add_term_meta( int $term_id, string $meta_key, mixed $meta_value, bool $unique = false ): int|false|WP_Error

Description

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$term_idint

Term ID.

$meta_keystring

Metadata name.

$meta_valuemixed

Metadata value. Arrays and objects are stored as serialized data and will be returned as the same type when retrieved. Other data types will be stored as strings in the database:
- false is stored and retrieved as an empty string ('')
- true is stored and retrieved as '1'
- numbers (both integer and float) are stored and retrieved as strings Must be serializable if non-scalar.

$uniquebooloptional

Whether the same key should not be added.
Default false.Default: false

Return value

int|false|WP_Error

Meta ID on success, false on failure.
WP_Error when term_id is ambiguous between taxonomies.

Performance profile

How much work a call to add_term_meta() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Moderate

Reads stored settings via get_option(), cached per request but not free on a cold cache.

Scaling

Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions

16–17

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 25.

Plugin surface

None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by

1

1 place in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• optionoption read or writeget_option()one call below add_term_meta()
• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()one call below add_term_meta()
• serializeserialisationmaybe_serialize()one call below add_term_meta()
• cacheobject cachewp_cache_delete()one call below add_term_meta()

Further down the call graph this can also reach query and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 2 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost add_term_meta() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

Uses · 4

• wp_term_is_shared()Determines whether a term is shared between multiple taxonomies.
• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• add_metadata()Adds metadata for the specified object.
• WP_Error::__construct()Initializes the error.

Used by · 1

• wp_xmlrpc_server::set_term_custom_fields()Sets custom fields for a term.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

1403function add_term_meta( $term_id, $meta_key, $meta_value, $unique = false ) {1404	if ( wp_term_is_shared( $term_id ) ) {1405		return new WP_Error( 'ambiguous_term_id', __( 'Term meta cannot be added to terms that are shared between taxonomies.' ), $term_id );1406	}1407 1408	return add_metadata( 'term', $term_id, $meta_key, $meta_value, $unique );1409}

Changelog

Introduced in 4.4.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.