Why is WordPress showing query results from an empty post__in array?

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I have the following WP_Query arguments: 

$posts = new WP_Query(array(
        'post__in' => $postids,
        'meta_key' =>'ratings_average',
        'orderby'=>'meta_value_num',
        'order' =>'DESC',
    ));

$postids is an array of ids which is retrieved from another WP_Query. My problem here is that even if $postids is empty, WordPress loop shows posts. How can I manage this that it shouldn’t show any post if $postids is empty.

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5 comments

  1. This isn’t directly fixing the issue with post__in but I don’t see why this wouldn’t work..

    if(!empty($postids)){
    $posts = new WP_Query(array(
        'post__in' => $postids,
        'meta_key' =>'ratings_average',
        'orderby'=>'meta_value_num',
        'order' =>'DESC',
    ));
} else {
    //Do something else or nothing at all..
}

    as you can see the WP_Query call will only happen if $postids has value/s in it. if it doesn’t, then no call is made to WP_Query and the loop will just never happen, same as if your query returned 0 posts.

  2. As noted, wp devs don’t want to fix this. Having said that, you could pass a non-empty array of invalid IDs, like this:

    if(empty($postids)) {
    $postids = ['issue#28099'];
}

$posts = new WP_Query(array(
    'post__in' => $postids,
    'meta_key' =>'ratings_average',
    'orderby'=>'meta_value_num',
    'order' =>'DESC',
));

    Bad practice you say ? Yeah, I am not sure from whose side though …

  3. To keep the flow correct with the WP_Query. Use it like this:

        $postIdArray = array(
        1, 2, 3
    );

    $queryArgs = array(
        'post_type' =>  'any',
        'post_status' => 'published',
        'post__in' => ((!isset($postIdArray) || empty($postIdArray)) ? array(-1) : $postIdArray)
    );

    This way you will still be able to code against the WP_Query object.

    For example:

        $postIdArray = array(
        1, 2, 3
    );

    $queryArgs = array(
        'post_type' =>  'any',
        'post_status' => 'published',
        'post__in' => ((!isset($postIdArray) || empty($postIdArray)) ? array(-1) : $postIdArray)
    );

    $postQuery = new WP_Query($queryArgs);
    $postCount = $postQuery->post_count;
    $totalCount = $postQuery->found_posts;

  4. Just got the same problem, best thing is to check if the array is empty then pass invalid ID to it:

    if(empty($postids)){
    $postids[]= 0;
}

    Add that before the query and the problem is solved.

  5. Maybe you have some sticky posts. In this case WordPress will add those posts to your query.

    The solution is to set 'ignore_sticky_posts' => 1. Applying that to your code:

    $posts = new WP_Query(array(
    'post__in' => $postids,
    'ignore_sticky_posts' => 1,
    'meta_key' =>'ratings_average',
    'orderby'=>'meta_value_num',
    'order' =>'DESC',
));