Displaying custom field data in Wordpress - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ component_behavior

intermediate

What is the output of this WordPress code snippet?

Given a post with a custom field 'price' set to '25', what will this code output inside the Loop?

echo get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'price', true);

Wordpress

echo get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'price', true);

A 25

B Array containing '25'

C The string 'price'

D Empty string

💡 Hint

Remember that the third parameter 'true' returns a single value, not an array.

get_post_meta with third parameter true returns the single value of the custom field, which is '25'.

📝 Syntax

intermediate

Which option correctly retrieves and displays a custom field 'author_name' in WordPress?

Select the code snippet that correctly fetches and echoes the 'author_name' custom field for the current post inside the Loop.

A echo get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'author_name');

B echo get_post_meta('author_name', get_the_ID(), true);

C echo get_post_meta('author_name');

D echo get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'author_name', true);

💡 Hint

Check the order of parameters for get_post_meta function.

The correct order is post ID, meta key, and whether to return single value. Option D follows this order.

❓ state_output

advanced

What will be the output of this code when the custom field 'rating' is not set?

Inside the Loop, consider this code:

$rating = get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'rating', true);
echo $rating ?: 'No rating available';

What will it output if 'rating' is missing?

Wordpress

$rating = get_post_meta(get_the_ID(), 'rating', true);
echo $rating ?: 'No rating available';

A No rating available

B 0

C Empty string

D PHP Notice error

💡 Hint

The ?: operator returns the right side if the left side is empty or false.

If the meta field is missing, get_post_meta returns an empty string, so the expression outputs 'No rating available'.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this code not display the custom field value?

This code is inside the Loop:

echo get_post_meta('price', get_the_ID(), true);

Why does it not show the expected price?

Wordpress

echo get_post_meta('price', get_the_ID(), true);

A The third parameter must be false to get a single value.

B The parameters are in the wrong order; post ID must be first.

C get_the_ID() returns null inside the Loop.

D The meta key 'price' does not exist.

💡 Hint

Check the order of parameters in get_post_meta function.

get_post_meta expects post ID first, then meta key. The code has them reversed, so it fails to retrieve the value.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Which statement about displaying custom field data in WordPress is TRUE?

Choose the correct statement about retrieving and displaying custom field data using get_post_meta.

A get_post_meta always returns a string regardless of the third parameter.

B get_post_meta requires the meta key to be the first parameter.

C get_post_meta returns an array by default unless the third parameter is true.

D get_post_meta cannot be used inside the Loop.

💡 Hint

Think about the return type of get_post_meta with and without the third parameter.

By default, get_post_meta returns an array of values for the meta key. Passing true returns a single value.