WP Query orderby meta key natural sort?

No, not as a straight WP_Query. This is because of several factors, with the main one being that mySQL doesn’t natively have a natural sort for alphanumeric columns.

WordPress does support a “meta_value_num” for the orderby parameter, which causes it to cast the values to numeric to perform the sort, and this works when you’re putting wholly numeric data in the meta_value’s, but since you have a mixed set of text and numbers, you can’t use that.

You can add a filter to the posts_orderby and rewrite the orderby clause directly to make it whatever you like. If your data is always going to start with “FA”, then you could make your filter return something like this:

LENGTH(meta_value) ASC, meta_value ASC

That first sorts by the length, then by the value. So shorter items come first, giving you a semi-natural sort.

Related Posts:

  1. Ignoring initial articles (like ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’) when sorting queries?
  2. Sorting: custom query with orderby meta_value_num THEN by title
  3. Sort posts by category name and title
  4. How to get order of posts?
  5. How to get Page/Post Gallery attachment images in order they are set in backend using WP_Query()?
  6. Loop through all tags & output posts in alphabetical list
  7. Sorting Posts by custom field
  8. Sorting meta_value as integer doesn’t work
  9. Sort in WP_Query(), not filter? Is it possible?
  10. Front End Sorting Questions
  11. Woocommerce custom loop to show all the products [closed]
  12. Sort by meta key on archive page
  13. How to sort posts in admin by titles with dd.mm.yyyy format?
  14. Query Set Order By Author
  15. WordPress: Keep order of query_posts list of post ID’s using post__in
  16. How to make orderby ‘meta_value_num’ OPTIONAL?
  17. Meta query with order by another custom field
  18. How to orderby meta_value_num with dollar ($) sign
  19. How do I sort posts with multiple pages
  20. WP_Query posts by distance based on LAT & LNG in Database
  21. Changing WP_Query params with url Query Var
  22. Sort wordpress custom posts based on meta value
  23. WP_Query: Group events by year, sorted DESC; then by date for each year group, sorted ASC
  24. WordPress Comments sort by custom meta key
  25. Understanding the orderby in WP_Query?
  26. WP_query sorting can’t sort danish letters (æ, ø, å)
  27. Help ordering Post loop by two meta values
  28. How to sort a custom wordpress query by combination of meta values?
  29. Gallery shortcode numerical sorting
  30. WP Group posts by year(desc) > month(desc) > date(asc)
  31. Does wp track views for posts?
  32. Sort WordPress Posts Meta value by Week not Day
  33. How to order WP_Query to group results?
  34. I am having problem sorting custom post type using WP_Query
  35. Sorting search results with custom dropdown
  36. How to use a dropdown to filter posts by custom field
  37. Display all posts in a custom post type, grouped by a custom taxonomy. How to sort the posts alphabetically and the terms by ID?
  38. How do I sort this custom list of sticky posts
  39. WP Query and date format
  40. How to sort queried pages by an array of page ids?
  41. orderby ignored by wp_query
  42. Customize the Sorting Dropdown in WooCommerce use another list or more page
  43. Order (by ASC) posts with meta_key so posts without values are last
  44. How to sort store location by specific category order in WP store locations
  45. how to include orderby value that is empty?
  46. How to sort wordpress posts already selected by WP_QUERY
  47. Sort by price wpdb
  48. Custom Woocommerce Product Query
  49. How sort products by calculate value? ( custom post meta, price, option)
  50. Get authors list and sort them by recent posts
  51. Move some posts to end of sort order, even if there is a sort in the wp_Query already
  52. Order by value of Custom Field using url string
  53. WP Query with meta queries
  54. Order 2 meta_queries differently in WP_Query?
  55. Case insensitive ORDERBY in wpquery
  56. Sort posts on custom field AND after that sort on date?
  57. How to mix two orderby-parameters into one ordered result
  58. Sorting Posts by Taxonomy thats not within the query’s $args
  59. Ignoring ‘a’ when sorting posts
  60. Display three sequential posts on each page load, without repeating previous
  61. Combine WP_Query with array of custom data to single loop without breaking the pagination
  62. Wrap group of wp query posts to parent div by date/year
  63. Sorting posts by meta values: 2 different orders
  64. Sorting is not working in WordPress WP_Query
  65. How to sort a WP_Query array by post_name after an array_merge();
  66. Sorting: custom query with orderby meta_value_num THEN by title
  67. query_posts with sorting on a custom datestamp
  68. Sort Posts with custom meta key by default which is currently set as optional
  69. wordpress sorting using array merge by price in ascending order but price with 0 must be show last
  70. have_posts order by title descending
  71. WP_Query – order with usort by custom meta
  72. Sort by multiple columns using get_posts
  73. Load more AJAX on WP Query
  74. How to count post type that has a particular term?
  75. Best practice custom function, where to echo the variables?
  76. Query with custom taxonomy not working
  77. How to change main query based on post meta
  78. Loop Split two Columns
  79. Search by post id in a specific page then auto-redirect to searched post
  80. Pretty urls for custom pagination
  81. use of 10 new WP_Query : loading too slow (with url) [closed]
  82. How to make a second query offset -2 from current post
  83. Query where ANDing slug values not working
  84. change posts_orderby of the callback wp_query?
  85. Retrieve select tag custom values from array and display them in current page with wp_query?
  86. show custom category posts from a custom post type
  87. how to load posts to a custom post template after using template_redirect or template_include
  88. Query multiple post types, but different order for each
  89. View list of custom posts within a date range relative to today’s date, based on a custom date field
  90. Multiple nested meta queries
  91. Fix wp_term_relationships slow query in get_posts
  92. Custom query for custom post type not getting correct post ID
  93. How to search posts by title with special characters in WP_Query?
  94. WP_Query: Query posts only if their access is restricted to logged user’s role
  95. display all posts from category with and without terms in chronological order
  96. How To Call WP_Query From A Subdomain?
  97. Extending WP Query: Custom geolocation meta values work, but tax_query breaks
  98. Show sticky post before other WP_Query
  99. Post OrderBy slow performance
  100. I want to place a post before all others from an ACF boleen field

Leave a Comment