the_meta()
- Since
- 1.2.0
- Source
wp-includes/post-template.php:1118
Compatibility
Deprecated in WordPress 6.0.2. Use get_post_meta() to retrieve post meta and render manually.
- WordPress
- since 1.2.0
- PHP
- 7.4–8.6-dev
- 6.7.7
- 6.8.8
- 6.9.7
- 7.0.4
- 7.1.0
Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.
Performance profile
How much work a call to the_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
- Light
- Scaling
- Scales with input
- Instructions
- 10–20
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 0
Touches nothing outside its own arguments.
The body loops, so the work grows with how much data it finds.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 65.
Third-party callbacks on 'the_meta_key' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
Nothing in core calls this; the cost is only what you spend yourself.
What it touches
- hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly
Further down the call graph this can also reach option, query, cache, serialize 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 · 1 distinct outcome
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost the_meta() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 10–20 | _deprecated_function(), get_post_custom_keys() |
Across PHP versions
| PHP | Compiled | Executed | Branches | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6-dev | 65 | 10–20 | 5 | |
| 8.5 | 65 | 10–20 | 5 | |
| 8.4 | 65 | 10–20 | 5 | 5 fewer instructions than PHP 8.3 |
| 8.3 | 70 | 10–20 | 5 | |
| 8.2 | 70 | 10–20 | 5 | |
| 8.1 | 70 | 10–20 | 5 | |
| 7.4 | 70 | 10–20 | 5 |
An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.
Hooks and filters fired · 1
One hook fires while the_meta() runs, in this order:
- apply_filters( the_meta_key )filterline 1148 (+30 into the body)
Filters the HTML output of the li element in the post custom fields list.
Uses · 7
- _deprecated_function()Marks a function as deprecated and inform when it has been used.
- get_post_custom_keys()Retrieves meta field names for a post.
- is_protected_meta()Determines whether a meta key is considered protected.
- get_post_custom_values()Retrieves values for a custom post field.
- esc_html()Escaping for HTML blocks.
- _x()Retrieves translated string with gettext context.
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
Source code
function the_meta() { _deprecated_function( __FUNCTION__, '6.0.2', 'get_post_meta()' ); $keys = get_post_custom_keys(); if ( $keys ) { $li_html = ''; foreach ( (array) $keys as $key ) { $keyt = trim( $key ); if ( is_protected_meta( $keyt, 'post' ) ) { continue; } $values = array_map( 'trim', get_post_custom_values( $key ) ); $value = implode( ', ', $values ); $html = sprintf( "<li><span class='post-meta-key'>%s</span> %s</li>\n", /* translators: %s: Post custom field name. */ esc_html( sprintf( _x( '%s:', 'Post custom field name' ), $key ) ), esc_html( $value ) ); /** * Filters the HTML output of the li element in the post custom fields list. * * @since 2.2.0 * * @param string $html The HTML output for the li element. * @param string $key Meta key. * @param string $value Meta value. */ $li_html .= apply_filters( 'the_meta_key', $html, $key, $value ); } if ( $li_html ) { echo "<ul class='post-meta'>\n{$li_html}</ul>\n"; } }}Changelog
Introduced in 1.2.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
About this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.7.7 tag, from
src/wp-includes/post-template.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.