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1. amp343
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Hey there,

   I'm running into a problem trying to sort my posts by custom fields. I set my custom fields to begin with, then used this query_posts to sort by a particular field:

   query_posts(orderby=meta_value&meta_key=goals&sorder=DESC&posts_per_page=1)

   ... At first, that worked.

   However, when I go back in and change my custom field values, then save the posts, it still sorts in the PREVIOUS order. I know the values are being updated correctly to the database, as the get_post_meta function is reflecting the most current changes. The sort just doesn't seem to acknowledge them.

   Any insight?

2. amp343
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Hm, I think this has something to do with my meta values being numerical -- anyone else experience this?

3. amp343
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Well, looks like I'm able to answer my own question after researching a bit more:

   When you try to sort by a numeric query using the query_posts() function, PHP interprets it as a string. So, 10 is interpreted as "1", etc... which, you can imagine, throws the sorting all off.

   In order to get around this, I had to use a custom select query rather than the query_posts() function - and also use this fix as part of my query:

   http://wordpress.org/support/topic/286391?replies=12

   Essentially, including this line
   ORDER BY wpostmeta.meta_value+0 DESC
   forces the field to be interpreted as an integer rather than a string - exactly what I was trying to do. Sorting works just as I had intended.

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