php wp_query to get one value from multiple values in variable – the values separated by a comma

This might seem a little odd as a method.

I have posts on my wordpress website, which has a custom field called ‘login_email‘

In my theme files, I have this query…

$press = new WP_Query(array(
    'posts_per_page' => -1,
    'post_type'     => 'download',
    'post_status'   => 'private',
    'meta_query'    => array(
        array(
            'key' => 'login_email',
            'value' => $current_user->user_login,
            'compare' => '='
        )
    )      
));

This simply retrieves private posts which has the login_email custom field value which that matches $current_user->user_login

Currently in my login_email custom field i have this value…

josh@samplemail.uk.com

No what I would like to be able to do is add more emails to this custom field seperate by a comma like this…

josh@samplemail.uk.com, colin@samplemail.uk.com, jimbo@samplemail.uk.com

…and for my query above to be able to recognise one email out of this list.

For example if the user colin@samplemail.uk.com is logged in, then because colins email exists in this custom field (along with josh & jimbo’s email) then the post will be returned in the query.

I hope this makes some kind of sense. Let me know if I need to elaborate more.

It’s like I need to modify the compare in the query – but these are the only options I can find…

compare (string) – Operator to test. Possible values are ‘=’, ‘!=’, ‘>’, ‘>=’, ‘<‘, ‘<=’, ‘LIKE’, ‘NOT LIKE’, ‘IN’, ‘NOT IN’, ‘BETWEEN’, ‘NOT BETWEEN’, ‘EXISTS’ (only in WP >= 3.5), and ‘NOT EXISTS’ (also only in WP >= 3.5). Default value is ‘=’. Source

…I’ve tested EXISTS but does not return any posts.

Has any one got a clever fix or idea?

Thanks
Josh