delete_post_meta( int $post_id, string $meta_key, mixed $meta_value = '' )

Remove metadata matching criteria from a post.

Contents

Description Description

You can match based on the key, or key and value. Removing based on key and value, will keep from removing duplicate metadata with the same key. It also allows removing all metadata matching key, if needed.

Parameters Parameters

$post_id

(int) (Required) Post ID.

$meta_key

(string) (Required) Metadata name.

$meta_value

(mixed) (Optional) Metadata value. Must be serializable if non-scalar.

Default value: ''

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Return Return

(bool) True on success, false on failure.

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Source Source

File: wp-includes/post.php 

function delete_post_meta( $post_id, $meta_key, $meta_value = '' ) {
	// Make sure meta is added to the post, not a revision.
	if ( $the_post = wp_is_post_revision($post_id) )
		$post_id = $the_post;

	$deleted = delete_metadata( 'post', $post_id, $meta_key, $meta_value );
	if ( $deleted ) {
		wp_cache_set( 'last_changed', microtime(), 'posts' );
	}
	return $deleted;
}

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Changelog Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
1.5.0 Introduced.

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Used By Used By

Used By
Used By Description
wp-includes/class-wp-customize-manager.php: WP_Customize_Manager::handle_dismiss_autosave_or_lock_request()

Delete a given auto-draft changeset or the autosave revision for a given changeset or delete changeset lock.
wp-includes/nav-menu.php: _wp_delete_customize_changeset_dependent_auto_drafts()

Delete auto-draft posts associated with the supplied changeset.
wp-includes/class-wp-customize-nav-menus.php: WP_Customize_Nav_Menus::save_nav_menus_created_posts()

Publish the auto-draft posts that were created for nav menu items.
wp-admin/custom-header.php: Custom_Image_Header::ajax_header_remove()

Given an attachment ID for a header image, unsets it as a user-uploaded header image for the current theme.
wp-includes/functions.php: wp_scheduled_delete()

Permanently delete comments or posts of any type that have held a status of ‘trash’ for the number of days defined in EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS.
wp-includes/class-wp-embed.php: WP_Embed::delete_oembed_caches()

Delete all oEmbed caches. Unused by core as of 4.0.0.
wp-includes/post.php: set_post_thumbnail()

Set a post thumbnail.
wp-includes/post.php: delete_post_thumbnail()

Remove a post thumbnail.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_check_for_changed_slugs()

Check for changed slugs for published post objects and save the old slug.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_delete_attachment()

Trash or delete an attachment.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_update_attachment_metadata()

Update metadata for an attachment.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_untrash_post_comments()

Restore comments for a post from the trash.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_insert_post()

Insert or update a post.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_delete_post()

Trash or delete a post or page.
wp-includes/post.php: wp_untrash_post()

Restore a post or page from the Trash.
wp-includes/post.php: update_attached_file()

Update attachment file path based on attachment ID.
wp-includes/nav-menu.php: wp_update_nav_menu_item()

Save the properties of a menu item or create a new one.
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User Contributed Notes User Contributed Notes

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    Contributed by Codex —

    Other Examples
    Let’s assume we had a plugin that added some meta values to posts, but now when we are uninstalling the plugin, we want to delete all the post meta keys that the plugin added. Assuming the plugin added the keys related_posts and post_inspiration.

    To delete all the keys use delete_post_meta_by_key( $post_meta_key ). This would be added to the “uninstall” function:

    <?php delete_post_meta_by_key( 'related_posts' ); ?>

    Or, if you wanted to delete all the keys except where post_inspiration was “Sherlock Holmes”:

    <?php
$allposts = get_posts( 'numberposts=-1&post_type=post&post_status=any' );

foreach( $allposts as $postinfo ) {
	delete_post_meta( $postinfo->ID, 'related_posts' );
	$inspiration = get_post_meta( $postinfo->ID, 'post_inspiration' );
	foreach( $inspiration as $value ) {
		if( 'Sherlock Holmes' !== $value )
			delete_post_meta( $postinfo->ID, 'post_inspiration', $value );
	}
}
?>

    Or maybe post number 185 was just deleted, and you want to remove all related_posts keys that reference it:

    <?php
  $allposts = get_posts( 'numberposts=-1&post_type=post&post_status=any' );

  foreach( $allposts as $postinfo ) {
    delete_post_meta( $postinfo->ID, 'related_posts', '185' );
  }
?>

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