Question

I have a join that selects all of the posts from users I am following and friends with

SELECT  * 
FROM    posts a 
LEFT JOIN relationships b
ON a.user_id = b.user_2 
WHERE   b.user_1 = $user_id AND 
 b.status IN (1,3,4)

How can I get this query to also select all of the posts where a.user_id = $user_id (my id)?
Basically, also select all of the posts from me? Without duplicating any data.

Answer 1

If you basically want the results of 2 queries in one table use a union query. You would need to fix the WHERE clause in the 2nd query to be correct but what about something like

SELECT  *
FROM    posts a
LEFT JOIN relationships b
ON a.user_id = b.user_2
WHERE   b.user_1 = $user_id AND
 b.status IN (1,3,4)
UNION DISTINCT
SELECT *
FROM    posts a
WHERE   a.user_id = $user_id (my id)

I would also question your use of a left join – I would think that an INNER JOIN would be better