wp_query returns match with no criteria

After digging into this for a big, what I discovered by reviewing the actual SQL via $the_query->request was that if no meta value identified it will return true simply because the query eliminates it.

The solution was to simply include the the meta as an array and use the “compare” operator.

Related Posts:

  1. WP_Query orderby date not working
  2. Best way to detect if you are in a SINGLE POST page
  3. How to do a wp_query using “BETWEEN” with two meta_values?
  4. Better way to get tag stats?
  5. Query two taxonomies via URL or link?
  6. wp_query order by title
  7. Sort posts by custom taxonomy name
  8. Wp_query order by multiple custom fields?
  9. Would this post meta be better added to the post table rather than post_meta table
  10. meta_query on a date range using an array of values
  11. How to exclude products by tag from woocommerce shop page?
  12. Filtering posts by custom field value not working
  13. wpdb get results doesn’t work with variable
  14. Query Ignoring ‘exclude’ Parameter?
  15. Custom pagination with WP_Query generating 404 error
  16. Query post with meta_query where date is not in future
  17. Apply CSS class to every second database record [closed]
  18. How to prevent writing duplicate loops?
  19. pre_get_posts order by not working
  20. merge two query arguments into one WP_Query call
  21. Adding a parameter to the default query
  22. Using WP_Query in “parse_query” or “pre_get_post” in Posts2Posts
  23. Taxonomy search/filter with multiple taxonomies and multiple taxonomy terms
  24. How do I change the order (ASC and DESC) in the following retrieval method using WP_Query?
  25. While creating Block Themes in WordPress, how can I query custom posts for an Archive view?
  26. How To Fix WP Query Returns Results But Shouldn’t?
  27. Weird orderby => post__in issue
  28. How to extract specific post
  29. How to query custom post types with mixed AND & OR statements for custom fields
  30. Custom post type archive pagination query issue
  31. 2 weeks ago from meta query meta value
  32. WP Group posts by year(desc) > month(desc) > date(asc)
  33. Running main loop 2 times with conditional statement
  34. paged variable not working for category/custom post archive
  35. Array as ‘key’ in WP_Query
  36. Check the Specific Meta Key IF its Meta Value is Empty then… (WP Post Meta Query)
  37. Searching for meta_key returns 0 posts
  38. Determining Author post count
  39. How I can change the condition or compare operator for WP_Query in pre_get_posts
  40. Apply filters to main query instead of creating new one?
  41. WP_Query returns different results from get_posts() [closed]
  42. How to pass query string vars between admin pages?
  43. Query posts by Post title
  44. Why having more than 10 clauses in WP_Query results in some outputs being dropped?
  45. mysql query order by
  46. Why do I have to use pre_get_posts with custom WP_Query to reset posts_per_page?
  47. Custom Taxonomy Breaks Pages
  48. Using rewind_posts for displaying multiple categories
  49. Query to get last posts from authors of blog
  50. Custom Homepage Pagination using WP_Query
  51. My website is getting too many dierect home arechives and this is increasing my bounce rate
  52. WP_QUERY tax_query not working
  53. How to get latest post excerpt from a specific category?
  54. Get all content on a “single page” site depending on language
  55. Get list of all Grandchild Pages
  56. get latest added term from taxonomy and insert into php variable
  57. Featured images loop for Orbit Slider
  58. WP_Query not returning correct result with meta_query parameter
  59. WP_Query return posts in wrong order
  60. How do i create a custom post query when the meta value is an array?
  61. How to do WP_User_Query for Nested Array value Inside Nested Array field
  62. Display the search results like the original pages
  63. Pagination on archive.php not working?
  64. How to use jQuery validation to set the search bar to accept only a specific input?
  65. Check the product in the cart from which category is and show message
  66. How to filter on placeholder image
  67. How to compare between two dates in a nested loop?
  68. How to query 5 users in random who have published more than 10 posts
  69. Slow wp_posts and wp_postmeta query using Advance Custom Fields
  70. WP query for two post types how to order newest to oldest with two different meta fields?
  71. Get specific value from variable to use in query
  72. WP_Query with meta_query won’t orderby
  73. Adding Category in WP_Query Not Working
  74. meta_query only check if both value are set
  75. post_type not working when tag__in is present?
  76. How to create page that lists tags by initial letter?
  77. Seach and categories not working when ignoring sticky posts in main loop
  78. posts_per_page increment additional post
  79. WordPress: Cron locking and Queue
  80. Correct Way To Run Multiple Queries Sharing Some Base Data
  81. how to query for meta_value have array
  82. How to make the default WordPress search return borader results
  83. WP_Query shows all posts on single post pages
  84. Display Count of posts
  85. Optimize WP_Query
  86. Add a custom variable to query page object
  87. List ALL posts within last week from current category on category page
  88. WP_Query on “property” in the options table
  89. Dynamically name array in WordPress loop – add/get values
  90. Read more redirection problem
  91. Creating Custom Query
  92. Help in query for list links
  93. Multiple loops on index page with sticky post and pagination
  94. WP_Query issues with argument posts_per_page
  95. Search (Custom Form, Custom Search Result)
  96. Hook to get the query result after listing posts
  97. Elementor custom query
  98. How to retrieve _embed (etc) fields in get_posts custom query?
  99. Using ‘meta_query’ with the ‘pre_get_posts()’ hook disables searching for post titles
  100. How to save the results of a query as a php file for an autocomplete search bar