How to use germ_terms() with meta_query for ACF Taxonomy field?

Question

I have a custom taxonomy, Events (“event”).

Through ACF, this also has a Taxonomy field, “Topic”, linking it to a secondary taxonomy, Topic (“topic”).

I want to get_terms() for all Events terms which bear the specific “Topic” term “Media”, which happens to have term ID 422.

I know get_terms() can take meta_query, but I don’t understand how to properly get what I need.

Both of these return no results…

'meta_query' => array(
        array(
          'key'     => 'Topic',
          'value'   => '422',
        )
      )

'meta_query' => array(
        array(
          'key'     => 'Topic',
          'value'   => 422,
        )
      )

FYI, my “Topic” Taxonomy ACF field “Return Value” is set to “Term ID”, which is why I attempted passing ‘422’.

As it happens, to test, when I…

– do a get_terms() without meta_query

– then get_term_meta() to get the “Topic” of the terms

– then print out the result…

… I see a formulation like Array ( [0] => Array ( [0] => 422 ) )

That’s where the 422 is buried.

Answer 1

Answer - the correct formulation is...

'meta_query' => array( array( 'key' => 'Topic', 'value' => "12057", 'compare' => 'LIKE' ) )

In full:

` $args = array( 'taxonomy' => 'event', // 'order' => 'ASC', 'hide_empty' => false, 'hierarchical' => true, // 'parent' => 0,

  'meta_query' => array(
    array(
      'key'     => 'Topic',
      'value'   => "12057",
      'compare' => 'LIKE'
    )
  )


);

$events = get_terms( $args );`

Specifically, it seems 'compare' => 'LIKE' needs to be present.

Initially, I had thought the solution was to use double quotes on the value, which I inferred from @hube2's response to another question.

But actually it works with single or double. The clincher is the present of 'compare' => 'LIKE'.

Answer 2

'compare' => 'IN' Since you're comparing against a single value, you can use IN as the comparison operator.

$args = array(
    'taxonomy' => 'event',
    'meta_query' => array(
        array(
            'key' => 'topic', // Meta key for ACF Taxonomy field
            'value' => 422, // Term ID to match
            'compare' => 'IN', // Match any of the provided values
        ),
    ),
);

$terms = get_terms( $args );