $pagenow=='edit.php' && $_GET['post_type']=='segnalazioni' && $_GET['s'] != '') {
    return "DISTINCT";

    }
    return $where;
}
add_filter( 'posts_distinct', 'segnalazioni_search_distinct' );

Add the code above update it and it will work with no duplicates.

Answer 3

This will work,

function custom_search_query( $query ) {
    $custom_fields = array(
        // put all the meta fields you want to search for here
        "rg_first_name",
        "rg_1job_designation"
    );
    $searchterm = $query->query_vars['s'];

    // we have to remove the "s" parameter from the query, because it will prevent the posts from being found
    $query->query_vars['s'] = "";

    if ($searchterm != "") {
        $meta_query = array('relation' => 'OR');
        foreach($custom_fields as $cf) {
            array_push($meta_query, array(
                'key' => $cf,
                'value' => $searchterm,
                'compare' => 'LIKE'
            ));
        }
        $query->set("meta_query", $meta_query);
    };
}
add_filter( "pre_get_posts", "custom_search_query");

Answer 4

Solution 1: Add this code in function file, and change and add more columns name, that you have used in your custom post type

function extend_admin_search( $query ) {

    // use your post type
    $post_type = 'document';
    // Use your Custom fields/column name to search for
    $custom_fields = array(
        "_file_name",
    );

    if( ! is_admin() )
        return;
    
    if ( $query->query['post_type'] != $post_type )
        return;

    $search_term = $query->query_vars['s'];

    // Set to empty, otherwise it won't find anything
    $query->query_vars['s'] = '';

    if ( $search_term != '' ) {
        $meta_query = array( 'relation' => 'OR' );

        foreach( $custom_fields as $custom_field ) {
            array_push( $meta_query, array(
                'key' => $custom_field,
                'value' => $search_term,
                'compare' => 'LIKE'
            ));
        }

        $query->set( 'meta_query', $meta_query );
    };
}

add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'extend_admin_search' );

Solution 2: (Recommended) Use this code in function file without any change

function cf_search_join( $join ) {
    global $wpdb;

    if ( is_search() ) {    
        $join .=' LEFT JOIN '.$wpdb->postmeta. ' ON '. $wpdb->posts . '.ID = ' . $wpdb->postmeta . '.post_id ';
    }

    return $join;
}
add_filter('posts_join', 'cf_search_join' );
function cf_search_where( $where ) {
    global $pagenow, $wpdb;

    if ( is_search() ) {
        $where = preg_replace(
            "/\(\s*".$wpdb->posts.".post_title\s+LIKE\s*(\'[^\']+\')\s*\)/",
            "(".$wpdb->posts.".post_title LIKE $1) OR (".$wpdb->postmeta.".meta_value LIKE $1)", $where );
    }

    return $where;
}
add_filter( 'posts_where', 'cf_search_where' );

function cf_search_distinct( $where ) {
    global $wpdb;

    if ( is_search() ) {
        return "DISTINCT";
    }

    return $where;
}
add_filter( 'posts_distinct', 'cf_search_distinct' );

Answer 5

With this code you can search in post list in WordPress Admin Panel with custom post meta values along with title and other default fields.

Please, add below code in functions.php file:

if (!function_exists('extend_admin_search')) {
    add_action('admin_init', 'extend_admin_search');

    /**
     * hook the posts search if we're on the admin page for our type
     */
    function extend_admin_search() {
        global $typenow;

        if ($typenow === 'your_custom_post_type') {
            add_filter('posts_search', 'posts_search_custom_post_type', 10, 2);
        }
    }

    /**
     * add query condition for custom meta
     * @param string $search the search string so far
     * @param WP_Query $query
     * @return string
     */
    function posts_search_custom_post_type($search, $query) {
        global $wpdb;

        if ($query->is_main_query() && !empty($query->query['s'])) {
            $sql    = "
            or exists (
                select * from {$wpdb->postmeta} where post_id={$wpdb->posts}.ID
                and meta_key in ('custom_field1','custom_field2')
                and meta_value like %s
            )
        ";
            $like   = '%' . $wpdb->esc_like($query->query['s']) . '%';
            $search = preg_replace("#\({$wpdb->posts}.post_title LIKE [^)]+\)\K#",
                $wpdb->prepare($sql, $like), $search);
        }

        return $search;
    }
}

Answer 6

The version of the code here in a couple answers that modifies the meta_query parameter of the search's WP_Query in pre_get_posts was no longer searching the post_title. Adding the ability to search either the post title, OR meta values can't be done directly in WP_Query without modifying SQL unfortunately, as this question elaborates upon: Using meta query ('meta_query') with a search query ('s')

I've combined some of the techniques here to get a working version that avoids preg_replaces and too much SQL modification (I wish it could be avoided entirely). The only downside being that after a search, subtitle text at the top of the page says "Search results for ''". I've just hidden that with CSS for my plugin's custom post type.

/**
 * Extend custom post type search to also search meta fields
 * @param  WP_Query $query
 */
function extend_cpt_admin_search( $query ) {
  // Make sure we're in the admin area and that this is our custom post type
  if ( !is_admin() || $query->query['post_type'] != 'your_custom_post_type' ){
    return;
  }

  // Put all the meta fields you want to search for here
  $custom_fields = array(
    "your_custom_meta_field",
    "your_custom_meta_field2",
    "your_custom_meta_field3"
  );
  // The string submitted via the search form
  $searchterm = $query->query_vars['s'];

  // Set to empty, otherwise no results will be returned.
  // The one downside is that the displayed search text is empty at the top of the page.
  $query->query_vars['s'] = '';

  if ($searchterm != ""){
    // Add additional meta_query parameter to the WP_Query object.
    // Reference: https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query#Custom_Field_Parameters
    $meta_query = array();
    foreach($custom_fields as $cf) {
      array_push($meta_query, array(
        'key' => $cf,
        'value' => $searchterm,
        'compare' => 'LIKE'
      ));
    }
    // Use an 'OR' comparison for each additional custom meta field.
    if (count($meta_query) > 1){
      $meta_query['relation'] = 'OR';
    }
    // Set the meta_query parameter
    $query->set('meta_query', $meta_query);


    // To allow the search to also return "OR" results on the post_title
    $query->set('_meta_or_title', $searchterm);
  }
}
add_action('pre_get_posts', 'extend_cpt_admin_search');



/**
 * WP_Query parameter _meta_or_title to allow searching post_title when also
 * checking searching custom meta values
 * https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/78649/using-meta-query-meta-query-with-a-search-query-s
 * https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/a/178492
 * This looks a little scary, but basically it's modifying the WHERE clause in the 
 * SQL to say "[like the post_title] OR [the existing WHERE clause]"
 * @param  WP_Query $q
 */
function meta_or_title_search( $q ){
  if( $title = $q->get( '_meta_or_title' ) ){
    add_filter( 'get_meta_sql', function( $sql ) use ( $title ){
      global $wpdb;

      // Only run once:
      static $nr = 0;
      if( 0 != $nr++ ) return $sql;

      // Modified WHERE
      $sql['where'] = sprintf(
          " AND ( (%s) OR (%s) ) ",
          $wpdb->prepare( "{$wpdb->posts}.post_title LIKE '%%%s%%'", $title),
          mb_substr( $sql['where'], 5, mb_strlen( $sql['where'] ) )
      );

      return $sql;
    });
  }
}
add_action('pre_get_posts', 'meta_or_title_search');