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How to Use Conditional Logic with Meta Box Fields

21 threads Sep 9, 2025 Plugin → Meta box

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Conditional logic is a powerful way to create dynamic, user-friendly admin interfaces in WordPress. It allows you to show or hide specific meta fields based on the values of other fields. This is incredibly useful for complex post types, product catalogs, or any situation where you need to reduce clutter and guide user input.

What is Conditional Logic?

Conditional logic lets you define rules that control the visibility of your custom fields. For example, you can show a set of fields for video posts only when the 'Post Type' is set to 'Video', or display a specific list of car models only after a particular brand has been selected.

How to Implement Conditional Logic

The core Meta Box plugin provides the API for creating fields, while the separate 'MB Conditional Logic' extension handles the visual toggling. The 'visible' parameter is used within a field's configuration array to set its display conditions.

Basic Conditional Example

This example shows a 'Template ID' number field only if another field, 'theme_meta_extracontent', has a value of 'book_multi'.

'visible' => array('theme_meta_extracontent','=','book_multi')

Checking for Multiple Values

A common need is to check if a field matches any one of several values. This can be achieved using the 'in' operator. The following code will show the field if 'theme_meta_extracontent' is either 'book_multi' or 'property'.

'visible' => array('theme_meta_extracontent','in', array('book_multi', 'property'))

Working with Taxonomy Terms

Conditional logic often uses taxonomy term IDs. If you need to use term slugs for easier maintenance, you must first convert them to IDs. The following snippet demonstrates how to do this before defining your condition.

$terms = array( 'technology', 'games', 'sport' );
$term_ids = array();
foreach ( $terms as $term ) {
    $term_object = get_term_by('slug', $term, 'your_custom_taxonomy');
    $term_ids[] = $term_object->term_id;
}
// Then in your field configuration:
'visible' => ['your_custom_taxonomy', 'in', $term_ids]

Important Considerations

  • Extension Required: This functionality requires the 'MB Conditional Logic' extension, which is separate from the core free Meta Box plugin.
  • Dynamic Meta Boxes: For highly complex scenarios where the number of fields themselves needs to change based on user input (e.g., creating 10 fields because a 'Quantity' field is set to 10), you will need to use a programmatic approach within the rwmb_meta_boxes filter to dynamically generate your meta box arrays.
  • Clarity is Key: When setting up complex conditional chains, clearly comment your code to make the logic easy to understand for future maintenance.

By mastering conditional logic, you can build intuitive and efficient data entry experiences for your WordPress site's administrators.

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