WordPress get by and exclude by meta data messes pagination - php

Question

So this is my first post and wow, I didn't know this site existed. I've had a look around at questions and I hope that mine isnt a dumb nooby one. Although I am a noob :S
Ok, so I created a function in WordPress that will add a meta box to the new posts page so that I can specify whether or not this post should be featured (I read this is better than creating a featured category for SEO purposes?).
Anyway.. The code I have works in showing the most recent. Here is the code for that:
<?php
$args=array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'post_status' => 'publish',
'posts_per_page' => -1,
'caller_get_posts'=> 1
);
$my_query = null;
$my_query = new WP_Query($args);
if( $my_query->have_posts() ) {
while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post();
$custom = get_post_meta($my_query->post->ID, '_featuredpost_meta_value_key', true);
if ( $custom ){
?>
<article class="container" itemprop="blogPosts" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting">
<div class="row">
<h2 itemprop="about">
<?php the_title(); ?>
</h2>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="<?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) { ?>two-thirds column<?php } else {?> twelve columns <?php } ?>">
<p class="post-excerpt"><?php modified_excerpt(); ?></p>
</div>
<?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) { ?>
<div class="one-third column">
<?php the_post_thumbnail('full', array('class'=>'hide-mobile')); ?>
</div>
<?php } ?>
</div>
<div class="row">
Continue Reading
</div>
<hr />
<div class="post-info">
<ul>
<li class="date"><?php the_date();?></li>
<li class="author"><?php echo get_the_author_meta('display_name'); ?></li>
<li class="category"><?php the_category(', '); ?></li>
<li class="tags"><?php the_tags('',', ',''); ?></li>
</ul>
</div>
</article>
<?php
}
endwhile;
}
wp_reset_query(); // Restore global post data stomped by the_post().
?>
Now, When I use the same code below, but then use:
if ( ! $custom ){
to show the posts that are not set to be featured that also works. The problem is that the pagination no longer works. When I go to the second page it just duplicates what is on the home page.
This leads me to believe that I have created a mashed together crappy bit of code. Can someone please help me build a loop, that will exclude any posts where the meta data _featuredpost_meta_value_key is set to Yes.
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

You'll want to use a WP Meta Query in your original $args array.
https://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_Meta_Query
From the docs, here's an example:
$meta_query_args = array(
'relation' => 'OR', // Optional, defaults to "AND"
array(
'key' => '_my_custom_key',
'value' => 'Value I am looking for',
'compare' => '='
)
);
$meta_query = new WP_Meta_Query( $meta_query_args );
But you can also use the sugar provided by the WP_Query class and pass it in as the meta_query value to your original args:
$args=array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'post_status' => 'publish',
'posts_per_page' => -1,
'caller_get_posts'=> 1,
'meta_query' => array(
'key' => '_featuredpost_meta_value_key',
'value' => 'Yes',
'compare' => '='
)
);