wp_get_object_terms - How can I order the resulting array by hierarchy?

Question

I'm returning a custom hierarchal taxonomy via wp_get_object_terms.

The trouble is that the results are being ordered by name or count, neither of which are proving reliable. (I'm using a custom taxonomy for "Location" - City, State, Country - sometimes the State appears before the City)

Is there a way I can order the resulting array by the custom taxonomy hierarchy?

Is there, perhaps, another way I should be looking at this?

Answer 1

Just a rough sketch to get your idea:

• countries (hierarchical taxonomy)
• • France (country - sub taxonomy)
• • • Champagne (state - sub sub taxonomy)
• • • • Le Mans (city - term)
• • • • Angers (city - term)
• • • • Nantes (city - term)

And you want to order:

$query_results = query( 'country' => 'france', 'orderby' => 'state city', 'order' => 'ASC' );

Did i get this right? If not, feel free to edit my answer or update your Q.

Answer 2

You could use wp_list_categories to sort out the hierarchy, it started supporting taxonomies as of 3.0.

You can see an example of using a custom taxonomy with wp_list_categories on the codex page for the function.

You'd just need to pass in the term ids from your wp_get_object_terms call to the wp_list_categories include arg, eg.

wp_list_categories( array( 'include' => $your_array_of_ids ) );

It should then list out the terms of your custom taxonomy in a hierarchal format, though it may not appear so if your theme isn't padding list elements(so be sure to apply appropriate styling if the results aren't showing in a hierarchal form).