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update_user_meta( int $user_id, string $meta_key, mixed $meta_value, mixed $prev_value = '' )

Update user meta field based on user ID.

Description

Use the $prev_value parameter to differentiate between meta fields with the same key and user ID.

If the meta field for the user does not exist, it will be added.

Parameters

$user_id

(int) (Required) User ID.

$meta_key

(string) (Required) Metadata key.

$meta_value

(mixed) (Required) Metadata value. Must be serializable if non-scalar.

$prev_value

(mixed) (Optional) Previous value to check before updating. If specified, only update existing metadata entries with this value. Otherwise, update all entries.

Default value: ''

Return

(int|bool) Meta ID if the key didn't exist, true on successful update, false on failure or if the value passed to the function is the same as the one that is already in the database.

More Information

Changes in behavior from the now deprecated update_usermeta:

Update_user_meta does not delete the meta if the new value is empty.

The actions are different.

Source

File: wp-includes/user.php

function update_user_meta( $user_id, $meta_key, $meta_value, $prev_value = '' ) {
	return update_metadata( 'user', $user_id, $meta_key, $meta_value, $prev_value );
}

Changelog

Version Description
3.0.0 Introduced.

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