Title: _get_meta_table
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# _get_meta_table( string $type ): string|false

## In this article

 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Retrieves the name of the metadata table for the specified object type.

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$type`stringrequired

Type of object metadata is for. Accepts `'blog'`, `'post'`, `'comment'`, `'term'`,`'
user'`, or any other object type with an associated meta table.

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 string|false Metadata table name, or false if no metadata table exists

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    function _get_meta_table( $type ) {
    	global $wpdb;

    	$table_name = $type . 'meta';

    	if ( empty( $wpdb->$table_name ) ) {
    		return false;
    	}

    	return $wpdb->$table_name;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/meta.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/meta.php#L1294)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/meta.php#L1294-L1304)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Used by | Description | 
| [WP_Meta_Query::get_sql()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_meta_query/get_sql/)`wp-includes/class-wp-meta-query.php` |

Generates SQL clauses to be appended to a main query.

  | 
| [delete_metadata()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_metadata/)`wp-includes/meta.php` |

Deletes metadata for the specified object.

  | 
| [get_metadata_by_mid()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_metadata_by_mid/)`wp-includes/meta.php` |

Retrieves metadata by meta ID.

  | 
| [update_metadata_by_mid()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/update_metadata_by_mid/)`wp-includes/meta.php` |

Updates metadata by meta ID.

  | 
| [delete_metadata_by_mid()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/delete_metadata_by_mid/)`wp-includes/meta.php` |

Deletes metadata by meta ID.

  | 
| [update_meta_cache()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/update_meta_cache/)`wp-includes/meta.php` |

Updates the metadata cache for the specified objects.

  | 
| [add_metadata()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/add_metadata/)`wp-includes/meta.php` |

Adds metadata for the specified object.

  | 
| [update_metadata()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/update_metadata/)`wp-includes/meta.php` |

Updates metadata for the specified object. If no value already exists for the specified object ID and metadata key, the metadata will be added.

  |

[Show 3 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#)
[Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#)

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_get_meta_table/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [2.9.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/2.9.0/) | Introduced. |

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