URL variables not return results - php

Question

I use custom WP Query on several areas on my site and with the recent WordPress 4.9.1 update my WP Query sections have ceased functioning. I know there is a way around this issue that does not involve rolling back to WordPress 4.8, but I'm not personally familiar enough with php or WP Query to know how fix it.
The problem I'm having is not when the page loads initially, but when the query variables of location, category, and alphabet are used. Any time a query is run using these variables it returns no results.
Alternatively running a keyword query or max posts query functions perfectly.
I'd appreciate help from anyone who can locate the problem in my code below.
Here's the code that I'm using with WP Query:
$paged = ( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) ? get_query_var( 'paged' ) : 1;
$category = get_query_var( 'nabc', false );
$location = get_query_var( 'nabl', false );
$keywords = get_query_var( 'nabk', false );
$alphabet = get_query_var( 'naba', false );
$maxposts = get_query_var( 'showall', 10 );
$meta_query = array(
'relation' => 'AND',
);
if( $category && strtoupper( $category ) != "AFFILIATE OR REGION" ) {
// Category / Type search
$meta_query[] = array(
'key' => 'directory_fields_%_region_or_affiliate',
'value' => $category,
'compare' => '='
);
}
if( $location && strtoupper( $location ) != "STATE/PROVINCE" ) {
// State/Location
$meta_query[] = array(
'key' => 'directory_fields_%_state',
'value' => $location,
'compare' => '='
);
}
if( $keywords ) {
// keyword search
$meta_query[] = array(
'value' => $keywords,
'compare' => 'LIKE'
);
// d( $meta_query );
}
if( $alphabet ) {
// Search by Letter
$meta_query[] = array(
'key' => 'directory_fields_%_entity_name',
'value' => $alphabet,
'compare' => 'BETWEEN'
);
}
// Get all the categories
$categories = array();
global $wpdb;
$list = $wpdb->get_results( 'SELECT meta_value FROM ' . $wpdb-
>postmeta . ' WHERE meta_key LIKE
"directory_fields_%_region_or_affiliate" GROUP BY meta_value' );
foreach( $list as $l )
{
if( $l->meta_value )
$categories[] = $l->meta_value;
}
// Get all the States
$states = array();
$list = $wpdb->get_results( 'SELECT meta_value FROM ' . $wpdb-
>postmeta . ' WHERE meta_key LIKE "directory_fields_%_state" GROUP BY
meta_value' );
foreach( $list as $l )
{
if( $l->meta_value )
$states[] = $l->meta_value;
}
?>
<?php get_header(); ?>
<?php $heroImage = get_field( 'hero_image' ); ?>
<div class="jumbotron" style="background: url( <?php echo
!empty($heroImage['url']) ? $heroImage['url'] : get_field(
'nab_directory_hero_image', 'options' ); ?> ) center center no-
repeat;background-size: cover;" class="hero-image">
<h1>Directory</h1>
</div>
<!-- START FRONT CONTENT -->
<div id="content" style="position:relative;">
<div class="row mobile-padding">
<div class="container jobs-container">
<div class="col-xs-24">
<div class="filters container-fluid hidden-print">
<form class="form-inline row" action="/directory/" method="GET">
<div class="form-group col-sm-6">
<input class="form-control" type="text" name="nabk" value="<?php echo esc_html( $keywords ); ?>" placeholder="KEYWORDS">
</div>
<div class="form-group col-sm-6 col-sm-offset-1">
<select class="form-control" name="nabc">
<option>AFFILIATE OR REGION</option>
<?php foreach( $categories as $cat ): ?>
<option <?php echo $category == $cat ? 'selected' : '' ?>><?= $cat ?></option>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</select>
</div>
<div class="form-group col-sm-6 col-sm-offset-1">
<select class="form-control" name="nabl">
<option>STATE/PROVINCE</option>
<?php foreach( $states as $state ): ?>
<option <?php echo $location == $state ? 'selected' : '' ?>><?= $state ?></option>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</select>
</div>
<div class="form-group col-sm-4 text-right">
<button class="nab-btn nab-btn-blue job-filter-btn" type="submit">SEARCH</button>
</div>
</form>
</div>
<div class="alphabet-filters hidden-print">
<ul>
<?php for( $i = 'A'; $i != 'AA'; $i++ ): $j = $i ?>
<li><?= $i ?></li>
<?php endfor; ?>
</ul>
</div>
<?php
global $wp_query;
$wp_query = new WP_Query( array(
'post_type' => 'directory',
'posts_per_page' => $maxposts,
'paged' => $paged, // 104 current last page
'meta_query' => $meta_query,
'orderby' => 'title',
'order' => 'ASC'
) );
// query_posts( array(
// 'post_type' => 'directory',
// 'posts_per_page' => $maxposts,
// 'paged' => $paged,
// 'meta_query' => $meta_query,
// 'orderby' => 'title',
// 'order' => 'ASC'
// ) );
?>
<?php if( $wp_query->have_posts() ): ?>
<div class="table-responsive">
<table id="directory-listing" class="table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>CHURCH/ORGANIZATION</th>
<th>STATE/PROVINCE</th>
<th>NAME</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<?php while ($wp_query->have_posts()) : $wp_query->the_post(); global $post; ?>
<?php if( have_rows( 'directory_fields', $post->id ) ): ?>
<?php while ( have_rows( 'directory_fields', $post->id ) ) : the_row(); ?>
<?php if( get_row_layout() == 'directory_details' ): ?>
<tr>
<th scope="row"><?= get_sub_field( 'entity_name' ); ?><?= get_sub_field( 'street_address_1' ) ?><p><?= get_sub_field('street_address_2') ?></p><p><?= trim(get_sub_field( 'city' )) ?></p><p><?= get_sub_field( 'business_phone' ); ?></p></th>
<td><i class="fa fa-map-marker" aria-hidden="true"> </i><?= get_sub_field( 'state' ); ?></td>
<td><?= get_sub_field( 'person_name' ); ?><p><?= get_sub_field( 'person_title' ); ?></p></td>
</tr>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php endwhile;?>
</tbody>
</table>
</div> <!-- /.table-responsive -->
</div>
<nav class="page-navigation hidden-print" aria-label="Page navigation">
<?php nab_bootstrap_pagination(); ?>
</nav>
<div class="directory-navbar hidden-print">
<a href="?showall=-1&nabc=<?= $category ?>&nabk=<?= $keywords ?>&nabl=<?= $location ?>">
<button class="nab-btn nab-btn-blue">Show All</button>
</a>
<a href="javascript:window.print()">
<button class="nab-btn nab-btn-blue">Print</button>
</a>
</div>
<?php else: ?>
<p class="text-center">No Results Found</p>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php wp_reset_query(); ?>
</div> <!-- /.jobs-container -->
</div><!-- end .row -->
</div><!-- end #content -->
Sorry for the full page of code, but I honestly don't know where the problem is in this code.

Answer 1

For anyone else with a similar problem, the fix is actually simple on this one.
For some reason WordPress 4.9.1 changed the SQL database to use the "0" character instead of the "%" character. This means that any query that used "%" must now use "0".
For me this meant switching from:
if( $category && strtoupper( $category ) != "AFFILIATE OR REGION" ) {
// Category / Type search
$meta_query[] = array(
'key' => 'directory_fields_%_region_or_affiliate',
'value' => $category,
'compare' => '='
);
} .
to:
if( $category && strtoupper( $category ) != "AFFILIATE OR REGION" ) {
// Category / Type search
$meta_query[] = array(
'key' => 'directory_fields_0_region_or_affiliate',
'value' => $category,
'compare' => '='
);
} .
Hope this is helpful to someone, although your mileage may vary.