How to Use get_post_meta in WordPress: Syntax and Examples

Use get_post_meta($post_id, $key, $single) to get custom field values from a WordPress post. Provide the post ID, the meta key name, and set $single to true to get a single value or false for an array of values.

Syntax

The get_post_meta function retrieves metadata (custom fields) for a post in WordPress.

• $post_id: The ID of the post you want to get metadata from.
• $key: The meta key name as a string. Use an empty string to get all meta data.
• $single: Boolean. If true, returns a single value. If false, returns an array of values.

php

get_post_meta( int $post_id, string $key = '', bool $single = false )

Example

This example shows how to get a single custom field value called 'subtitle' from a post with ID 42 and display it.

php

<?php
$post_id = 42;
$subtitle = get_post_meta($post_id, 'subtitle', true);
if ($subtitle) {
    echo 'Subtitle: ' . esc_html($subtitle);
} else {
    echo 'No subtitle found.';
}
?>

Output

Subtitle: Your custom subtitle here

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes include:

• Using $single as false when expecting a single value, which returns an array instead.
• Not sanitizing output before displaying, which can cause security issues.
• Using the wrong post ID or meta key, resulting in empty or unexpected results.

php

<?php
// Wrong: expecting a string but $single is false, returns array
$meta_wrong = get_post_meta(42, 'subtitle', false);
echo implode(', ', $meta_wrong); // Outputs array values as string

// Right: set $single to true to get a string
$meta_right = get_post_meta(42, 'subtitle', true);
echo esc_html($meta_right);

Output

Your custom subtitle here

Quick Reference

Parameter	Description	Example
$post_id	ID of the post to get meta from	42
$key	Meta key name (custom field name)	'subtitle'
$single	Return single value (true) or array (false)	true

Key Takeaways

Use get_post_meta with the post ID, meta key, and single flag to retrieve custom fields.

Set the third parameter to true to get a single value instead of an array.

Always sanitize output before displaying to avoid security risks.

Check that the post ID and meta key are correct to get expected results.