Query posts according to specific post meta values

Question

I have a loop in my index.php for my home page like this...

<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>
<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>

I have a function to query the posts by ascending date...

function order_home_asc($query) {
  if ($query->is_home() && $query->is_main_query()) {
    $query->set('orderby', 'date');
    $query->set('order', 'asc');
  }
}
add_action('pre_get_posts', 'order_home_asc');

I've been told the above is the best way to query the posts.

I now want to query those posts by a specific post meta key('job_status') and value('open') as well as by date and asc.

I tried this but it didn't work...

function order_home_asc($query) {
  if ($query->is_home() && $query->is_main_query()) {
    $query->set('orderby', 'date');
    $query->set('order', 'asc');
    $query->set('meta_query, array( 
    array( 'key', 'job_status', 'value', open, 'compare', '!=' )
    )
  }
}
add_action('pre_get_posts', 'order_home_asc');

If there's an easier/simpler solution without the need for a function that would be great.

Would this be better as my loop?

<?php
$args = array( 'posts_per_page' => 10, 'order'=> 'ASC', 'orderby' => 'title', 'meta-key' => 'job_status','meta_value' => 'open' );
$postslist = get_posts( $args );
foreach ( $postslist as $post ) :
  setup_postdata( $post ); ?> 
        <?php the_title(); ?>   
<?php
endforeach; 
wp_reset_postdata();
?>

Answer 1

Your syntax is complete wrong in your meta_query. A key/value pair in an array should be in the format of 'key' => 'value'. Your format is 'key', 'value' which in context of an array translate to 0 => 'key', 1 => 'value'. That is why your meta_query does not work.

Your failure is also due to not very good housekeeping. As your meta_query is written, it is hard to properly read it and because of that you miss obvious bugs.

Lets rewrite that section in a more readable way

$meta_query = [
    [
        'key'     => 'job_status',
        'value'   => 'open',
        'compare' => '!='
    ]
];
$query->set( 'meta_query', $meta_query );

As you can see, my code is easy to read, and very easy to spot obvious bug.

EDIT

If you need to add another key/value pair in your meta_query, you can simply just add another array.

$meta_query = [
    [
        'key'     => 'job_status',
        'value'   => 'open',
        'compare' => '!='
    ],
    [
        'key'     => 'another key',
        'value'   => 'another value',
        'compare' => '!='
    ]
];
$query->set( 'meta_query', $meta_query );