Documentation » Code Snippets » Update Post Title with values from other Fields and Make Post Title Uneditable

Update Post Title with values from other Fields and Make Post Title Uneditable

This example includes an override for the post title being created by other custom fields and also adds a filter to save that change on update.

If you’ve ever ran into the need to make the Post Title on a CPT be completely managed by your Code and non-editable by the User, here’s a solution. This will require some additional setup on your Pod.

  1. You have to go into the Advanced Options for your Pod and unselect the ‘Post Title’ option in the ‘Supports’ list.
  2. Then, you’ll need to add a field at the Top of your Pod called ‘Title’ and set the actual field name to ‘label’ and make it read-only in the UI.

The following scripts can go in your functions.php or a in a plugin specifically for your project.

<?php
​
/* Plugin Name: GNT */
​
/**
 * This filter fills in the post name for our custom post type
 */
add_filter( 'wp_insert_post_data' , 'gnt_modify_post_title' , '99', 2 );
function gnt_modify_post_title($data) {
		
	//only run for our post type
	if ($data['post_type'] == 'accel_feedback') {		
	
		//make a simple date
		$date = date('d-M-Y', strtotime($data['post_date']));
		
		//get user full name or login name
		$user_info = get_userdata($data['post_author']);
		$user_full_name = trim($user_info->first_name ." ". $user_info->last_name);
		if (empty($user_full_name)) {
			$user_full_name = $user_info->user_login;
		}
			
		//create a post title	
		$data['post_title'] =  "$user_full_name - $date";				
		
	}
	
	return $data;
		
}
​
/**
 * This filter updates our read-only pod field to match the real WP title
 */
add_action('pods_api_post_save_pod_item_accel_feedback', 'gnt_post_save_accel_feedback', 10, 3);  
function gnt_post_save_accel_feedback($pieces, $is_new_item, $id) {
	
	//unhook action to avoid infinite loop! :)
	remove_action('pods_api_post_save_pod_item_accel_feedback', 'gnt_post_save_accel_feedback');  
	
	//get the pod and set our read-only 'label' to match the post title
	$pod = pods('accel_feedback', $id);
	$pod->save('label', get_the_title($id));
	
	//reinstate the action
	add_action('pods_api_post_save_pod_item_accel_feedback', 'gnt_post_save_accel_feedback');  			
			
}

After setting up the Pod, here’s an example of what the final back-end form looks like:

accel-fb-form-1

If you’re wondering how the ‘More Fields’ was changed, check out the documentation on How to Update the Meta Box Title for your Pods.

Contributor: tysonIt on Slack

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