{"id":52,"date":"2026-04-27T20:15:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/2026\/04\/27\/custom-fields\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T20:15:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:15:55","slug":"custom-fields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/2026\/04\/27\/custom-fields\/","title":{"rendered":"Custom Fields"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Custom Fields [Pro]<\/em><\/h1>\n\n\n

Custom fields are category-specific listing details \u2014 make\/model\/year for cars, bedrooms\/bathrooms\/sqft for property, salary\/employment-type for jobs.<\/p>\n\n

Pro feature.<\/strong> The free theme uses standard WordPress custom fields (_bc_price<\/code>, _bc_location<\/code> etc.) but doesn’t render category-specific UI for them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n\n

Built-in field sets<\/h2>\n\n\n

Pro ships with three pre-configured field sets:<\/p>\n\n\n

Vehicles<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Key<\/th>\nField<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nRequired<\/th>\n<\/tr><\/thead>
make<\/code><\/td>\nMake<\/td>\ntext<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
model<\/code><\/td>\nModel<\/td>\ntext<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
year<\/code><\/td>\nYear<\/td>\nnumber<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
mileage<\/code><\/td>\nMileage<\/td>\nnumber<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
transmission<\/code><\/td>\nTransmission<\/td>\nselect (manual, auto)<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
fuel<\/code><\/td>\nFuel type<\/td>\nselect (petrol, diesel, electric, hybrid)<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n

Property<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Key<\/th>\nField<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nRequired<\/th>\n<\/tr><\/thead>
bedrooms<\/code><\/td>\nBedrooms<\/td>\nnumber<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
bathrooms<\/code><\/td>\nBathrooms<\/td>\nnumber<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
sqft<\/code><\/td>\nSquare footage<\/td>\nnumber<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
rent_or_sale<\/code><\/td>\nRent or sale<\/td>\nselect (rent, sale)<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n

Jobs<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Key<\/th>\nField<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nRequired<\/th>\n<\/tr><\/thead>
salary<\/code><\/td>\nSalary range<\/td>\ntext<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
employment<\/code><\/td>\nEmployment type<\/td>\nselect (full-time, part-time, contract, freelance)<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
experience<\/code><\/td>\nExperience level<\/td>\nselect (entry, mid, senior, lead)<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
remote<\/code><\/td>\nRemote?<\/td>\nselect (yes, no, hybrid)<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n
\n\n

How fields are stored<\/h2>\n\n\n

Each field becomes a post meta with the prefix _bc_field_{key}<\/code>. So make<\/code> is stored as _bc_field_make<\/code>. The full set is also stored as a serialized array under _bc_custom_fields<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n

This dual-storage lets you query individual fields fast (meta_query<\/code> works) AND get all fields with one DB call.<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Defining a new field set<\/h2>\n\n\n

Classifieds Pro \u2192 Settings \u2192 Custom Fields \u2192 Add field set<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Pick the category this set applies to.<\/li>\n
  2. Add fields one by one with: key, label, type, required, default, helper text.<\/li>\n
  3. Choose if the field should appear in the listing’s sidebar info card on the frontend.<\/li>\n
  4. Choose if the field should be filterable in search.<\/li>\n
  5. Save<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n

    The submission form picks up the new fields automatically when a user picks that category.<\/p>\n\n

    \n\n

    Field types<\/h2>\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Type<\/th>\nUI<\/th>\nStorage<\/th>\n<\/tr><\/thead>
    text<\/code><\/td>\nText input<\/td>\nstring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    number<\/code><\/td>\nNumber input with step controls<\/td>\nfloat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    select<\/code><\/td>\nDropdown<\/td>\nstring (the chosen value’s key)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    radio<\/code><\/td>\nRadio group<\/td>\nstring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    checkbox<\/code><\/td>\nSingle checkbox<\/td>\n“1” or “”<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    multi-checkbox<\/code><\/td>\nGroup of checkboxes<\/td>\narray (serialized)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    textarea<\/code><\/td>\nMulti-line text<\/td>\nstring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    date<\/code><\/td>\nDate picker<\/td>\nYYYY-MM-DD string<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    url<\/code><\/td>\nURL input with validation<\/td>\nstring<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    range<\/code><\/td>\nMin\/max pair (e.g. price range)<\/td>\narray of 2 floats<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n
    \n\n

    Rendering custom fields on the frontend<\/h2>\n\n\n

    By default Pro renders all custom fields in a definition list inside the listing sidebar. To hide a field:<\/p>\n\n\n

    add_filter( 'best_classifieds_visible_custom_fields', function( $fields, $post_id ) {\n    unset( $fields['internal_notes'] ); \/\/ never show\n    return $fields;\n}, 10, 2 );<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n
    To customize the rendering of a specific field:<\/p>\n\n\n
    add_filter( 'best_classifieds_render_custom_field', function( $html, $key, $value, $field ) {\n    if ( 'mileage' === $key && $value ) {\n        return '<dt>' . esc_html( $field['label'] ) . '<\/dt><dd>'\n            . esc_html( number_format_i18n( $value ) . ' mi' )\n            . '<\/dd>';\n    }\n    return $html;\n}, 10, 4 );<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
    \n\n
    Filterable fields in search<\/h2>\n\n\n
    If a field is marked Filterable<\/strong>, it shows up in the category archive page’s filter bar. Visitors can refine listings by:<\/p>\n\n\n
      \n
    • Make and Model (Vehicles archive)<\/li>\n
    • Bedrooms (Property archive)<\/li>\n
    • Salary range (Jobs archive)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
      The filter UI is generated automatically from the field type:<\/p>\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      Field type<\/th>\nFilter UI<\/th>\n<\/tr><\/thead>
      select<\/code> \/ radio<\/code><\/td>\nMulti-select dropdown<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      number<\/code> \/ range<\/code><\/td>\nMin\/max sliders<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      checkbox<\/code><\/td>\nToggle<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      date<\/code><\/td>\nDate range picker<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n
      \n\n
      Importing custom field data<\/h2>\n\n\n
      If you’re migrating from another theme:<\/p>\n\n\n
      # WP-CLI: bulk-set a custom field on all Vehicles listings\nwp post list --post_type=post --tax_term=vehicles --format=ids \n  | xargs -I {} wp post meta update {} _bc_field_make 'Honda'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n
      Or via SQL:<\/p>\n\n\n
      INSERT INTO wp_postmeta (post_id, meta_key, meta_value)\nSELECT post_id, '_bc_field_year', '2020'\nFROM wp_term_relationships tr\nJOIN wp_term_taxonomy tt USING (term_taxonomy_id)\nJOIN wp_terms t USING (term_id)\nWHERE t.slug = 'vehicles';<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
      \n\n
      Custom fields don’t lock you in<\/h2>\n\n\n
      All custom field data is in standard WordPress post meta \u2014 exportable via tools like WP All Export, accessible to other themes. If you migrate away from Best Classifieds, the data stays portable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      Custom fields are category-specific listing details \u2014 make\/model\/year for cars, bedrooms\/bathrooms\/sqft for property, salary\/employment-type for jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pro-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.fasterthemes.com\/best-classifieds-wordpress-theme\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}