Edit wp_query to search by post title & meta value in WordPress

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Trying to search the post title and meta value in WordPress at the same time inside your wp_query? All you may need is to implement some functions.

Creating and using a search "title and meta value" function

Creating the title & meta search function

To search both title and meta values together in your WordPress query, you need to add a function to your WordPress theme’s functions.php file.

  1. Navigate to Appearance > Editor > Theme Functions from your WordPress Dashboard;
  2. Add the below PHP function to this file and press Update File.
function title_filter( $where, $wp_query ){
 global $wpdb;
 if( $search_term = $wp_query->get( 'title_filter' ) ) :
 $search_term = $wpdb->esc_like( $search_term );
 $search_term = ' \'%' . $search_term . '%\'';
 $title_filter_relation = ( strtoupper( $wp_query->get( 'title_filter_relation' ) ) == 'OR' ? 'OR' : 'AND' );
 $where .= ' '.$title_filter_relation.' ' . $wpdb->posts . '.post_title LIKE ' . $search_term;
 endif;
 return $where;
}

Using the title & meta search function

  1. Locate the file you need the search function implemented on;
  2. Add the code below to your file;
  3. Adjust the code example variables (searching variable, post type and meta key);
  4. When using the current $_GET superglobal, your search should be https://example.com?example_search=test
add_filter( 'posts_where', 'title_filter', 10, 2 );
$searching = $_GET['example_search'] // Change from $_GET to any absolute variable if necessary
$map_posts = new WP_Query(
 array(
 'post_type' => 'example_post_type',
 'title_filter' => $searching,
 'title_filter_relation' => 'OR',
 'meta_query' => array(
 'relation' => 'OR',
 array(
 'key' => 'example_meta_field',
 'value' => $searching,
 'compare' => 'LIKE'
 )
 ) )
);
remove_filter( 'posts_where', 'title_filter', 10, 2 );