Custom Post Type with Input fields to seperate table on database.

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At the moment I’m using a custom post type called ‘locations’ I would like to be able to put input fields into the custom post type that would store the information such as ( address, type, phone number, etc.. ) in a separate table called ‘markers’ So when a new post is made it will create a new entry in the table markers from the following input fields / have it updatable or removable when post is either changed or deleted.

I’m not sure where to start to get these linked together to work in such a fashion, I know how to make a insert.php file to add new locations and to create a database but not with wordpress in such a fashion. My apologies but I’m pretty new to SQL and PHP.

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3 comments

  1. You should avoid creating more tables. Just do it if you really have a good reason to. Note that wp_postmeta can store practically any kind of data, and simply using the get_post_meta function can do all the job in most cases.

    But if you must use another table, and taking it generally, then you’re looking for the save_post and delete_post hooks.

    Replicating custom fields

    Because you mention custom fields, if you want to replicate the information from wp_postmeta to another table, you would do something like:

    add_action('save_post', 'save_markers');
function save_markers($post_id) {
    global $wpdb;
    $marker = get_post_meta($post_id, 'marker_custom_field', true);
    // go and put $marker on the markers table
    $wpdb->query("INSERT INTO markers ...");
}

    The above applies also for the delete_post hook.

    Metaboxes

    But, if you want to store the information directly on the other table, maybe metaboxes suits you better.

    add_action( 'add_meta_boxes', 'marker_add_meta_box');
function marker_add_meta_box() {
    add_meta_box( 
        'marker_metabox',
        __('Marker Title', 'your-plugin-textdomain'),
        'marker_metabox',
        'post' 
    );
}

function marker_metabox ($post) {
    wp_nonce_field(plugin_basename( __FILE__ ), 'your-plugin-texdomain');
    $marker = get_marker_from_another_table();
    ?>
    <label for="marker_field">
        <?php _e('Marker field description', 'your-plugin-texdomain'); ?>
    </label>
    <input type="text" id="marker_field" name="marker_field" value="<?php echo $marker; ?>" size="25" />
    <?php
}

    And then, for saving it:

    add_action('save_post', 'save_markers');
function save_markers ($post_id) {
    if (defined( 'DOING_AUTOSAVE' ) && DOING_AUTOSAVE) 
        return;
    if ('locations' != $_POST['post_type'])
        return;
    if (!current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post_id ))
        return;

    /* Here you have $marker and $post_id, then you can just
       do the reference in your markers table. */

    global $wpdb;

    $marker = $_POST['marker_field'];
    $wpdb->query("INSERT INTO markers VALUES ...");

}

    And of course, you can do more verifications with the code above.

  2. You have 3 options.

    1. Just use the native custom fields in WordPress, unless you have a
      good reason not to, they would suit you fine and work perfectly with
      custom post types.

      http://codex.wordpress.org/Custom_Fields

    2. Create your own custom fields and tie them into your CPT using wpdb.
      You need a good reason to do this instead of using option1.

      http://codex.wordpress.org/Class_Reference/wpdb

    3. Check out the pods framework, it is basically CPT’s with more
      control over the DB.

  3. INSERT INTO `wp_postmeta` (post_id, meta_key, meta_value) VALUES (*ID*, 'translation', *VALUE*;

    Where ID is the id of the post you’re attaching the value for and VALUE is the meta value of the “translation” field.

    Like I said, doable … but you’ll need a separate INSERT query for each post. You could dump all of these into a single text file and run the entire set in one pass if you want, otherwise it might take as much time as it would to just add the key through the WordPress UI in the first place.