Gather same custom field values in one value in a select tag with wp_query

Question

I am trying to gather specific information in a select tag in order to filter pages. A have several training pages with same prices (for instance : $80, $120, $500, etc...). The problem is when a query the custom field 'price_1' (the varible price), wp_query retrieves all the pages with prices, and most of them have the same price.

so my select tag looks like :

Select a price : $80 $80 $80 ... $120 $120 $120 $120 $120 $500 $500 $500 $500 $500 ...

I would like to gather same prices values in one and when click on one of them display all the training pages releated.

Select a price : $80 $120 $500 ...

Thanks for your help if you have some ideas, at this point code is getting tricky.

P.S : Im using ACF plugin

Here is my code :

$args = array(
          'post_type'=> 'page',
          'posts_per_page' => -1,
          'meta_key' => 'prix_1',

        );

$price_query = new WP_Query( $args ); 


<div class="col-lg-3">
   <select name="page-dropdown"> 

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


        <option value=""><?php the_field('prix_1'); ?></option>


    <?php endwhile; ?>
    <?php endif; ?>

    </select>
</div>

Answer 1

With the while loop you can add all of the values to an array ($options). Then, while looping through values you can check to see if the same value appears in the array(in_array($needle,$haystack)). If it does, do not add it to the options array.

Then, loop each of your clean values into the select. As I mention in the code, you may want to wrap the loop into a function and cache it, then return the values when you call the function.

This is untested, but should get you there:

<?php

$args = array(
    'post_type'      => 'page',
    'posts_per_page' => '-1',
    'meta_key'       => 'prix_1',
);

$price_query = new WP_Query( $args );
$options     = array();

//Instead of leaving this inside the page, should wrap into a function inside functions.php
if ( $price_query->have_posts() ) {
    while ( $price_query->have_posts() ) {
        $price_query->the_post();
        $field = get_field( 'prix_1' );
        if ( ! in_array( $field, $options ) ) {
            $options[] = $field; //add to the array
        }
    } //endwhile
}//endif

?>

<div class="col-lg-3">
    <select name="page-dropdown">

        <?php if ( ! empty( $options ) ) { //this should no longer have duplicates
            foreach ( $options as $option ) { ?>
                <option value=""><?php echo $option; ?></option>
            <?php } //end foreach
        } //endif ?>
    </select>
</div>