3

I'm trying to hook into the "save_post" action from an AJAX callback in my plugin, but it doesn't seem to work. In fact, hooking into "save_posts" only seems to work from a few key action execution points (e.g. "init" or "admin_init") but not from others (e.g. an "add_meta_boxes" callback).

In my particular case, I'd like to click a button on the Edit Post screen to add a new custom metabox, and have it save the metabox's data properly. But of course by the time I click that button and add that metabox, I've already hooked the "save_post" action once and WP seemingly doesn't want to let me hook it again.

Looking briefly through the WP source code, I don't see any obvious reasons why I shouldn't be able to hook that action again. Any ideas how to work around this apparent limitation, or at least an explanation as to why it's not working?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

Adding function to hooks is runtime operation, it is not persistent. Whatever hook operation you run in Ajax actions - they are performed in separate WP instance and expire as soon as Ajax response is returned. They have no influence on currently loaded page.

You probably need to hook your functionality to save_post as usual (not in Ajax action) and check for your additional metabox to handle it.

Improve this answer
2
  • That makes sense; thanks for the explanation. I think the workaround is to add a persistent parent object that can store an array of metaboxes (including those built by "do_metaboxes" and those added via AJAX). When I add a metabox, I'll update that array and the save_post callback will check it. Will definitely require some class rearrangement, but the flexibility will be worth it.
    – danblaker
    Commented May 7, 2011 at 23:52
  • OK, turns out a persistent parent object was fool's gold. I guess there's a reason why the vast majority of custom field classes rely on the $_POST array. That's now where I check for my additional metabox.
    – danblaker
    Commented May 17, 2011 at 23:06
1

I was literally banging my head around a related issue and this is the first thing I've read online that gave a solid pointer to what I was doing wrong.

Turns out add_meta_boxes is called later than save_post, so you'd need to set up the save hook BEFORE the metabox is created. Seems counter-intuitive at first, but the markup is typically generated AFTER Wordpress goes through it's processing, so it makes sense that the hooks are being set up before the metabox is rendered.

Thankfully I had a bit of code that tied into the admin_init hook, which fires off before save_post so it became really easy to fix the problem at hand.

Once again, thanks for posting this question. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but it hinted at the answer to the problem.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.