Question

I have this MySQL Query:

$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM school_staff WHERE DELETED = 'NO' AND BUILDING = '$building' ORDER by 
    Department != 'Principal',
    Department != 'Assistant Principal', 
    Department != 'Kindergarten', 
    Department != 'First Grade',
    Department != 'Second Grade',
    Department != 'Third Grade',
    Department != 'Fourth Grade',
    Department != 'Fifth Grade',
    Department != 'Learning Support',
    Department != 'Alternative Education', 
    Department != '% - Chair', 
    Department ASC") or die(mysql_error());

How would I make the line: Department != '% - Chair', to make % any text?

Answer 1

EDIT in response to your comment:

I’d use a CASE statement. Something like

ORDER BY CASE WHEN Department LIKE '% - Chair' THEN 1 WHEN Department = 'Alternative Education' THEN 2 ELSE 3 END

You can add as many WHEN statements into your CASE statement as you need.