Recently, we got an email from a user asking: How do you add the byline (post author, post published date, and category) below your post title on WPBeginner. These post information bylines are referred to as post meta data in WordPress. In this article, we will show you how to display blog post meta data in your WordPress themes.
What is Post Meta Data?
Post meta data is the information you provide to viewers about each post. This usually includes the post author, post category, time of publishing, post tags, etc. Depending on the theme styling, post meta data can be placed in one of many positions like below post title, at the bottom of the post, top sidebar etc.
How to Display Byline like WPBeginner?
All you have to do is inside your post loop, paste the following code:
By <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?> on <?php the_time('F jS, Y'); ?> in <?php the_category(', '); ?> <?php edit_post_link(__('{Edit}'), ''); ?>
Note: only logged in editors will see the “Edit” link. Users will not.
Unlimited Possibilities
While what we have on our site is a very common example, displaying post meta data has unlimited possibilities. Depending on your theme, you can choose to style it creatively. Below are some screenshots to get the ideas rolling:
If you look at the image above, they show the date and author name right below the title. However, category, tags, and comments are shown at the bottom of the post.
Chris Coyier shows the date next to the post excerpt. The second number is the comments count.
Smashing Magazine shows the author name right below the title. For date, tags, and comments, they have an icon associated with each item.
Mennonites website shows the date, categories, author, and tags in the left sidebar.
As you can see that there really are unlimited possibilities when it comes to displaying your blog post meta data creatively.
I always referring the above one as post info, and the below one as post meta. In genesis, there’s a hook to do that easily.