BLACK FRIDAY
Save 59% on PageForge Annual $191/year $485/year
Claim 59% Off →
Meta Fetcher icon
Possibly abandoned Tested up to 4.4.0

Meta Fetcher

This plugin provides a simple [meta] shortcode that allows you to fetch meta information for the current $post. There are options to return a single value, multiple values joined by a user defined string, or a JSON…

Active installs10+10+ tier
Downloads · 30d42▲ +44.8% vs prev. 30d
Rating—0 reviews
Health score23/100At risk
All-time downloads1.9KSince May 2014
Support resolved—No recent threads
RequiresWP 3.0.0PHP any
Downloads · 7d12▼ -29.4% week over week
Our verdict

Consider an alternative

Meta Fetcher shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.

  • Small user base (10+ active installs)
  • Very few reviews so far
  • No update in 10 years
  • Only tested up to WordPress 4.4 (latest is 7.1)

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

246Jun 30Aug 13Sep 27
Yesterday0
Daily average (1y)1
Peak day8Sep 14, 2026
Last 12 months309

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where Meta Fetcher stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
meta >100 9,607 Best meta plugins →
post >100 10,000 Best post plugins →
shortcode >100 10,000 Best shortcode plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 0.4100.0%

About Meta Fetcher

From the official readme · v0.4

Description

This plugin provides a simple [meta] shortcode that allows you to fetch meta information for the current $post.
There are options to return a single value, multiple values joined by a user defined string, or a JSON string.

Examples:

[meta name="your_meta_field"]

This will return the value of “your_meta_field”. If the value is an array, it will return a comma separated list, unless you specify an alternative join string.

[meta name="your_meta_field" single="false"]

By default, [meta] will return a single value. If you have multiple meta fields with the same name, you can get them all by setting single=”false”.

[meta name="your_meta_field" single="false" json="true"]

This will return the JSON encoded value of “your_meta_field”.

[meta name="your_meta_field" single="false" join="|"]

This will return a pipe separated values of “your_meta_field”.

[meta name="your_meta_field" shortcode="false"]

By default, the value will be passed to do_shortcode, unless you turn if off.

[meta name="your_meta_field" filters="true"]

There are a couple filters available if you want to filter the value. They are called after do_shortcode and before any JSON/array handling.
They are on be default, but can be turned of with filters=”false”. The filters are “meta_fetcher_value” and “meta_fetcher_{$name}”.

Installation

  1. Upload meta-fetcher folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
  2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
  3. Add shortcode to your content: [meta name="some_name_here" default="some default content"]

Changelog

0.4

  • Added option to return a JSON string.
  • Added options for handling array meta values.

0.3

  • Added better checking for argument values.

0.2

  • Added additional arguments.

0.1

  • Initial build

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

For developers

Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.

Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

Best Meta Fetcher alternatives

All meta plugins →
Alternatives
Rank Plugin Active installs Rating Updated Health
1 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) ACF helps customize WordPress with powerful, professional and intuitive fields. Proudly… by WP Engine 2M+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 (1.4K) 3 weeks ago 97
2 Meta for WooCommerce Meta for WooCommerce Reach more customers and drive sales on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp with the official… by Facebook 400K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 2.1 (479) 2 months ago 63
3 Meta pixel for WordPress Meta pixel for WordPress Grow your business with Meta for WordPress! by Facebook 400K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 2.7 (164) 2 months ago 62
4 SEO SIMPLE PACK SEO SIMPLE PACK This is a very simple SEO plugin. You can easily set and customize meta tags and OGP tags… by LOOS 100K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 (14) 4 months ago 59
5 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended Advanced Custom Fields: Extended All-in-one enhancement suite that improves WordPress & Advanced Custom Fields. by Konrad Chmielewski 100K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 (132) 1 month ago 76
6 Secure Custom Fields Secure Custom Fields Secure Custom Fields boosts content management with custom fields and options. It… by WordPress.org 100K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 (65) 1 month ago 80
7 Metricool – Social media and site statistics Metricool – Social media and site statistics Site metrics and social media analytics for Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, X… by Really Simple Plugins 80K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 (21) 1 month ago 90
8 Meta Tag Manager Meta Tag Manager Easily add and manage custom meta tags to various parts of your site or on individual… by Marcus (aka @msykes) 70K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 (84) 4 days ago 79
9 Smart Custom Fields Smart Custom Fields Smart Custom Fields is a simple plugin for managing custom fields. by Takashi Kitajima 50K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 (20) 2 months ago 75
10 Custom Field Template Custom Field Template The Custom Field Template plugin extends the functionality of custom fields. by Hiroaki Miyashita 30K+ ★★★★★★★★★★ 4 (24) 2 months ago 66

FAQ

Meta Fetcher: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 28, 2026

Is Meta Fetcher free?

Yes. Meta Fetcher is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is Meta Fetcher safe to use in 2026?

Meta Fetcher shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.

How many websites use Meta Fetcher?

Meta Fetcher is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,900 times since it launched in May 2014. It was downloaded 42 times in the last 30 days.

Does Meta Fetcher work with WordPress 7.1?

Meta Fetcher is officially tested up to WordPress 4.4.0, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

When was Meta Fetcher last updated?

The latest version, 0.4, was released on December 8, 2015 (11 years ago).

Who makes Meta Fetcher?

Meta Fetcher is developed and maintained by webdeveric.

What are the best alternatives to Meta Fetcher?

The most popular alternatives to Meta Fetcher are Advanced Custom Fields (ACF… (2M+ installs), Meta for WooCommerce (400K+ installs) and Meta pixel for WordPress (400K+ installs).

Powered by PageForge

Want thousands of pages that rank like these? Build them in an afternoon.

This directory runs on the same engine as PageForge. Turn any spreadsheet, CSV or API into thousands of fast, SEO-ready WordPress pages — with schema, internal links and AI-written copy baked in.

  • CSV, Google Sheets & API data sources
  • AI content, schema & internal links per page
  • Works with Elementor, Gutenberg, Yoast & Rank Math
  • Free on WordPress.org — no credit card
Sarah is here to help!
Hi there! 👋 Need help finding what you're looking for?
Sarah
Sarah
Online & Ready to Help
Hi there! 👋 Need help finding what you're looking for?

We'll use this to continue our conversation

Just now ✓ Verified

Join 500+ SEO Pros Scaling Their Strategy

Get exclusive programmatic SEO tactics, AI content workflows, and the latest PageForge updates delivered straight to your inbox. Stay ahead of the algorithm.

We care about your data in our privacy policy.