the_meta()

Displays a list of post custom fields.

More Information

This is a simple built-in function for displaying custom fields for the current post, known as the “post-meta” (stored in the wp_postmeta table). It formats the data into an unordered list (see output below).

It must be used from within The Loop or in a theme file that handles data from a single post (e.g. single.php). the_meta() will ignore meta_keys (i.e. field names) that begin with an underscore.

For more information on this tag, see Custom Fields.

Source

function the_meta() {
	_deprecated_function( __FUNCTION__, '6.0.2', 'get_post_meta()' );
	$keys = get_post_custom_keys();
	if ( $keys ) {
		$li_html = '';
		foreach ( (array) $keys as $key ) {
			$keyt = trim( $key );
			if ( is_protected_meta( $keyt, 'post' ) ) {
				continue;
			}

			$values = array_map( 'trim', get_post_custom_values( $key ) );
			$value  = implode( ', ', $values );

			$html = sprintf(
				"<li><span class='post-meta-key'>%s</span> %s</li>\n",
				/* translators: %s: Post custom field name. */
				esc_html( sprintf( _x( '%s:', 'Post custom field name' ), $key ) ),
				esc_html( $value )
			);

			/**
			 * Filters the HTML output of the li element in the post custom fields list.
			 *
			 * @since 2.2.0
			 *
			 * @param string $html  The HTML output for the li element.
			 * @param string $key   Meta key.
			 * @param string $value Meta value.
			 */
			$li_html .= apply_filters( 'the_meta_key', $html, $key, $value );
		}

		if ( $li_html ) {
			echo "<ul class='post-meta'>\n{$li_html}</ul>\n";
		}
	}
}

View all references View on Trac View on GitHub

Hooks

apply_filters( ‘the_meta_key’, string $html, string $key, string $value ): Filters the HTML output of the li element in the post custom fields list.

Uses	Description
get_post_custom_keys()`wp-includes/post.php`	Retrieves meta field names for a post.
get_post_custom_values()`wp-includes/post.php`	Retrieves values for a custom post field.
is_protected_meta()`wp-includes/meta.php`	Determines whether a meta key is considered protected.
esc_html()`wp-includes/formatting.php`	Escaping for HTML blocks.
_deprecated_function()`wp-includes/functions.php`	Marks a function as deprecated and inform when it has been used.
apply_filters()`wp-includes/plugin.php`	Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.

Show 3 more Show less

Changelog

Version	Description
1.2.0	Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

Skip to note 3 content

Codex 10 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
´Example
```
<p><?php esc_html_e( 'Meta information for this post:', 'textdomain' ); ?></p>
<?php the_meta(); ?>
```
Output from the_meta:
```
<ul class='post-meta'>
	<li><span class='post-meta-key'>your_key:</span> your_value</li>
</ul>
```
Log in to add feedback

Jb Audras 7 years ago

Since revision 41583, the_meta() allow translators to manage spaces before the colon character.

Default output:

<ul class="post-meta">
    <li><span class='post-meta-key'>Your first meta key:</span> one or several values separated by commas</li>
    …
    <li><span class='post-meta-key'>Your second meta key:</span> one or several values separated by commas</li>
    <li><span class='post-meta-key'>Your third meta key:</span> one or several values separated by commas</li>
</ul>

French output:

<ul class="post-meta">
	<li><span class='post-meta-key'>Your first meta key :</span> one or several values separated by commas</li>
	…
	<li><span class='post-meta-key'>Your second meta key :</span> one or several values separated by commas</li>
	<li><span class='post-meta-key'>Your third meta key :</span> one or several values separated by commas</li>
</ul>

There is a non breaking space character before the colon character. Each Locale can handle it differently.

In this article

More Information

Source

Hooks

Related

Changelog

User Contributed Notes