WP_Query post__not_in is not working. Ignores the array

Question

I've been through other posts on here and elsewhere and compared my code to working examples I've done previously, but I can't find what the issue is. I;m using the following query to grab a featured article and store its ID:

<?php
            $args = array(
                'post_type'         => 'post',
                'posts_per_page'    => 1,
                'orderby'           => 'date',
                'order'             => 'desc',
                'post_status'       => 'publish',
                'cat'               => 564,
            );

            $featured_latest = new WP_Query($args);

            $fid = array();

            if( $featured_latest->have_posts() ) : while( $featured_latest->have_posts() ) : $featured_latest->the_post(); ?>

                <?php $fid[] = get_the_ID(); ?>

                <div class="top-featured">
                    <?php if( has_post_thumbnail() ) { ?>
                        <?php $image = get_the_post_thumbnail_url(get_the_ID(),'large'); ?>
                    <?php } else { ?>
                        <?php $image = get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/assets/images/blog/no-article-image.jpg'; ?>
                    <?php } ?>
                    <a class="article-link lazy" href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" data-src="<?php echo $image; ?>">
                        <div class="text">
                            <h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
                            <?php
                            $date = get_the_date();
                            $cdate = date( 'c', strtotime($date) );
                            ?>
                            <time datetime="<?php echo $cdate; ?>"><?php echo $date; ?></time>
                            <div class="excerpt">
                                <?php echo get_excerpt(140); ?>
                            </div>
                            <span class="fake-link">Read article</span>
                        </div>
                    </a>
                </div>

            <?php endwhile; wp_reset_postdata(); endif; ?>

Then lower down the page I use this query:

<?php
            if( !empty( $fid ) ){
                $fid = $fid;
            } else {
                $fid = array();
            }

            $args = array(
                'post_type'         => 'post',
                'posts_per_page'    => 3,
                'orderby'           => 'date',
                'order'             => 'desc',
                'post_status'       => 'publish',
                'cat'               => 399,
                'post__not_in'      => $fid,
            );

            $top_reviews = new WP_Query($args);

            if( $top_reviews->have_posts() ) : ?>

                <div class="top-articles top-reviews">
                    <h2>Top product reviews</h2>
                    <div class="row">

                    <?php while( $top_reviews->have_posts() ) : $top_reviews->the_post(); ?>

                        <div class="col-12 col-md-4">
                            <?php if( has_post_thumbnail() ) { ?>
                                <?php $image = get_the_post_thumbnail_url(get_the_ID(),'large'); ?>
                                <?php $imgid = get_post_thumbnail_id( get_the_ID() ); ?>
                                <?php $alt = get_post_meta( $imgid, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', true); ?>
                            <?php } else { ?>
                                <?php $image = get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/assets/images/blog/no-article-image.jpg'; ?>
                                <?php $alt = 'No article image'; ?>
                            <?php } ?>
                            <a class="article-link" href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>" data-src="<?php echo $image; ?>">
                                <img class="lazy" data-src="<?php echo $image; ?>" alt="<?php echo $alt; ?>">
                                <div class="text">
                                    <h3><?php the_title(); ?></h3>
                                    <?php
                                    $date = get_the_date();
                                    $cdate = date( 'c', strtotime($date) );
                                    ?>
                                    <time datetime="<?php echo $cdate; ?>"><?php echo $date; ?></time>
                                    <div class="excerpt">
                                        <?php echo get_excerpt(140); ?>
                                    </div>
                                    <span class="fake-link">Read article</span>
                                </div>
                            </a>
                        </div><!-- col -->

                    <?php endwhile; wp_reset_postdata(); ?>

                    </div><!-- row -->
                </div>

            <?php endif; ?>

$fid prints as an array with one item inside, but the second query does not exclude the post of that ID. I'm sure there's something glaringly obvious that I'm missing, but I can't for the life of me find it!

Answer 1

May be some other plugin or theme features overrides the array? var_dump and try what are the query_vars in the WP_Query object. then you can identify it. Or simply deactivate all the plugins and activate it one by one. then you can identify surely!

if any plugin overrides it, they should use a hook to do it. so search and see the priority of the hook. and then just you override it with high priority hook. example below.

add_action('pre_get_posts', 'your_callback_function_name', 999)
function your_callback_function_name($query){
      $overridden_array = $query->get('post__not_in', array());
      $overridden_array[] = $your_f_id;
      $query->set('post__not_in', $overridden_array);
}

Thats all. Just rename those functions and variables as your wish.

Answer 2

When printing out the WP_Query resuls, I found that the following was happening:

WP_Query Object ( [query] => Array ( [post_type] => post [posts_per_page] => 3 [orderby] => date [order] => desc [post_status] => publish [cat] => 399 [post__not_in] => Array ( [0] => 8117 ) ) [query_vars] => Array ( [post_type] => post [posts_per_page] => 3 [orderby] => date [order] => DESC [post_status] => publish [cat] => 399 [post__not_in] => Array ( [0] => 7990 )

It was suggested to me by dineshkashera that the pre_get_posts() filter may have been the cause. As I was not using this myself, I troubleshooted for plugin conflicts by deactivating all those that were not regular ones I used. After reactivating them one at a time, I found that the culprit was the Woocommerce Point of Sale plugin. I have deactivated this plugin for now and will seek a solution from the developer.

Answer 3

post__not_in (array) - use post ids. Specify post NOT to retrieve. If this is used in the same query as post__in, it will be ignored.

Change post__not_in value into Array.

        $args = array(
            'post_type'         => 'post',
            'posts_per_page'    => 3,
            'orderby'           => 'date',
            'order'             => 'desc',
            'post_status'       => 'publish',
            'cat'               => 399,
            'post__not_in'      => array('YOUR_POST_ID1','YOUR_POST_ID2'),
        ); 

For more help see this link : Click Here

Answer 4

You need to pass array in this format array('162','3074')

$args = array(
'post_type'         => 'post',
'posts_per_page'    => -1,
'orderby'           => 'date',
'order'             => 'desc',
'post_status'       => 'publish',
'post__not_in'      => array('162','3074')
);
$top_reviews = new WP_Query($args);

Its working fine for me.. you can try in same way.