what is the correct way to compare dates in a WP query_posts meta_query

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I have a query_posts call in a WP template. Through the use of the More Fields Plugin I can give the site admin the ability to create an event (custom post type) and then enter a date which is formatted: YYYY/mm/dd.

The main question is; what value should I pass to the value option in the meta_query array? I am currently trying to pass “date(“Y/m/d h:i A”)” (minus the quotes), because, as I understand it, that will print the current date today. I don’t care about the time of date so that may be irrelevant. Ulitimatly I am trying to use the compare option to nail down showing upcoming events, past events in different places on this site. In one other spot I actually need to pass the value option an array that prints that first and last day of the current month, limiting the output to events happening this month. 

<?php 
            query_posts( array( 
              'post_type'  => 'event',        // only query events
              'meta_key'    => 'event_date',  // load up the event_date meta
              'orderby'     => 'meta_value',  // sort by the event_date
              'order'       => 'asc',         // ascending, so earlier events first
              'posts_per_page' => '2',
              'meta_query'  => array(         // restrict posts based on meta values
                  'key'     => 'event_date',  // which meta to query
                  'value'   => date("Y/m/d h:i A"),  // value for comparison
                  'compare' => '>=',          // method of comparison
                  'type'    => 'DATE'         // datatype, we don't want to compare the string values
                ) // end meta_query array
              ) // end array
            ); // close query_posts call
                 ?>

4

I wound up working on the exact same thing and this post was very helpful. I used Custom Fields and here is the code that I used to create a list of all events greater than the current date. Note the extra taxonomy based filters.

<?php // Let's get the data we need to loop through below

$events = new WP_Query( 
    array(
        'post_type' => 'event', // Tell WordPress which post type we want
        'orderby' => 'meta_value', // We want to organize the events by date    
        'meta_key' => 'event-start-date', // Grab the "start date" field created via "More Fields" plugin (stored in YYYY-MM-DD format)
        'order' => 'ASC', // ASC is the other option    
        'posts_per_page' => '-1', // Let's show them all.   
        'meta_query' => array( // WordPress has all the results, now, return only the events after today's date
            array(
                'key' => 'event-start-date', // Check the start date field
                'value' => date("Y-m-d"), // Set today's date (note the similar format)
                'compare' => '>=', // Return the ones greater than today's date
                'type' => 'DATE' // Let WordPress know we're working with date
                )
            ),
        'tax_query' => array( // Return only concerts (event-types) and events where "songs-of-ascent" is performing
            array(
                'taxonomy' => 'event-types',
                'field' => 'slug',
                'terms' => 'concert',
                ),
            array(
                'taxonomy' => 'speakers',
                'field' => 'slug',
                'terms' => 'songs-of-ascent',
                )
            )
        )
    );
?>

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