Mixed OR AND taxonomy query - wordpress

Question

I have created a WP Query argument list like so hoping it will select all posts with term 2 and then from results all others with relation OR.
$similar_properties_args = array(
'post_type' => 'property',
'posts_per_page' => '10',
'post__not_in' => array(get_post_ID() ),
'post_parent__not_in' => array(get_post_ID() ),
'tax_query' => array(
'relation' => 'AND',
array(
'taxonomy' => 'language',
'terms' => '2'
),
array (
'relation' => 'OR',
array(
array(
'taxonomy' => 'property-feature',
'field' => 'id',
'terms' => array(1954,1958,1966,1970,1972)
),
array(
'taxonomy' => 'property-city',
'field' => 'id',
'terms' => array(145)
),
array(
'taxonomy' => 'property-status',
'field' => 'id',
'terms' => array(38)
),
array(
'taxonomy' => 'property-type',
'field' => 'id',
'terms' => array(21)
)
)
)
)
);
The actual WP mysql query created is as as below:
SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS agn_posts.ID FROM agn_posts LEFT JOIN agn_term_relationships ON (agn_posts.ID = agn_term_relationships.object_id) LEFT JOIN agn_term_relationships AS tt1 ON (agn_posts.ID = tt1.object_id) LEFT JOIN agn_term_relationships AS tt2 ON (agn_posts.ID = tt2.object_id) LEFT JOIN agn_term_relationships AS tt3 ON (agn_posts.ID = tt3.object_id) LEFT JOIN agn_term_relationships AS tt4 ON (agn_posts.ID = tt4.object_id) WHERE 1=1 AND agn_posts.ID NOT IN (1440) AND agn_posts.post_parent NOT IN (1440) AND (
agn_term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id IN (2)
AND
(
(
tt1.term_taxonomy_id IN (1954,1958,1966,1970,1972)
AND
tt2.term_taxonomy_id IN (145)
AND
tt3.term_taxonomy_id IN (38)
AND
tt4.term_taxonomy_id IN (21)
)
)
) AND agn_posts.post_type = 'property' AND (agn_posts.post_status = 'publish' OR agn_posts.post_status = 'private') GROUP BY agn_posts.ID ORDER BY agn_posts.post_date DESC LIMIT 0, 10
...and it is not giving me the results as I would need to get.
If I change the tt1 term relationship to OR, then the result is fine.
tt1.term_taxonomy_id IN (1954,1958,1966,1970,1972)
OR //from AND to OR
tt2.term_taxonomy_id IN (145)
OR //from AND to OR
tt3.term_taxonomy_id IN (38)
OR //from AND to OR
tt4.term_taxonomy_id IN (21)
The problem Is, from my naked eye, the argument list above is valid for creating the query I am looking for, but somehow something is missing. May be you can see, where is the problem in my code?

Answer 1

You shouldn't nest the four arrays/clauses in an array:
'tax_query' => array(
'relation' => 'AND', // for clauses 1 and 2
array( // clause 1
'taxonomy' => 'language',
'terms' => '2',
),
array( // clause 2
'relation' => 'OR', // for sub-clause 1..
// you shouldn't nest the sub-sub-clauses
array( // sub-clause 1
array( // sub-sub-clause 1
'taxonomy' => 'property-feature',
...
),
array( // sub-sub-clause 2
'taxonomy' => 'property-city',
...
),
array( // sub-sub-clause 3
'taxonomy' => 'property-status',
...
),
array( // sub-sub-clause 4
'taxonomy' => 'property-type',
...
),
),
),
),
Instead, make the arrays same level as the relation:
'tax_query' => array(
'relation' => 'AND', // for clauses 1 and 2
array( // clause 1
'taxonomy' => 'language',
'terms' => '2',
),
array( // clause 2
'relation' => 'OR', // for the sub-clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4
// instead of nesting, do like so:
array( // sub-clause 1
'taxonomy' => 'property-feature',
'terms' => array( 1954, 1958, 1966, 1970, 1972 ),
),
array( // sub-clause 2
'taxonomy' => 'property-city',
'terms' => array( 145 ),
),
array( // sub-clause 3
'taxonomy' => 'property-status',
'terms' => array( 38 ),
),
array( // sub-clause 4
'taxonomy' => 'property-type',
'terms' => array( 21 ),
),
),
),
And that one would give you this SQL command as part of the WHERE:
agn_term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id IN (2) # language
AND
(
tt1.term_taxonomy_id IN (1954,1958,1966,1970,1972) # feature
OR
tt1.term_taxonomy_id IN (145) # city
OR
tt1.term_taxonomy_id IN (38) # status
OR
tt1.term_taxonomy_id IN (21) # type
)
And BTW, 'field' => 'id' should be 'field' => 'term_id', but the default field is indeed term_id, so you may omit the field arg. Also, WordPress does not have a function named get_post_ID, so I think you meant to use get_the_ID()? :)