wordpress query returning unexpected results

Question

The following query is returning unexpected results. It is returning results for 24 of the most recently created pages, none of which have a custom field named 'calmonthname' holding the text value 'July.' (calmonthname is a custom select field allowing a single value text choice, of month name).

Can anyone point out any evident problem in the way I've worded the query?

<?php

$args  = array(
    'numberposts' => 1,
    'post_type' => 'page',
    array(
        'key'     => 'calmonthname',
        'value'   => 'July',
        'compare' => '=',
        'type'    => 'CHAR',
    ),
);

$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );

if ( empty( $the_query ) ) {
 exit;
}

if ( $the_query->have_posts()) {
echo
'<ul>';

  while ($the_query->have_posts()) : $the_query->the_post();

    $id = $post->ID; $thumb = get_the_post_thumbnail($id, 'full');
    echo
    '<li>' .
      '<a href="' . the_permalink() . '">' . $thumb . the_title() . (Today) . '</a>' .
    '</li>';

  endwhile;

echo
'</ul>';

}

wp_reset_query();

?>

Answer 1

First thing first, mind your formatting. Future you thanks you!

Second, you've just got some weird array sticking around in your $args variable. I believe what you're looking for is meta_query which takes "an array of arrays" to compare by.

Third I believe you're also looking for posts_per_page, not numberposts. posts_per_page is the record limiting argument for WP_Query().

Some other notes, you don't need to concatenate echoed strings on separate lines, just leave the quotation open. I'm not sure what (Today) is supposed to be, a misrepresented string? You also don't need to define $id since you're only using it the one time, just use $post->ID for the thumbnail ID. You also appear to be echoing the_ functions, which are built-in functions that echo the get_ functions (see the_title() vs get_the_title() for more information/)

As Tom mentioned - you may consider a taxonomy for this kind of categorization - however since we don't know the exact scenario for this, I'll leave it as a meta_query:

$args = array(
    'post_type'      => 'page',
    'posts_per_page' => 1,
    'meta_query'     => array(
        array(
            'key'     => 'calmonthname',
            'value'   => 'July',
            'compare' => '=',
            'type'    => 'CHAR',
        )
    ),
);

$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );

if( $the_query->have_posts() ){
    echo '<ul>';
        while( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post();
            $thumb = get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID, 'full');
            echo '<li><a href="'. get_permalink() .'">'. $thumb . get_the_title() .' (Today)</a></li>';
        endwhile;
    echo '</ul>';
}

Update: Based on your code (you can also drop wp_reset_query() and use wp_reset_postdata() instead and our comments, here's an updated answer:

<?php
    $now = new \DateTime('now');
    $day1= $now->format('j');
    $day = strval($day1);
    $day = str_pad($day , 2, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT); //put a 0 in front if single number
    $month1 = $now->format('m');
    $month = strval($month1);
    $month = str_pad($month , 2, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT); //put a 0 in front if single number
    //echo $day . $month;

    $args = array(
        'post_type'    => 'page',
        'meta_query'   => array(
            array(
                'key'     => 'calday',
                'value'   => $day,
                'compare' => '=',
                'type'    => 'CHAR',
            ),
            array(
                'key'     => 'calmonth',
                'value'   => $month,
                'compare' => '=',
                'type'    => 'CHAR',
            ),
            'relation' => 'AND'
        )
    );

    $the_query = new WP_Query( $args );

    if( $the_query->have_posts() ){
        echo '<ul>';
            while( $the_query->have_posts() ) : $the_query->the_post();
                $thumb = get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID, 'full');
                echo '<li><a href="'. get_permalink() .'">'. $thumb . get_the_title() .' </a></li>';
            endwhile;
        echo '</ul>';
    }

    wp_reset_postdata();
?>