Search custom post type by meta data

Question

I have a custom post type 'Property' which my users need to be able to search by meta data.

I have 3 search functions - 2 on the frontend 1 in the admin area - 2 of which are running as expected and one which doesn't seem to be filtering results at all.

I think there may be a problem with either my definition or usage of custom query_vars.

In my functions.php I have the following:

function add_query_vars($public_query_vars) {
    $public_query_vars[] = 'bedrooms';
    $public_query_vars[] = 'type';
    $public_query_vars[] = 'location';
    return $public_query_vars;
}
add_filter('query_vars', 'add_query_vars');

function meta_search_query($query) {

    $query_args_code = array(
      'posts_per_page' => 5,
      'post_type' => 'nc_property',
      'meta_key' => 'nc_code',
      'meta_value' => $query->query_vars['s'],
      'meta_compare' => 'LIKE'
    );


    $query_args_meta = array(
        'posts_per_page' => -1,
        'post_type' => 'nc_property',
        'meta_query' => array(
            'relation' => 'AND',
            array(
                'key' => 'nc_bedrooms',
                'value' => $query->query_vars['bedrooms'],
                'compare' => 'LIKE'
            ),
            array(
                'key' => 'nc_type',
                'value' => $query->query_vars['type'],
                'compare' => 'LIKE'
            ),
            array(
                'key' => 'nc_location',
                'value' => $query->query_vars['location'],
                'compare' => 'LIKE'
            )
        )
    );

    if (is_admin() && $query->is_search ) {
        query_posts($query_args_code);

    } elseif (!is_admin() && $query->is_search ) {
        if ($_REQUEST["which_form"] == 'meta_form') {
            query_posts($query_args_meta);

        } elseif ($_REQUEST["which_form"] == 'code_form'){
            query_posts($query_args_code);

        }
    }  
}
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'meta_search_query');

Searching by the property code works no problem at all in both the frontend and backend however trying to filter results by the custom query vars - location, type and bedrooms - falls flat everytime.

An example query string which is created is as follows:

/property/?post_type=nc_property&which_form=meta_form&bedrooms=Two&type=Apartment&location=Bahceli

There is one property on the site which matches those details but WordPress returns all results each time.

Have I missed something?

EDIT: It turns out that because my search form for my meta queries was not using an element with 's' as its name the $query->is_search condition of my if statement was returning false, meaning my meta_query simply wasn't being called.

Kudos to fischi for spotting this for me! :D

Answer 1

In this case, as you mix pretty permalinks with request parameters, I would use the $_GET variables in your query.

$query_args_meta = array(
    'posts_per_page' => -1,
    'post_type' => 'nc_property',
    'meta_query' => array(
        'relation' => 'AND',
        array(
            'key' => 'nc_bedrooms',
            'value' => sanitize_text_field( $_GET['bedrooms'] ),
            'compare' => 'LIKE'
        ),
        array(
            'key' => 'nc_type',
            'value' => sanitize_text_field( $_GET['type'] ),
            'compare' => 'LIKE'
        ),
        array(
            'key' => 'nc_location',
            'value' => sanitize_text_field( $_GET['location'] ),
            'compare' => 'LIKE'
        )
    )
);

Be sure to use the proper sanitation, depending on your needs, or using a function that checks for whitelisted values of the $_GET data.

Also check your function of the conditionals - you just alter the query if it is a search request (using s as search parameter), or alter the if statement.