Get meta_query value by user meta array

Question

This is my code:

$type = "pictures";
$args['orderby'] = "post_modified";
$args['order'] = "DESC";
$args['post_type'] = $type;
$args['post_status'] = "publish";
$args['meta_query'] = array(
    array (
        'key' => 'picture_liked_users',
        'value' => array(get_user_meta($user->ID, 'following_users', true)),
        'compare' => 'LIKE'
    ),
);

I need to get the pictures that liked by users that I follow.

This is an example of how following_users meta is stored in the database:

a:1:{i:0;s:2:"87";}

So I try to get the user meta following_user by using an array but I failed it gives me a PHP error and also try extract PHP function but also failed.

Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

This should be better for what you're looking for, the only issue might be how the meta gets returned, as an actual array, or as a string that needs to be turned into an array.

$args = array(
     'post_type' => 'pictures',
     'orderby' => 'post_modified',
     'order' => 'DESC'
     // post_status is unnecessary because default is 'publish'
);

$following_users = get_user_meta($user->ID, 'following_users', true);

if ( !empty( $following_users ) ) {

    $meta_query = array();

    foreach ( $following_users as $following_user ) {

        $meta_query[] = array(
                        'key' => 'picture_liked_users',
                        'value' => $following_user,
                        'compare' => 'LIKE'
                    );

    }

    // If our count is 2+, we need to set our relation
    if ( count( $meta_query ) > 1 ) {
        $meta_query['relation'] = 'OR';
    }

    // Only set our meta_query if there is anything to set
    if ( !empty( $meta_query ) ) {
        $args['meta_query'] = $meta_query;
    }

}