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get_the_author_meta()

get_the_author_meta( string $field = '', int|false $user_id = false ): string

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Retrieves the requested data of the author of the current post.

Description

Valid values for the $field parameter include:

  • admin_color
  • aim
  • comment_shortcuts
  • description
  • display_name
  • first_name
  • ID
  • jabber
  • last_name
  • nickname
  • plugins_last_view
  • plugins_per_page
  • rich_editing
  • syntax_highlighting
  • user_activation_key
  • user_description
  • user_email
  • user_firstname
  • user_lastname
  • user_level
  • user_login
  • user_nicename
  • user_pass
  • user_registered
  • user_status
  • user_url
  • yim

Parameters

$fieldstringoptional
The user field to retrieve.

Default:''

$user_idint|falseoptional
User ID. Defaults to the current post author.

Default:false

Return

string The author’s field from the current author’s DB object, otherwise an empty string.

More Information

If used within The Loop, the user ID need not be specified, it defaults to current post author. A user ID must be specified if used outside The Loop.

get_the_author_meta() returns the data for use programmatically in PHP. To just display it instead, use the_author_meta()

If the specified meta field does not exist for this user, an empty string is returned.

Plugins may add additional fields to the user profile, which in turn adds new key/value pairs to the wp_usermeta database table. This additional data can be retrieved by passing the field’s key to the function as the $field parameter.

Source

function get_the_author_meta( $field = '', $user_id = false ) {
	$original_user_id = $user_id;

	if ( ! $user_id ) {
		global $authordata;
		$user_id = isset( $authordata->ID ) ? $authordata->ID : 0;
	} else {
		$authordata = get_userdata( $user_id );
	}

	if ( in_array( $field, array( 'login', 'pass', 'nicename', 'email', 'url', 'registered', 'activation_key', 'status' ), true ) ) {
		$field = 'user_' . $field;
	}

	$value = isset( $authordata->$field ) ? $authordata->$field : '';

	/**
	 * Filters the value of the requested user metadata.
	 *
	 * The filter name is dynamic and depends on the $field parameter of the function.
	 *
	 * @since 2.8.0
	 * @since 4.3.0 The `$original_user_id` parameter was added.
	 *
	 * @param string    $value            The value of the metadata.
	 * @param int       $user_id          The user ID for the value.
	 * @param int|false $original_user_id The original user ID, as passed to the function.
	 */
	return apply_filters( "get_the_author_{$field}", $value, $user_id, $original_user_id );
}

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Hooks

apply_filters( “get_the_author_{$field}”, string $value, int $user_id, int|false $original_user_id )

Filters the value of the requested user metadata.

UsesDescription
get_userdata()wp-includes/pluggable.php

Retrieves user info by user ID.

apply_filters()wp-includes/plugin.php

Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.

Used byDescription
WP_Posts_List_Table::column_author()wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php

Handles the post author column output.

WP_Media_List_Table::column_author()wp-admin/includes/class-wp-media-list-table.php

Handles the author column output.

get_the_archive_description()wp-includes/general-template.php

Retrieves the description for an author, post type, or term archive.

wp_prepare_revisions_for_js()wp-admin/includes/revision.php

Prepare revisions for JavaScript.

feed_links_extra()wp-includes/general-template.php

Displays the links to the extra feeds such as category feeds.

get_profile()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve user data based on field.

get_the_author_icq()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the ICQ number of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_yim()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the Yahoo! IM name of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_msn()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the MSN address of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_aim()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the AIM address of the author of the current post.

get_author_name()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the specified author’s preferred display name.

get_the_author_url()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the URL to the home page of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_ID()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the ID of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_description()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the description of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_login()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the login name of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_firstname()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the first name of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_lastname()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the last name of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_nickname()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the nickname of the author of the current post.

get_the_author_email()wp-includes/deprecated.php

Retrieve the email of the author of the current post.

wp_post_revision_title_expanded()wp-includes/post-template.php

Retrieves formatted date timestamp of a revision (linked to that revisions’s page).

the_author_meta()wp-includes/author-template.php

Outputs the field from the user’s DB object. Defaults to current post’s author.

get_the_author_link()wp-includes/author-template.php

Retrieves either author’s link or author’s name.

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Changelog

VersionDescription
2.8.0Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 8 content
    aThemeArt
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 9You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

    Get the author ID Outside loop: 

    global $post;
$author_id = $post->post_author;

    Get the author ID inside a loop : 

     $author_id = get_the_author_meta( 'ID' );

    bellow is a few examples of author value :

    // to get  nicename
get_the_author_meta( 'nicename', $author_id );

// to get  email
get_the_author_meta( 'email', $author_id );

// to get  url
get_the_author_meta( 'url', $author_id );

// to get  status
get_the_author_meta( 'status', $author_id );
  3. Skip to note 10 content
    Milana Cap
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 4You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

    Using the wpautop() for description will also keep the line break (like in studio-jt’ comment) but will output cleaner html:

    /**
 * Display Author's description 
 * with keeping line breaks and wrapping its paragraphs
 * into <p> tag
 *
 * @link https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wpautop/
 */
echo wpautop( get_the_author_meta( 'description' ) );
  5. Skip to note 12 content
    Codex
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 1You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

    Show a User’s Display Name With Email Address Linked
    Get the email address for user ID 25, and echo it using their display name as the anchor text.

    <p>Email the author: 
    <a href="mailto:<?php echo get_the_author_meta( 'user_email', 25 ); ?>">
        <?php the_author_meta( 'display_name', 25 ); ?>
    </a>
</p>

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