W3cubDocs

/WordPress

get_the_author_meta( string $field = '', int|false $user_id = false )

Retrieves the requested data of the author of the current post.

Description

Valid values for the $field parameter include:

  • admin_color
  • aim
  • comment_shortcuts
  • description
  • display_name
  • first_name
  • ID
  • jabber
  • last_name
  • nickname
  • plugins_last_view
  • plugins_per_page
  • rich_editing
  • syntax_highlighting
  • user_activation_key
  • user_description
  • user_email
  • user_firstname
  • user_lastname
  • user_level
  • user_login
  • user_nicename
  • user_pass
  • user_registered
  • user_status
  • user_url
  • yim

Parameters

$field

(string) (Optional) The user field to retrieve.

Default value: ''

$user_id

(int|false) (Optional) User ID.

Default value: false

Return

(string) The author's field from the current author's DB object, otherwise an empty string.

More Information

If used within The Loop, the user ID need not be specified, it defaults to current post author. A user ID must be specified if used outside The Loop.

get_the_author_meta() returns the data for use programmatically in PHP. To just display it instead, use the_author_meta()

If the specified meta field does not exist for this user, an empty string is returned.

Plugins may add additional fields to the user profile, which in turn adds new key/value pairs to the wp_usermeta database table. This additional data can be retrieved by passing the field’s key to the function as the $field parameter.

Source

File: wp-includes/author-template.php

function get_the_author_meta( $field = '', $user_id = false ) {
	$original_user_id = $user_id;

	if ( ! $user_id ) {
		global $authordata;
		$user_id = isset( $authordata->ID ) ? $authordata->ID : 0;
	} else {
		$authordata = get_userdata( $user_id );
	}

	if ( in_array( $field, array( 'login', 'pass', 'nicename', 'email', 'url', 'registered', 'activation_key', 'status' ), true ) ) {
		$field = 'user_' . $field;
	}

	$value = isset( $authordata->$field ) ? $authordata->$field : '';

	/**
	 * Filters the value of the requested user metadata.
	 *
	 * The filter name is dynamic and depends on the $field parameter of the function.
	 *
	 * @since 2.8.0
	 * @since 4.3.0 The `$original_user_id` parameter was added.
	 *
	 * @param string    $value            The value of the metadata.
	 * @param int       $user_id          The user ID for the value.
	 * @param int|false $original_user_id The original user ID, as passed to the function.
	 */
	return apply_filters( "get_the_author_{$field}", $value, $user_id, $original_user_id );
}

Changelog

Version Description
2.8.0 Introduced.

© 2003–2019 WordPress Foundation
Licensed under the GNU GPLv2+ License.
https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_the_author_meta