Get Custom Post Type Posts by Taxonomy – With Examples

In this article, we will take a look into getting posts from a custom post type by a taxonomy, multiple taxonomy, multiple terms with a term id, slug, and name.

But before moving further, let’s assume I have a custom post type called Events, which has slug events.

I also have a taxonomy called Event categories, which has slug events-cat and this taxonomy has multiple terms. As shown in the image below.

Further in the article, will use the same case for all the examples.

custom-post-type-taxonomy-terminology

Custom Post Type Posts by Taxonomy

To get the posts from a custom post type by taxonomy, we will use tax_query as an argument with WP_Query.

tax_query accept array of tax query arguments. The common tax_query arguments are:

  • taxonomy: taxonomy slug, which is events-cat in our case.
  • terms: taxonomy terms, like different types of events categories in our case.
  • field: taxonomy term field: term_id, name, slug.

You can find more taxonomy parameter reference.

In the code below, I am getting posts from my custom post type Events by a taxonomy term ‘Meet Ups’.

<?php
$args = array(
		'post_type' => 'events',
		'posts_per_page' => 5,
		'tax_query'	=> array(
					
					array(
						'taxonomy' => 'events-cat', // Taxonomy slug
						'terms' => 'meet-ups', // Taxonomy term slug
						'field' => 'slug',    // Taxonomy field
					)
				)	
	);

$query = new WP_Query($args);

if($query->have_posts()):

	while($query->have_posts()):

		$query->the_post();
	
		echo '<ul>';	

		echo '<li><a href="'.get_the_permalink().'">'.get_the_title().'</a></li>';

		echo '</ul>';

	endwhile;

	/* Restore original Post Data */
	wp_reset_postdata();	

endif;

?>

Custom Post Type Posts by Term ID

To get the posts from custom post type by term id, you just need to use ‘field’ => ‘term_id’ and term id with terms like ‘terms’ = > 4 in the array of ‘tax_query’ arguments.

'tax_query' => array(
	array(
		'taxonomy' => 'events-cat',
		'terms' => 4, // term id
		'field' => 'term_id',
	)
)

Custom Post Type Posts by Term name

To get the posts from custom post type by term name, you just need to use ‘field’ => ‘name’ and term name with terms like ‘terms’ = > ‘meet ups’ in the array of ‘tax_query’ arguments.

'tax_query' => array(
	array(
		'taxonomy' => 'events-cat',
		'terms' => 'meet ups', // term name
		'field' => 'name',
	)
)

Custom Post Type Posts by Multiple Terms

To get the posts from a custom post types with multiple terms, you can use multiple terms as an array and assign it to the terms parameter. as shown in the code below.

'tax_query' => array(
	array(
		'taxonomy' => 'events-cat',
		'terms' => array('educational', 'meet-ups'),
		'field' => 'slug'
	)
)

Custom Post Type Posts by Multiple Taxonomy

Let’s say, I have another taxonomy called Event Locations, that holds different locations for events, and now I want to get the posts by two of my taxonomies Event categories and Event locations.

So in that case, to get the posts from multiple taxonomies, I will use multiple taxonomy arrays with tax_query arguments.

Additionally, I can also use ‘relation’=>’AND’ or ‘relation’=>’OR’ as tax_query argument to filter the data from multiple taxonomies by relation between them.


'tax_query'=> array(
										
		// Taxonomy 1: Event Category
		array(
			'taxonomy' => 'events-cat',
			'terms' => 'meet-ups',
			'field' => 'slug',
		),

		// Taxonomy 2: Event Locations
		array(
			'taxonomy' => 'events-location',
			'terms' => 'newyork',
			'field' => 'slug',
		)

		'relation' => 'AND',

)

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