Return Types

Field Return Types

Every field type returns a specific PHP type when retrieved. This reference covers what to expect from each field so you can write reliable template code.

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Quick Reference Table

Field Type	PHP Type	Example Return Value
Text	string	"Hello World"
Textarea	string	"Line one\nLine two"
URL	string	"https://example.com"
Email	string	"hello@example.com"
Date	string	"2025-12-25"
Toggle	string	"1" (on) or "" (off)
Select	string	"option_value"
Radio	string	"option_value"
Button Group	string	"option_value"
Checkbox	array	["value1", "value2"]
Image	int	123 (attachment ID)
File	int	456 (attachment ID)
Gallery	array	[123, 456, 789] (attachment IDs)
Repeater	array	[["key" => "value"], ...]

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String Fields

Text, Textarea, URL, Email, and Date all return plain strings. Always escape before output:

php

$value = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'field_key' );

echo esc_html( $value );   // For text content
echo esc_url( $value );    // For URLs
echo esc_attr( $value );   // Inside HTML attributes

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Toggle Field

Returns "1" when on and "" (empty string) when off. It does not return a boolean.

php

$toggle = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'is_featured' );

// Correct — strict comparison
if ( $toggle === '1' ) {
    echo 'Featured';
}

// Incorrect — do not use loose truthiness check
if ( $toggle ) { ... } // This works BUT is misleading — use === '1' for clarity

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Choice Fields (Select, Radio, Button Group)

All return the selected choice value as a string — not the label.

php

$status = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'project_status' );
// Returns: "active", "completed", or "archived" — whatever value you set in choices

echo esc_html( $status );

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Checkbox Field

Returns an array of selected values. Always check is_array() first.

php

$tags = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'project_tags' );

if ( is_array( $tags ) && ! empty( $tags ) ) {
    foreach ( $tags as $tag ) {
        echo '<span>' . esc_html( $tag ) . '</span>';
    }
}

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Image and File Fields

Both return an integer — the WordPress attachment ID.

php

$image_id = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'hero_image' );

if ( ! empty( $image_id ) ) {
    echo wp_get_attachment_image( $image_id, 'large' );
}

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Gallery Field

Returns an indexed array of attachment IDs (integers).

php

$gallery = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'photo_gallery' );

if ( is_array( $gallery ) && ! empty( $gallery ) ) {
    foreach ( $gallery as $image_id ) {
        echo wp_get_attachment_image( $image_id, 'medium' );
    }
}

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Repeater Field

Returns an array of associative arrays — one per row, keyed by sub-field key.

php

$items = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'team_members' );

if ( is_array( $items ) && ! empty( $items ) ) {
    foreach ( $items as $item ) {
        echo esc_html( $item['name'] ?? '' );
        echo esc_html( $item['role'] ?? '' );
    }
}

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Default Values

All helper functions accept an optional third parameter as a default:

php

// Returns 'Untitled' if hero_title has never been saved
$title = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'hero_title', 'Untitled' );

// Returns [] if gallery has never been saved
$gallery = onemeta_get_meta( get_the_ID(), 'gallery', [] );

The default is only returned when the field has never been saved. A saved empty string returns an empty string — not the default.