I did group my search results by post type, but how can i give each of them its own order?

Question

I did group my search results by post type (artists, events, posts) and did put each of them in a container. The next step is give each of them it's own order within the container:

• Artists - From A-Z
• Events - All upcoming events first
• Posts - Date desc

I kinda know how to set up the queries for each, but i don't know how to make it functional inside the code i already have... Who can help me out?

This is a snippet from my searchresults.php:

                    <?php   
                    $last_type="";
                    $typecount = 0;
                    while (have_posts()) :
                    the_post();
                    if ($last_type != $post->post_type){
                    $typecount = $typecount + 1;
                    if ($typecount > 1){
                        echo '</div><!-- close container -->'; //close type container
                    }
                    // save the post type.
                    $last_type = $post->post_type;
                    //open type container
                    switch ($post->post_type) {
                        case 'cpt_artist':
                        echo "<div class=\"artistsearch-container\"><h2>Artiesten</h2>";
                        break;
                case 'cpt_event':
                        echo "<div class=\"eventsearch-container\"><h2>Evenementen</h2>";
                break;
                case 'post':
                        echo "<div class=\"postsearch-container\"><h2>Blog Results</h2>";
                        break;

                    }
                    } 
            ?>

                <?php if('post' == get_post_type()) : ?>
            <h2 class="blog">
         <a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
           <?php the_title(); ?>
         </a>
      </h2>
    <?php endif; ?>

        <?php if('cpt_event' == get_post_type()) : 

                        $event_date      = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'ci_cpt_event_date', true );
                        $event_time      = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'ci_cpt_event_time', true );
                        $event_timestamp = strtotime( $event_date . ' ' . $event_time, current_time( 'timestamp' ) );
                        $event_enddate      = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'ci_cpt_event_enddate', true );
                        $event_endtime      = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'ci_cpt_event_endtime', true );
                        $event_endtimestamp = strtotime( $event_enddate . ' ' . $event_endtime, current_time( 'timestamp' ) );
                        $event_location  = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'ci_cpt_event_location', true );
                        $event_venue     = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'ci_cpt_event_venue', true );
                        $event_timestamp = strtotime( $event_date . ' ' . $event_time, current_time( 'timestamp' ) );

                        ?>
                        <div class="search-results-item-event"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a><br/>
                        <?php if (empty($event_enddate)){?>
                            <span><?php echo date_i18n( get_option('date_format'), $event_timestamp ); ?> &middot; <?php echo $event_venue; ?>, <?php echo $event_location; ?></span>
                        <?php
                        ;}
                        else {?>
                            <span><?php echo date_i18n( get_option('date_format'), $event_timestamp ); ?> - <?php echo date_i18n( get_option('date_format'), $event_endtimestamp ); ?> &middot; <?php echo $event_venue; ?>, <?php echo $event_location; ?></span>
                        <?php
                        ;}
                        ?>
                        </div>
        <?php endif; ?>

    <?php if('cpt_artist' == get_post_type()) : ?>
        <li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
        <?php endif; ?>


<?php endwhile; ?>

<?php else : ?>
<div class="open-a-div">
<p>No results found.</p>    

<?php endif; ?>       
</div>

            <?php ci_pagination(); ?>
        </div>

This is a snippet from my functions.php:

add_filter('posts_orderby', 'group_by_post_type', 10, 2);
function group_by_post_type($orderby, $query) {
    global $wpdb;
    if ($query->is_search) {
        return $wpdb->posts . '.post_type ASC';
    }
    // provide a default fallback return if the above condition is not true
    return $orderby;
}

Answer 1

Here's one suggested high level approach to get the desired effect.

• Rather than perform all your operations in one big while loop in your searchresults.php, try:

  1. establishing three arrays corresponding to each type- you can do this in one while loop.
  2. then sort each array as needed (refer to PHP's Sorting Arrays documentation for the various ways to sort a multidimensional array)
  3. then output the section heading and loop through your teasers of posts for each type.

• Alternatively, in your group_by_post_type function's if statement, you can perform steps 1 & 2 above, and then merge the arrays, returning the merged result and keeping your searchresults.php pretty much intact as you've posted it.