Delete meta values for all posts - WordPress

To delete post meta, the WordPress have delete_post_meta() function. We have to specify the meta key and post id as an argument for this function.

In some situations, we have to delete meta values of all posts.

Consider that we are going to create a plugin that will store some values as meta values for WordPress posts. In such situation, when user deactivate that plugin, it is better to remove this meta values for all posts.

$to_del = array('meta_key_1', 'meta_key_2', 'meta_key_3');

$args = array(
  'post_type' => 'page',
  'posts_per_page' => -1,
  'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
  'fields' => 'ids',
  'no_found_rows' => true
);
$q = new WP_Query($args);

if (!empty($q->posts)) {
  foreach ($q->posts as $pid) {
	foreach ($to_del as $d) {
	  delete_post_meta($pid,$d);
	}
  }
}

Recent Posts

1. Scaling WordPress - How Custom Database Tables Solve the Post Meta Bottleneck
2. WordPress Transients Explained - A Developer's Guide to Site Performance
3. Behind the Click - The Hidden Journey of Your Web Requests
4. Automating Code Linting with GitHub Actions for WordPress Plugins
5. Comprehensive Guide to Linting PHP, JavaScript, and CSS in WordPress Plugins Using Composer

This article was published on February 23, 2017

Your Questions / Comments

If you found this article interesting, found errors, or just want to discuss about it, please get in touch.