load_meta()

public function load_meta( int $id )

This method loads all post meta for the provided post ID into the $loaded_meta class property. This is useful when looping through posts for a layout component displayed on a single post, and does not require existing post meta values to be requiried. As with meta for the current post (if building a layout for a single post), methods are provided to assist in using loaded post meta. These methods include: get_loaded_meta(), get_serialized_loaded_meta(), get_loaded_headline(), and get_loaded_content()

Arguments#

$id
(int) (required) The post ID to retrieve post meta for.

Return#

This method does not return any value.

Example#

In the following example, we'll create a layout component for the build_components() method that displays a grid of employees and some basic information about them...

protected function build_components() {
    if ( true == $this->attr['is_archive'] ) {
        global $wp_query;
    }
    foreach ( $this->attr['components'] as $component ) {
        switch ( $component ) {
            case 'employee-grid':
                // First, we'll pull the post IDs for employees managed via a custom post type
                $args = array(
                    'post_type' => 'method_team',
                    'numberposts' => -1,
                    'orderby'     => 'menu_order',
                    'order'       => 'ASC',
                    'fields' => 'ids'
                );
                $items = get_posts( $args );
                
                // Next, we'll loop through them, if any exist
                if ( $items ) {
                    if ( is_array( $items ) ) {
                        $this->html .= '
                            <div id="method-employee-grid">
                                <div class="container">
                                    <div class="row">
                        ';
                        foreach ( $items as $item ) {
                            // Load post meta for the current empoloyee post ID into $this->loaded_meta
                            $this->load_meta( $item );
                            $this->html .= '
                                <div class="col-12 col-md-4 col-xl-3 grid-item">
                                    <h3>' . get_the_title( $item ) . '</h3>
                                    ' . get_loaded_headline( '_method_employee_title', '<p class="employee-meta mb-0">Title: ', '</p>' ) . '
                                    ' . get_loaded_headline( '_method_employee_location', '<p class="employee-meta mb-0">Location: ', '</p>' ) . '
                                    ' . ( get_loaded_meta( '_method_employee_email' ) ? '<a href="mailto:' . get_loaded_meta( '_method_employee_email' ) . '">Send Email</a>' : '' ) . '
                                </div>
                            ';
                            $this->unload_meta(); // Technically not required, but clean.
                        }
                        $this->html .= '
                                    </div>
                                </div>
                            </div>
                        ';
                    }
                }
                break;
            default:
                break;
        }
    }
    return;
}

In the example above, we use WordPress' get_posts() function to pull an array of post IDs for the method_team post type. Then, if any post IDs are returned, we set up the opening HTML for a grid. Then, we loop through each post ID, using the load_meta() method to load the post meta for each item. We then use the some of Method's utility methods to interact with the retrieved post meta for each item.