Subject: Assistance Needed: Filtering wpDataTables Using Date, User Role, and User ID

Dear wpDataTables Support Team,

We have been working on implementing dynamic filtering for a table in wpDataTables, but we’ve encountered significant challenges. Here's a summary of our requirements and the issues we’re facing:

Setup Details:

• The table in question is based on an SQL query.
• The table is displayed using wpDataTables (ID: 7).
• We need to filter the data dynamically using:
  1. A date range (start_date and end_date).
  2. The logged-in user’s role.
  3. The logged-in user’s ID.

What We’ve Tried:

1. Using the URL parameters approach (e.g., adding ?start_date=YYYY-MM-DD&end_date=YYYY-MM-DD to filter).
   • While this partially works for simple filters, it’s not integrating well with the dynamic date range and user-specific parameters.
2. JavaScript for frontend filtering.
   • We tried applying filters via JavaScript by targeting the wpDataTable instance, but it didn’t seem to trigger or reload the filtered data as expected.
3. Hook-based server-side filtering.
   • We attempted using hooks such as wpdatatables_filter_data_before_display, but there were inconsistencies in passing dynamic data like user role or ID, especially for date ranges selected on the frontend.

Current Situation: The table renders correctly, but:

• The dynamic date range filter doesn’t work as expected.
• User role and ID-based filtering are not applied consistently.
• We’re unsure of the best method to implement a robust solution that combines these three filtering parameters.

Our Goal: We need a clear and efficient way to:

1. Dynamically filter the table based on a date range selected on the frontend (via dropdown or date picker).
2. Apply server-side filters to ensure that data is displayed according to the logged-in user’s role and user ID.
3. Combine these filters seamlessly so the table updates correctly without requiring a page reload.

Could you please guide us on how to achieve this? If there’s a recommended method, example code, or best practice for such scenarios, we would appreciate your help.

Thank you for your assistance!

Best regards, Mr Jim