Wordpress save meta data : Displaying the word Array when selected

Question

I am trying to save custom fields on a custom post type. When I save the data it shows the word "Array" as if I am trying to echo an array. I did a var_dump and it gives me this:

array(1) {

[0]=>

string(5) "Hello"

}

So I tried echoing it as $_POST['catagory'][0] instead and it gives me the same result.

Here is my code:

/*
 * create meta box and fields for catagories
 */

function littlereds_menu_catagoriesMetaBox()
{
    add_meta_box('littlereds_menu_catagoriesMeta', "Catagories", "littlereds_menu_catagoriesCallback", "littlereds_cat", "normal");
}
add_action('add_meta_boxes', 'littlereds_menu_catagoriesMetaBox');

function littlereds_menu_catagoriesCallback($post)
{
    wp_nonce_field(basename(__FILE__), 'littlereds_catagoryNonce');
    $littlereds_storedMeta = get_post_meta($post->ID);
?>

    <input name="catagory" id="catagory" type="text" value="<?php
        if(!empty($littlereds_storedMeta['catagory']))
            echo esc_attr($littlereds_storedMeta['catagory']);
    ?>" />
    <pre><?php var_dump($littlereds_storedMeta['catagory']); ?></pre>

<?php

}


/*
 * Save Catagories
 */
function littlereds_save_catagoriesMetaData($post_id)
{
    //Check the save status
    $is_autosave    = wp_is_post_autosave($post_id);
    $is_revision    = wp_is_post_revision($post_id);
    $is_valid_nonce = (isset($_POST['littlereds_catagoryNonce']) &&     wp_verify_nonce($_POST['littlereds_catagoryNonce'], basename(__FILE__))) ? 'true' : 'false';

//Exits script based on save status
if($is_autosave || $is_revision || !$is_valid_nonce)
    return;

//Save or update field data
if(isset($_POST['catagory']))
    update_post_meta ($post_id, 'catagory', sanitize_text_field($_POST['catagory']));

}
add_action('save_post', 'littlereds_save_catagoriesMetaData');

P.S: Is there an easier way to post code on here other than putting 4 spaces in front of every line? sense the Tab key does not work for spacing in a web form it is really annoying.

Answer 1

So yes, the problem is not with the saving, it's how you load the saved data back... See the documentation for get_post_meta: if you dont' provide a meta data key, the function returns all meta data for that post - which has to be returned as an array. Try this instead:

$littlereds_storedMeta = get_post_meta($post->ID, 'catagory', true);

Note the last parameter "true" which will force the function to return a single value instead of, again, an array.

Hope this helps!