remove_meta_box( string $id, string|array|WP_Screen $screen, string $context )

Compatibility

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

Parameters

$idstring

Meta box ID (used in the 'id' attribute for the meta box).

$screenstring|array|WP_Screen

The screen or screens on which the meta box is shown (such as a post type, 'link', or 'comment'). Accepts a single screen ID, WP_Screen object, or array of screen IDs.

$contextstring

The context within the screen where the box is set to display.
Contexts vary from screen to screen. Post edit screen contexts include 'normal', 'side', and 'advanced'. Comments screen contexts include 'normal' and 'side'. Menus meta boxes (accordion sections) all use the 'side' context.

Performance profile

How much work a call to remove_meta_box() 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

Light

Touches nothing outside its own arguments.

Scaling

Scales with input

The body loops, so the work grows with what you pass in.

Instructions

13–33

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 55.

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 one call costs · 3 distinct outcomes

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

Uses · 3

• get_current_screen()Get the current screen object
• convert_to_screen()Converts a screen string to a screen object.
• remove_meta_box()Removes a meta box from one or more screens.

Used by · 1

• remove_meta_box()Removes a meta box from one or more screens.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

1487function remove_meta_box( $id, $screen, $context ) {1488	global $wp_meta_boxes;1489 1490	if ( empty( $screen ) ) {1491		$screen = get_current_screen();1492	} elseif ( is_string( $screen ) ) {1493		$screen = convert_to_screen( $screen );1494	} elseif ( is_array( $screen ) ) {1495		foreach ( $screen as $single_screen ) {1496			remove_meta_box( $id, $single_screen, $context );1497		}1498	}1499 1500	if ( ! isset( $screen->id ) ) {1501		return;1502	}1503 1504	$page = $screen->id;1505 1506	if ( ! isset( $wp_meta_boxes ) ) {1507		$wp_meta_boxes = array();1508	}1509	if ( ! isset( $wp_meta_boxes[ $page ] ) ) {1510		$wp_meta_boxes[ $page ] = array();1511	}1512	if ( ! isset( $wp_meta_boxes[ $page ][ $context ] ) ) {1513		$wp_meta_boxes[ $page ][ $context ] = array();1514	}1515 1516	foreach ( array( 'high', 'core', 'default', 'low' ) as $priority ) {1517		$wp_meta_boxes[ $page ][ $context ][ $priority ][ $id ] = false;1518	}1519}

Changelog

Introduced in 2.6.0. 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

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