Title: Search by multiple fields
Last modified: August 21, 2016

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# Search by multiple fields

 *  Resolved [heatstroke](https://wordpress.org/support/users/heatstroke/)
 * (@heatstroke)
 * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-by-multiple-fields/)
 * Hi Helga,
 * sorry to be the noisy one these days 🙂
 * Is it possible to make this plugin search by multiple fields at the same time?
 * I have a lot of users and I want it to search at least by first names and last
   names. This way, if I search for James, it will filter by first name. If a search
   for Bond… it will retrieve a list of users with last name Bond.
 * Thank you a lot 😉
 * [http://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-user-listing/](http://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-user-listing/)

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

 *  Plugin Author [HelgaTheViking](https://wordpress.org/support/users/helgatheviking/)
 * (@helgatheviking)
 * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-by-multiple-fields/#post-4415602)
 * Do you mean multiple search inputs? or 1 input that searches 2 meta fields? Either
   way, the answer is probably “yes, it’s possible.” But I don’t really have the
   answer, nor do I provide support on how to implement heavy customization of SUL.
 * This gist _might _help: [https://gist.github.com/helgatheviking/5943857](https://gist.github.com/helgatheviking/5943857)
 * As it sets up a search by a meta field… which you could use to add a second input.
   And the “mutiple custom user fields” section of the codex might help if you wish
   to query by two meta fields:
    [http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_User_Query#Custom_Field_Parameters](http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/WP_User_Query#Custom_Field_Parameters)
 * Best of luck.
 *  Thread Starter [heatstroke](https://wordpress.org/support/users/heatstroke/)
 * (@heatstroke)
 * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-by-multiple-fields/#post-4415608)
 * Ok,
 * that would be one of the best features of the plugin, as nobody searches for 
   usernames. People search for real names and surnames, no nicks.
 * I tried the code you linked. It is the same es the one you posted in the FAQ 
   section. It works when searching by one meta_key. The main problem for me is 
   to use two meta_keys instead of one and make the search from one textfield.
 * Anyway, I will keep trying it.
 * Thank you 😉
 *  Thread Starter [heatstroke](https://wordpress.org/support/users/heatstroke/)
 * (@heatstroke)
 * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-by-multiple-fields/#post-4415612)
 * Hi people… 15 minutos later I did it. If someone needs the same, take note of
   this code. Now you can search by first name or last name in the same textfield.
 * This is how I did it:
 * search-author.php
 *     ```
       <?php
       /**
        * The Template for displaying Author Search
        *
        * Override this template by copying it to yourtheme/simple-user-listing/search-author.php
        *
        */
   
       if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) exit; // Exit if accessed directly
   
       $search = ( get_query_var( 'first_name' ) ) ? get_query_var( 'first_name' )  : '';
   
       ?>
   
       <div class="author-search">
       	<h2><?php _e('Search authors by name' ,'simple-user-listing');?></h2>
       		<form method="get" id="sul-searchform" action="<?php the_permalink() ?>">
       			<label for="as" class="assistive-text"><?php _e('Search' ,'simple-user-listing');?></label>
       			<input type="text" class="field" name="first_name" id="sul-s" placeholder="<?php _e('Search Authors' ,'simple-user-listing');?>" value="<?php echo $search; ?>"/>
       			<input type="submit" class="submit" id="sul-searchsubmit" value="<?php _e('Search Authors' ,'simple-user-listing');?>" />
       		</form>
       	<?php
       	if( $search ){ ?>
       		<h2 ><?php printf( __('Search Results for: %s' ,'simple-user-listing'), '<em>' . $search .'</em>' );?></h2>
       		<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php _e('Back To Author Listing' ,'simple-user-listing');?></a>
       	<?php } ?>
       </div><!-- .author-search -->
       ```
   
 * functions.php
 *     ```
       // Switch the WP_User_Query args to a meta search
       function kia_meta_search( $args ){
         // this $_GET is the name field of the custom input in search-author.php
           $search = ( isset($_GET['first_name'])) ? sanitize_text_field($_GET['first_name']) : false ;
           if ( $search ){
               // if your shortcode has a 'role' parameter defined it will be maintained
               // unless you choose to unset the role parameter by uncommenting the following
               //  unset( $args['role'] );
       		$args = array(
       	'meta_query' => array(
       		'relation' => 'OR',
       		array(
       			'key'     => 'last_name',
       			'value'   => $search,
       			'compare' => 'LIKE'
       		),
       		array(
       			'key'     => 'first_name',
       			'value'   => $search,
       			'compare' => 'LIKE'
       		)
       	)
        );
           }
           return $args;
       }
       add_filter('sul_user_query_args', 'kia_meta_search');
   
       // Register query var and whitelist with Simple User Listing
       function kia_search_vars( $vars ){
           $vars[] = 'first_name';
           return $vars;
       }
       add_filter('sul_user_allowed_search_vars', 'kia_search_vars');
       ```
   
 * Hope it helps 😉
 *  Plugin Author [HelgaTheViking](https://wordpress.org/support/users/helgatheviking/)
 * (@helgatheviking)
 * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-by-multiple-fields/#post-4415615)
 * Thanks for sharing your results. FWIW, if you aren’t adding another search input,
   then you don’t _really_ need to override search-author.php, just adjust the $
   _GET accordingly.
 * I’ve heard that this would be slow for lots and lots of users, but it does probably
   make more sense than search by user login. That’s more of a limitation of WP 
   and WP_User_Query than anything else though.
 * In the future, I might add the ability to at least change the “search by” from
   the shortcode ( at least to the different types that are currently supported 
   by WP_User_Query ). However, as with all my plugins at the moment, they aren’t
   really in “active” development, so I couldn’t predict when that would be.
 *  Thread Starter [heatstroke](https://wordpress.org/support/users/heatstroke/)
 * (@heatstroke)
 * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-by-multiple-fields/#post-4415618)
 * True, no need to change the search-author.php file, just realised it.
 * This may be slower, but it is very important to me. I tried to add one more meta_key,
   like description, but then it became much slower, so I left only the two, first_name
   and last_name.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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 * 5 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [heatstroke](https://wordpress.org/support/users/heatstroke/)
 * Last activity: [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/search-by-multiple-fields/#post-4415618)
 * Status: resolved