Including Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) in a Custom Search - Wordpress - php

Question

I have created / mashed together a cool search through a specified category for my blog. Using Ajax to load the results without the reload.
When I search - no matter the term I search. I receive all posts.
I use ACF for the content & the author. I also reference products using the field featured_product_title. These fields are used within my page like this:
<?php if ( have_rows('case_study_page_content') ): ?>
<?php
while (have_rows('case_study_page_content')): the_row();
$title = get_sub_field('title');
$author = get_sub_field('author');
$content = get_sub_field('content');
?>
<div class="">
<h1 class=""><?php echo $title; ?></h3>
<h3 class=""><?php echo $author; ?></h4>
<p><?php echo $content; ?></p>
</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php
while (have_rows('featured_products')): the_row();
$featured_product_title = get_sub_field('featured_product_title', 'featured_products');
?>
With these in mind my current search looks like this (functions.php):
// CASE STUDY SEARCH
function my_search(){
$args = array(
'orderby' => 'date',
'order' => $_POST['date']
);
if( isset( $_POST['s'] ) ):
/*
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'posts_per_page' => -1,
's' => $_POST['s']
);
*/
if( have_rows('case_study_page_content') ):
while( have_rows('case_study_page_content') ) : the_row();
$title = get_sub_field('title');
$author = get_sub_field('author');
$content = get_sub_field('content');
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'posts_per_page' => -1,
'meta_query' => array(
'relation' => 'OR',
array(
'key' => $title,
'compare' => 'like',
'value' => '%'.$_POST['s'].'%',
),
array(
'key' => $author,
'compare' => 'like',
'value' => '%'.$_POST['s'].'%',
),
array(
'key' => $content,
'compare' => 'like',
'value' => '%'.$_POST['s'].'%',
)
)
);
endwhile;
endif;
$query = new WP_Query($args);
if( $query->have_posts() ):
while( $query->have_posts() ):
$query->the_post();
echo "<article class=\"post-box " . get_post_class() . "\">";
echo "";
$url = wp_get_attachment_url( get_post_thumbnail_id($post->ID), 'thumbnail' );
echo "<img src=\"" . $url . "\" />";
echo "<h2>" . get_the_title() . "</h2>";
$case_study = get_field('case_study_page_content');
if( $case_study ):
while( have_rows('case_study_page_content') ): the_row();
$case_study_author = get_sub_field('author');
echo "<p>" . $case_study_author . "</p>";
endwhile;
endif;
echo "</article>";
endwhile;
wp_reset_postdata();
else :
echo 'No case studies found';
endif;
die();
endif;
}
add_action('wp_ajax_customsearch', 'my_search');
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_customsearch', 'my_search');
I guess my question is how do I add ACF's into the $args array...?
Please can someone help me successfully compare the 'key' to the 'value' in my WP_Query($args)?
Thanks everyone, Jason.

Answer 1

test this but without conviction
// args
$args = array(
'numberposts' => -1,
'post_type' => 'post',
'meta_query' => array(
'relation' => 'OR',
array(
'key' => 'case_study_page_content_title',
'compare' => 'like',
'value' => '%'.$_POST['s'].'',
),
array(
'key' => 'case_study_page_content_author',
'compare' => 'like',
'value' => '%'.$_POST['s'].'%',
),
array(
'key' => 'case_study_page_content_content',
'compare' => 'like',
'value' => '%'.$_POST['s'].'%',
)
)
);

Answer 2

function custom_search_query( $query ) {
if ( !is_admin() && $query->is_search ) {
$result = $query->query_vars['s'];
$query->query_vars['s'] = '';
$query->set('meta_query', array('relation' => 'OR',
array(
'key' => 'acf_name', // ACF FIELD NAME OR POST META
'value' => $result,
'compare' => 'LIKE',
)
));
$query->set('post_type', 'post'); // optional POST TYPE
}
}
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'custom_search_query');