Order by Metabox time field

[simon]

Hi,

I have a Metabox custom CPT which has a timepicker field in the format h:mm TT (so 9:45 AM).

I want to be able to sort the query loop by the time in each post but I can’t get anything to work. I’ve tried meta value and meta value numeric to order by.

Is this even possible without coding?

Thanks.

[aslotta]

Hey @simon,

can you please show your time field’s setup? How / where do you specify the time format? Like this?

Do you specify the time format to output the value like this in the frontend? The backend? Or both?

Best,

André

[simon]

Hi @aslotta ,

Yes, your screenshot is how I have it set for the front end display. I checked in the database and the values are being stored in that format too, so 9:45 AM. I can’t see where to change the database format but I guess for this to work, it would need some php to convert 12hr time to 24hr time and then echo the function in the meta value field.

Thanks,

Simon

[aslotta]

Hey @simon,

yeah right. The Meta Box date field has an option to differentiate between the visual format and the save format. This does not apply to the time field though.

So I would not specify a specific time format in the field settings but use a Meta Box hook like this:

add_filter( 'rwmb_get_value', function( $value, $field ) {
    if ( is_array( $field ) && array_key_exists( 'id', $field ) && $field['id'] === 'custom_post_time' && ! empty( $value ) ) {
        $value = date( 'g:i A', strtotime( $value ) );
    }
    
    return $value;
}, 10, 2 );

Change custom_post_time to the name of your custom time field.

Then you should be able order by meta_value without issues:

Best,

André

[simon]

@aslotta you’re a star! Many thanks for the help.