I am trying to implement a "content drip-style/time released content" subscription system using a WordPress query that filters and selects content from a custom post type using set parameters and displays them on a page template. An explanation, some examples, initial parameters for the query, and how the retailers (pages) and posts are structured are included below.

Is this possible with a WP query or would a plugin be required? I have looked into membership plugins, but they seem to be excessive for this level of customization.

<?php
/**
 * Pages that are defined as 'Retailers'.
 * Each retailer (page) will have a defined start date using an Advanced Custom Fields date picker field. This field is set manually by the site admin.

 * The retailer pages will display a defined number of posts from the 'sendouts' custom post type in a HTML dropdown (explained below).
 * The number of displayed posts is handled in part by the start date parameter.
 * A new post will be added every 14 days (2 weeks).

 * EXAMPLE 1: Retailer A has a start date of January 1, 2019. Counting up from that start date to the current date (January 7, 2020),
 * the retailer will have a total of 26 posts accessible from the HTML dropdown.

 * EXAMPLE 2: Retailer B has a start date of December 1, 2019. Counting up from that start date to the current date (January 7, 2020,
 * the retailer will have a total 2 posts accessible from the HTML dropdown.

 * EXAMPLE 3: Retailer C has a start date of January 1, 2020. As the start date is less than 14 days (two weeks) old, only one post will be displayed
 * and the HTML dropdown will not be displayed on the page.
 * 
 */

// Advanced Custom Fields date picker field assigned to each Retailer page
$startDate = get_field( 'sendout_start_date' );

// Set the timezone to America/Edmonton to localize date to region
date_default_timezone_set( 'America/Edmonton' );

// Grab the current date for the set timezone
$currentDate = date( 'm/d/Y h:i:s a', time() );

// Add fourteen days to the current date
// Use this variable in a loop to increment the total number of visible posts by one every 14 days
$datePlusFourteen = date_add( $currentDate, new DateInterval( 'P14D' ));

$args = array(
    'post_type' => 'sendouts',
    'cat' => '101',
    'order' => 'ASC',
    'orderby' => 'p',
    'meta_query' => array(
        array(
            'key' => 'sendout_start_date',
            'type' => 'NUMERIC',
            'value' => array( 'sendout_start_date', $currentDate ),
            'compare' => 'BETWEEN',
        ),
    ),
);
$query = new WP_Query( $args );

Update

Page sendout start date: October 18, 2019

Sendout post dates:

• January 7
• December 1
• November 15
• November 1
• October 15

I am trying to implement a "content drip-style/time released content" subscription system using a WordPress query that filters and selects content from a custom post type using set parameters and displays them on a page template. An explanation, some examples, initial parameters for the query, and how the retailers (pages) and posts are structured are included below.

Is this possible with a WP query or would a plugin be required? I have looked into membership plugins, but they seem to be excessive for this level of customization.

<?php
/**
 * Pages that are defined as 'Retailers'.
 * Each retailer (page) will have a defined start date using an Advanced Custom Fields date picker field. This field is set manually by the site admin.

 * The retailer pages will display a defined number of posts from the 'sendouts' custom post type in a HTML dropdown (explained below).
 * The number of displayed posts is handled in part by the start date parameter.
 * A new post will be added every 14 days (2 weeks).

 * EXAMPLE 1: Retailer A has a start date of January 1, 2019. Counting up from that start date to the current date (January 7, 2020),
 * the retailer will have a total of 26 posts accessible from the HTML dropdown.

 * EXAMPLE 2: Retailer B has a start date of December 1, 2019. Counting up from that start date to the current date (January 7, 2020,
 * the retailer will have a total 2 posts accessible from the HTML dropdown.

 * EXAMPLE 3: Retailer C has a start date of January 1, 2020. As the start date is less than 14 days (two weeks) old, only one post will be displayed
 * and the HTML dropdown will not be displayed on the page.
 * 
 */

// Advanced Custom Fields date picker field assigned to each Retailer page
$startDate = get_field( 'sendout_start_date' );

// Set the timezone to America/Edmonton to localize date to region
date_default_timezone_set( 'America/Edmonton' );

// Grab the current date for the set timezone
$currentDate = date( 'm/d/Y h:i:s a', time() );

// Add fourteen days to the current date
// Use this variable in a loop to increment the total number of visible posts by one every 14 days
$datePlusFourteen = date_add( $currentDate, new DateInterval( 'P14D' ));

$args = array(
    'post_type' => 'sendouts',
    'cat' => '101',
    'order' => 'ASC',
    'orderby' => 'p',
    'meta_query' => array(
        array(
            'key' => 'sendout_start_date',
            'type' => 'NUMERIC',
            'value' => array( 'sendout_start_date', $currentDate ),
            'compare' => 'BETWEEN',
        ),
    ),
);
$query = new WP_Query( $args );

Update

Page sendout start date: October 18, 2019

Sendout post dates:

• January 7
• December 1
• November 15
• November 1
• October 15

• wp-query
• functions
• theme-development

1 Answer 1

Use a meta query. Since ACF stores dates as Ymd you can just treat the value as a number:

$date_query = array(
    'key' => 'start_date', // ACF date field name
    'type' => 'NUMERIC',
    'value' => '20200101',
    'compare' => '<=', // All posts with start date before/on January 1st 2020
);

$args['meta_query'] = array( $date_query );

Any typical comparison e.g. =, !=, >, >=, <, <= can be used for the value of compare.

Or perhaps a date range is what you need e.g. to get all posts for December 2019:

$date_query = array(
    'key' => 'start_date',
    'type' => 'NUMERIC',
    'value' => array( '20191201' /* Start date */, '20191231' /* End date */ ),
    'compare' => 'BETWEEN',
);

Here's an (untested) example for your question:

// Grab the current date for the set timezone
$currentDate = new DateTimeImmutable( current_time( 'mysql', true /* GMT */ ), new DateTimeZone( 'America/Edmonton' ) );

// Add fourteen days to the current date
// Use this variable in a loop to increment the total number of visible posts by one every 14 days
$datePlusFourteen = $currentDate->add( new DateInterval( 'P14D' ) );

$args = array(
    'post_type' => 'sendouts',
    'cat' => '101',
    'order' => 'ASC',
    'orderby' => 'p',
    'meta_query' => array(
        array(
            'key' => 'sendout_start_date',
            'type' => 'NUMERIC',
            'value' => array( $currentDate->format( 'Ymd' ), $datePlusFourteen->format( 'Ymd' ) ),
            'compare' => 'BETWEEN',
        ),
    ),
);

$query = new WP_Query( $args );