Enzymes
Retrieve properties and custom fields of posts, pages, and authors, right into the visual editor of posts and pages, and everywhere else.
Consider an alternative
Enzymes shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 16 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 16 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 3.0 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Enzymes stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| custom fields | >100 |
| enzymes | #3 |
| inclusion | >100 |
| properties | >100 |
| transclusion | #4 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Enzymes
From the official readme · v2.3Description
While editing the content (the visual editor is supported), Enzymes let’s you retrieve properties and custom fields of posts, pages, and authors, and have them appear right there (transclusion).
If you want something to appear elsewhere, outside the content, you can use Enzymes directly from WordPress theme files.
You can also format and modify any transcluded content on the fly, using reusable code snippets stored inside files or custom fields.
Enzymes makes it very easy to re-use parts of your content around your blog, just by referencing it.
Here are two little samples, whose preconditions are these:
* you have a post with the slug postcard-from-barcelona, with a custom field with the key report and the value warm and sunny (Feb, 2008)
* in the post with the id 1 you have a custom field with the key marker and the value return '<span style="background-color:' . $this->substrate . ';">' . $this->pathway . '</span>';
Simple transclusion: a custom field of a post is made appear in another post
The weather in Barcelona was always {[ @postcard-from-barcelona.report ]} and we stayed outdoor most of the day.
is sent to the browser as
The weather in Barcelona was always warm and sunny (Feb, 2008) and we stayed outdoor most of the day.
Simple evaluation: a custom field is transcluded and highlighed with a yellow marker
The weather in Barcelona was always {[ @postcard-from-barcelona.report | 1.marker( =yellow= ) ]} and we stayed outdoor most of the day.
is sent to the browser as
The weather in Barcelona was always <span style=”background-color:yellow;”>warm and sunny (Feb, 2008)</span> and we stayed outdoor most of the day.
Enzymes Manual
I’ve set up a page with all you need to know about Enzymes.
Installation
- Copy to your plugins folder
- Activate Enzymes
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
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Best Enzymes alternatives
All custom fields plugins →FAQ
Enzymes: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 14, 2026
Is Enzymes free?
Yes. Enzymes is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Enzymes safe to use in 2026?
Enzymes shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 16 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Enzymes?
Enzymes is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 4,258 times since it launched in April 2007. It was downloaded 61 times in the last 30 days.
Does Enzymes work with WordPress 7.1?
Enzymes is officially tested up to WordPress 3.0.5, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Enzymes last updated?
The latest version, 2.3, was released on June 27, 2010 (16 years ago).
Who makes Enzymes?
Enzymes is developed and maintained by Andrea Ercolino.
What are the best alternatives to Enzymes?
The most popular alternatives to Enzymes are Advanced Custom Fields (ACF… (2M+ installs), Meta Box (500K+ installs) and Checkout Field Editor (Chec… (400K+ installs).
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