WP_Query uses PHP's native parse_str function, which uses the following structure to denote arrays: 'post__not_in[]=1&post__not_in[]=2&post__not_in[]=3' is the same as array( 'post__not_in' => array( 1,2,3 ) ) More Solution themes - How can I version the main CSS file? in WordPress deployment - How can I easily reduce the size of WordPress installation from development to production? in WordPress pagination - How to show a single post on the front page but have normal paging? in WordPress customization - Plugin upgrade issue in WordPress svn - Getting Started with Subversion, Git, or similar Version Control System to keep a History of my Files? in WordPress Reffered: https://wordpress.org/