How to sort records using custom fields?

Question

WordPress

WP has an arbitrary field top_partner (true/false), I want all posts on the page to be sorted by this field, if true then these posts are on top, if false then posts are on the bottom.

$query = new WP_Query(array(
                           'post_type' => 'partner',
                           'posts_per_page' => -1,
                           'meta_key'=> 'top_partner',
                           'orderby' => 'meta_value',
                           'order' => 'DESC',
                           'tax_query' => array(
                                               array(
                                                   'taxonomy' => 'partner-city',
                                                   'field' => 'term_id',
                                                   'terms' => $category->term_id,
                                                   //'operator'=> 'NOT IN'
                                                     )
                                               )
                                         )
                                         );

                    $posts = $cat = array();
                    while ($query->have_posts()) {
                        $query->the_post();
                        //the_post();
                        $post = $query->post;                           
                        //$taxonomies = wp_get_post_categories($post -> ID); print_r($post); exit;
                        $categories = get_the_terms($post -> ID, 'partner-city');
                        if(count($categories) > 0){
                            foreach ($categories as $key => $value) {
                                if($value->parent==$category->term_id || $value->term_id==$category->term_id)
                                $posts[$value->name][] = $post;
                            }
                        }else                            
                        $posts[$category->name][] = $post;

                    }

but this way I only see entries in which top_partner is in true. What needs to be changed in order to display the rest of the records?

Answer 1

1. Do not use ever posts_per_page' => -1, with a large database volume, it will come out sideways in terms of performance. A sufficient limit is always set , for example, if you will display a hundred pieces - set the limit to 100.
2. Do not use true/false values, use 1/0, and with this use meta_value_num - it will work faster and more predictably (see next paragraph).
3. It is possible that records with a value of false are cut out of the selection precisely because of this value (WP_Query is generally a funny constructor, especially with WP_Meta_Query / WP_Term_Query subqueries, and even more so with both at the same time).
4. If it doesn't work after changing to 0/1 and meta_value_num, it might be worth trying the posts_groupby filter .
PS: Now there is no way to check it for yourself, let me know in the comment if it doesn’t work out, I’ll pick it up later.