If No Search Results, Show Posts from Alternate Search Query

I’ve never seen it done before but the logic of the PHP IF/ELSE should mean you could simply plug a new query in after the ELSE:

if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
    get_template_part ( 'templates/post', 'main' );
    endwhile; 
else:
    $the_query = new WP_Query( $args );
    if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : 
        while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) : 
           $the_query->the_post();
        endwhile;
    endif;

endif;

This is untested on my end.

Related Posts:

  1. How to go about combining dropdowns / filter queries?
  2. How do I set the Stewart Search Template to return only published posts in the result
  3. Trying to get all links in my posts
  4. How to fix pagination for custom loops?
  5. Remove the Homepage Query
  6. A search for ‘0’ returns results
  7. Is `query_posts` really slower than secondary query?
  8. Are there any scenarios where the query_posts may be used?
  9. Transient not working for custom loops
  10. post loop causes wp_users and wp_usermeta DB queries for each users
  11. get_the_foo() in the loop – does it perform another query?
  12. How to Loop within a Loop (Display Children and then Grandchildren)
  13. Loop posts only excluding first post
  14. Custom search form to display users only
  15. Loop after page content
  16. How to get an array of years from all of the search results, and use it to filter by year the paginated loop?
  17. A loop with all articles with certain text strings in tags
  18. Display most viewed post from last 30 days is not working correctly
  19. Query posts if meta key starts with
  20. 3 Posts in Loop, Show Stickies First
  21. Get search.php results in header.php?
  22. Query reset problem or flawed code to enable custom post type query
  23. Query last updated posts (posts updated in the last 24 hours)
  24. Conditional query that displays on Woo product attribute pages
  25. How do I use AJAX Query in my posts loop?
  26. woocommerce get_price_html not pulling in correct price
  27. Filter the_posts doesn’t work on search page
  28. How to fix pagination for custom loops?
  29. How can I paginate this?
  30. How to display posts by vote count and if no value continue with latest posts with no votes?
  31. How to fix pagination for custom loops?
  32. Split wordpress loop to multiple layouts
  33. Making a query to the DB using same parameters of loop
  34. Loop inside query
  35. How to modify search.php to not show pages only show posts
  36. Include future posts in tags and in search
  37. get_delete_post_link() inside Loop stubbornly returns nothing
  38. loop inside the foreach
  39. Query posts only with actual text content (not including shortcode or images)
  40. Search page loop banner image issue
  41. Does search.php autofilter The Loop?
  42. Exclude posts based on an array
  43. Query post & loop problem.
  44. Loops for cat links not looping for wordpress site
  45. Custom Query with Sticky Posts
  46. Build a Page which shows the Oldest Post with specific Custom Field Value
  47. Work arounds for conditional checks inside the loop in search.php?
  48. Query posts and display all dates in repeater field in chronological order
  49. How to fix pagination for custom loops?
  50. Search – Check if post is a page on search page
  51. Get featured image outside the loop using foreach
  52. Alternative layout the loop
  53. Show posts by tags excluding current post
  54. Strange problem with wp_get_attachment_image_src database (db) query count
  55. Next 10 posts data of currently viewing post in blog page
  56. How to fix pagination for custom loops?
  57. How to fix pagination for custom loops?
  58. How to fix pagination for custom loops?
  59. Get query result before posts are displayed?
  60. Combine Query and Select Database to create directory loop
  61. WordPress loop: Display if posts exist
  62. wordpress showing all posts instead of date range
  63. Eliminate duplicates in a foreach loop [closed]
  64. Multiple loop with pagination in same page
  65. Query Loop Block: possible to restrict just child pages?
  66. Use Base-URL with Query-Loop
  67. Using Query Loop Block to list all posts under each category
  68. Different date time in results of search
  69. what are the numbers between curly brackets in search query
  70. How to place comments_template(); outside the loop?
  71. How do I create a meta box for dates?
  72. Hook into the loop via a plugin, and output something after every X post?
  73. Custom Query to search through categories
  74. How to sort posts in archive loop
  75. Show top level comments ordered by number of replies
  76. Redirect Loop to Page, Can’t Find Origin, Can’t Remove [closed]
  77. Post Format single-loop.php using get_template_part
  78. Varying Search Result Pages
  79. How to show “teaser” posts on blog / archive pages, otherwise full posts
  80. Genesis multiple category custom loop 404s after first page
  81. Shortcode in posts called by ajax is not working
  82. Problem getting current post tags to show in a widget
  83. Include multiple page ids in loop
  84. How to conditionally add Custom Post Type to Front Page
  85. For each loop on every word in post
  86. Display name of taxonomy once
  87. Displaying the first, second, and third posts from a category in separate slides
  88. How to insert Collate into WordPress search query?
  89. How to use this $tax_selection variable in this custom loop?
  90. Display all categories as plain text
  91. Changing WordPress sort order for returned child pages
  92. Show Posts via cat+cat in URL that are in both Categories doesn’t work
  93. Get gallery in loop through ajax
  94. Pagination on a underscore custom theme
  95. Get top Page IDs from menu and cycle through their child pages on a scroller
  96. How to show terms from another taxonomy
  97. The Loop isn’t working
  98. the loop – how to control whether wp or plug-in runs it
  99. stuck with template hierarchy
  100. How to create an identical second loop for attachments?