How to use posts_orderby_request filter in WordPress

posts_orderby_request filter

For use by caching plugins.

To use the posts_orderby_request filter, first you have to register it using add_filter. You can write this code into functions.php of your activated theme or in a custom WordPress Plugin.

We at WePlugins always prefer to create a custom WordPress Plugin while using hooks so nothing breaks when you update your WordPress Theme in the future.

In the below live example, we have defined a function modify_posts_orderby_request_defaults which takes 2 parameters and we registered using add_filter. The first parameter posts_orderby_request is the name of the hook, The second parameter modify_posts_orderby_request_defaults is the name of the function that needs to be called, the third parameter is the priority of calling the hook if the same hook is used multiple times and the last parameter is the number of arguments (if any) to be passed in the registered function.

Sometimes, you have to remove a registered hook so you can use remove_filter to remove the posts_orderby_request filter.

Parameters

Below are the 2 parameters required to use this hook.

• $orderby: (string) The ORDER BY clause of the query.
• $query: (WP_Query) The WP_Query instance (passed by reference).

Live Example

apply_filters_ref_array( 'posts_orderby_request', string $orderby, WP_Query $query )

Below is an example of how you can use this hook.

    function weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_defaults($orderby, $query) { 
        // Update the $orderby variable according to your website requirements and return this variable. You can modify the $orderby variable conditionally too if you want.
        return $orderby; 
    }
    // add the filter
    add_filter( "posts_orderby_request", "weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_defaults", 10, 2 );
    

Example 1: Basic Usage

Here’s a basic example of how to modify the ORDER BY clause using the posts_orderby_request filter.

    function weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_example1($orderby, $query) { 
        $orderby = 'post_date DESC';
        return $orderby; 
    }
    add_filter( "posts_orderby_request", "weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_example1", 10, 2 );
    

Example 2: Conditional Order By

This example shows how to conditionally modify the ORDER BY clause based on a specific query condition.

    function weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_example2($orderby, $query) { 
        if ( $query->is_home() ) {
            $orderby = 'post_title ASC';
        }
        return $orderby; 
    }
    add_filter( "posts_orderby_request", "weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_example2", 10, 2 );
    

Example 3: Custom Field Order By

In this example, we modify the ORDER BY clause to sort posts based on a custom field value.

    function weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_example3($orderby, $query) { 
        if ( isset($query->query_vars['orderby']) && 'custom_field' == $query->query_vars['orderby'] ) {
            $orderby = 'meta_value_num DESC';
        }
        return $orderby; 
    }
    add_filter( "posts_orderby_request", "weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_example3", 10, 2 );
    

To remove a hook callback, use the example below.

remove_filter( "posts_orderby_request", "weplugins_modify_posts_orderby_request_defaults", 10, 2 );

Please make sure to provide the same callback function name, priority, and number of arguments while removing the hook callback.

Contact Us

If you need customization or are having trouble using this hook, please contact us.