Show all entries from a given custom date field

Question

I have a channel with a custom field (type "date") called start. Now I want a list of all channel entries where the start date is today or in the future. So according the EE documentary I'm using the following:

{exp:channel:entries channel="calendar" dynamic="no" orderby="start" sort="asc" start_on="{current_time format='%Y-%m-%d'}" show_future_entries="yes"}
  {title}
{/exp:channel:entries}

But now I only get a list of all entries with the start date = today. All future entries are not shown. It is also not clear for me what field start_on is looking at.

How do I get this working?

Answer 1

The start_on parameter uses the entry_date, not the custom date field you defined. To target the custom field, use the search: parameter. Also, you need to know how EE stores its date fields: as a Unix timestamp. Which just is a large number.

With EE 2.7+, you can use Numeric matching, so you could use that too.

search:my_custom_date_field=">={current_time}"

The {current_time} variable without a format parameter will output the Unix timestamp for right now, so using that as input for the search:-parameter should give you the desired results.

Answer 2

Low has pointed out the why of your dilemma. There is one other solution you can consider; Solspace's date field filter, which allows you to remap the default date ordering functionality (which as Low points out is tied to the entry_date). This way, you can apply the "proper" ordering parameters for the entries loop, making your custom field the date to use. So then you wind up with something like:

{exp:channel:entries
date_field="your_custom_date_field"
date_field_start="2012-12-02 12:01 AM"
date_field_stop="2012-12-04 11:59 PM"
orderby="your_custom_date_field"
sort="asc"
}
    <li><b>{title}</b> - {date_field format="%F %j, %Y at %g:%i %a"}</li>
    {if no_results}
        <li>No results found within this time range.</li>
    {/if}
{/exp:channel:entries}

And like you attempted to do in your entries loop before, you can then replace your date_field_start param value with the current time variable.

Low would certainly know better than I how this approach would compare efficiency-wise relative to using the search parameter. I've used this add-on, which is now free, and it worked great for me. Just thought I would throw another option out there even though Low's suggestion solved it for you.