More than one meta field in a single meta box?

Question

I'm following this tutorial by Justin Tadlock on creating meta boxes. http://wp.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/04/create-custom-post-meta-boxes-wordpress/

I can get a meta box with a single field to work without problem but I would like to create a meta box with several fields.

For example a meta box called "Staff Details" with 2 fields called "Title" and "Experience".

Does anyone know how I can do this please?

Thanks!

Answer 1

This is what you are looking for.

/* Define the custom box */

// WP 3.0+
add_action( 'add_meta_boxes', 'staff_details_metabox' );

// backwards compatible
add_action( 'admin_init', 'staff_details_metabox', 1 );

/* Do something with the data entered */
add_action( 'save_post', 'save_staff_details' );

/**
 *  Adds a box to the main column on the Post edit screen
 * 
 */
function staff_details_metabox() {
    add_meta_box( 'staff_details', __( 'Staff Details' ), 'staff_details_options', 'post', 'side', 'high' );
}

/**
 *  Prints the box content
 */
function staff_details_options( $post ) { 
  wp_nonce_field( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ), $post->post_type . '_noncename' ); ?>
  <label for="_staff_title" class="selectit"><?php _e( 'Title' ); ?>:</label> <input type="text" id="_staff_title" name="_staff_title" value="<?php echo get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_staff_title', true ); ?>" size="25" />
  <label for="_staff_experience" class="selectit"><?php _e( 'Experience' ); ?>:</label> <input type="text" id="_staff_experience" name="_staff_experience" value="<?php echo get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_staff_experience', true ); ?>" size="25" /><?php
}

/** 
 * When the post is saved, saves our custom data 
 */
function save_staff_details( $post_id ) {
  // verify if this is an auto save routine. 
  // If it is our form has not been submitted, so we dont want to do anything
  if ( defined( 'DOING_AUTOSAVE' ) && DOING_AUTOSAVE ) 
      return;

  // verify this came from the our screen and with proper authorization,
  // because save_post can be triggered at other times
  if ( !wp_verify_nonce( @$_POST[$_POST['post_type'] . '_noncename'], plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) )
      return;

  // Check permissions
  if ( !current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post_id ) )
     return;

  // OK, we're authenticated: we need to find and save the data
  if( 'post' == $_POST['post_type'] ) {
      if ( !current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post_id ) ) {
          return;
      } else {
          update_post_meta( $post_id, '_staff_title', $_POST['_staff_title'] );
          update_post_meta( $post_id, '_staff_experience', $_POST['_staff_experience'] );
      }
  } 

}

And if you want to use the custom meta in your loop you could do it like this.

if ( get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), '_staff_title', true ) ) {
    printf( __( 'Staff Title: %s' ), get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_staff_title', true ) );
}
if ( get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), '_staff_experience', true ) ) {
    printf( __( 'Staff Experience: %s' ), get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_staff_experience', true ) );
}