Ordering by multiple parameters in a custom WordPress query loop - php

Question

I've implemented an infinite scroll and in search results upon ordering by price or any custom value it doesn't work.
Here inside my enqueued script:-
isset($_GET['orderby'])?$ga_order_by = $_GET['orderby']: $ga_order_by = '';//grabbing the orderby value
if( gettype($result) == 'object') {
$ga_wp_query = new \WP_Query([ 'post_type'=> ['product_variation', 'product'], 'post__in' => $includes, 'orderby' => ['post__in',$ga_order_by], 'order' => 'ASC' ]);//so i'm ordering by search results and dynamically grabbed value.
} else {
$ga_wp_query = new \WP_Query([ 'post_type'=> 'product', 'post__in' => $includes, 'orderby' => ['post__in',$ga_order_by], 'order' => 'ASC']);
}
$args['ga_search_posts'] = json_encode($ga_wp_query->query_vars);
Inside my ajax handling function call upon search:-
$search_query = json_decode( stripslashes( $_POST['search_posts'] ), true );//this is the $args['ga_search_posts'] i'm posting via my javascript
$search_query['post_status'] = 'publish';
$search_query['posts_per_page'] = get_option('posts_per_page');
$search_query['paged'] = $_POST['page'] + 1;
wc_set_loop_prop( 'total', $_POST['search_count'] );
add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_price_html', 'labtag_show_price' );
ob_start();
query_posts( $search_query);
if ( have_posts() ) {//product loop
if ( wc_get_loop_prop( 'total' ) ) {
while ( have_posts() ) {
the_post();
wc_get_template_part( 'content', 'product' );
}
}
}
$data = ob_get_clean();
die($data);
exit;
This works except if I try to order by any parameter say price etc. Can't 'orderby' => ['post__in',$ga_order_by] declared like an array?If not should I be passing all my posts ids to the ajax handler iterate them and sort them (if this is the case, how to handle my custom order_by params)?

Answer 1

https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Query#Order_.26_Orderby_Parameters
So, with WordPress' OrderBy, you have a couple of different options.
If you want both parameters to be sorted in the same direction of ASC or DESC, then the argument anticipates a single string, with the parameters separated by a space.
Multiple 'orderby' values Display pages ordered by 'title' and
'menu_order'. (title is dominant):
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'page',
'orderby' => 'title menu_order',
'order' => 'ASC',
);
$query = new WP_Query( $args );
You use an array when you are sorting each parameter differently:
Multiple 'orderby' values using an array
> Display pages ordered by 'title' and 'menu_order' with different sort
> orders (ASC/DESC) (available since Version 4.0):
$args = array(
'orderby' => array( 'title' => 'DESC', 'menu_order' => 'ASC' )
);
$query = new WP_Query( $args );
In your case, since you are using a variable, consider building the string and then using this within your arguments array, i.e.:
//start with a space, then .= to concatenate the $_GET parameter with the space if it's set, or clear the string if it's not.
$ga_order_by = " ";
isset($_GET['orderby'])?$ga_order_by .= $_GET['orderby']: $ga_order_by = '';
//grabbing the orderby value and building our complete string.
$orderBy = 'post__in'.$ga_order_by;
if (gettype($result) == 'object') {
$ga_wp_query = new \WP_Query([ 'post_type'=> ['product_variation', 'product'], 'post__in' => $includes, 'orderby' => $orderBy , 'order' => 'ASC' ]);//so i'm ordering by search results and dynamically grabbed value.
} else {
$ga_wp_query = new \WP_Query([ 'post_type'=> 'product', 'post__in' => $includes, 'orderby' => $orderBy, 'order' => 'ASC']);
}