How to Fix Custom Fields Not Showing in WordPress (The Complete Guide)

Custom fields are a powerful but often misunderstood feature in WordPress. They allow you to store custom data with your posts, going beyond the standard title and content fields.

But sometimes custom fields seem to disappear in WordPress. You look under the hood and they‘re nowhere to be found!

Not to worry – in this complete guide, I‘ll show you how to fix custom fields not showing in WordPress. I‘ll also take you deep on custom fields so you can use them like a pro.

A Brief History of Custom Fields

First, let‘s travel back in time.

• In WordPress 1.2 (2004), custom fields became part of the core software. This let you add custom data like SEO metadata to posts.

• Originally, they were enabled by default for all users. But in WordPress 5.0 (2018), they were hidden for new sites.

• The reason? Custom fields are considered an advanced tool. The core team didn‘t want to overwhelm new users.

So in summary – custom fields have been around for 15+ years. Their implementation has evolved over time.

Now let‘s look under the hood to see what they actually do…

What Are Custom Fields? A Technical Explanation

Here‘s a simple analogy to understand custom fields:

WordPress posts are like books. The title and content are the story itself. Custom fields are like the footnotes and appendices that add extra context.

When you write a post, WordPress stores it in the wp_posts database table. This contains:

• Title
• Content
• Excerpt
• Date published
• Author

…and other built-in fields.

But what if you want to store custom data for specific posts? For example:

• SEO metadata like focused keywords
• Related products for ecommerce posts
• Video URLs to embed in the post
• Author bio info for guest contributors

That‘s where custom fields come in!

Custom fields allow you to define your own metadata columns in the wp_postmeta database table.

You can then save custom values on a per-post basis. And retrieve them later using WordPress functions like get_post_meta().

So in technical terms:

Custom fields are custom metadata that expands the built-in attributes of WordPress posts.

This custom metadata can be incredibly useful if implemented well. Let‘s look at some examples next.

What Can You Use Custom Fields For?

Here are just a few possibilities:

• SEO plugins like Yoast and RankMath use custom fields to store optimized title, descriptions, focus keyphrases etc. This keeps them separate from actual post content.

• Ecommerce plugins like WooCommerce store product prices, inventory counts, sales stats and more as custom fields.

• Page builder plugins may save row or column layouts as custom fields.

• Translation plugins often store translated versions of posts/pages in custom fields.

• The Events Calendar plugins uses custom fields to store details like event dates, venues, ticketing links etc.

According to BuiltWith, over 400,000 WordPress sites actively use custom fields via one of the above plugins.

And large sites like ecommerce stores and news publishers often use thousands of custom fields. They‘re that powerful!

Now let‘s get into the good stuff…

How to Fix Custom Fields Not Showing in WordPress

If custom fields are missing from your edit screen, here‘s how to get them back:

1. Edit any post or page, and click the (⋮) menu.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Go to the Panels tab.
4. Check the box for Custom Fields.
5. Click Enable & Reload.

That‘s all it takes!

The custom fields meta box will now show at the bottom when editing posts.

Want to see exactly how it works? Here‘s a quick video showing the steps:

Could not be simpler!

Next I‘ll explain why custom fields occasionally disappear, and how to troubleshoot issues.

Troubleshooting: Conflicts with Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)

Some users don‘t see the Custom Fields panel at all under the editor preferences.

This happens if you have the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin installed.

ACF hides the default WordPress custom fields by default. Their thinking – you‘ll only use ACF fields, not the native ones.

Here‘s how to re-enable native custom fields alongside ACF:

1. Open your theme‘s functions.php file.
2. Add this code snippet:

add_filter(‘acf/settings/remove_wp_meta_box‘, ‘__return_false‘);

3. Save changes.

Now both native custom fields AND ACF meta boxes will display. Time to celebrate! 🎉

3 Pro Tips for Using Custom Fields

With great power comes great responsibility. Use custom fields wisely and they will treat your site well:

1. Use descriptive field names

Like variable names in code, use verbose field keys like seo_title, event_venue, role_in_movie.

2. Leverage repeatable fields

Need multiple values like gallery images or author social profiles? Make fields repeatable.

3. Store data, not markup

Save raw values like URLs or ratings, not the formatted HTML. Keep it flexible.

For even more custom field tips and tricks, see our complete guide to WordPress custom fields.

Custom Fields vs. Custom Meta Boxes

Custom fields are one way to add custom data to posts. But there‘s another popular method:

Custom meta boxes

These add metaboxes with custom fields to the editor screen. For example:

Developers often prefer meta boxes because they provide UI/UX for entering data vs. generic custom fields.

Here‘s a quick comparison:

Custom Fields	Custom Meta Boxes
Simple key/value storage	More UI-focused
Only text or numbers	Many field types like WYSIWYG, images, etc
Require manual display code	Integrates into edit screen
Native WordPress	Requires dev work/plugins

So in summary:

• Custom fields are better for basic key/value data
• Meta boxes provide more UI and field types

We have a full guide on how to add custom meta boxes in WordPress.

Even More WordPress Customization Tips

Hopefully you now have custom fields mastered. But this is just the tip of the WordPress customization iceberg!

Here are a few suggested resources to take your skills to the next level:

• WPBeginner‘s WordPress Customization Guide – tutorials on themes, plugins, APIs, custom post types, and much more.
• WordPress Codex – official developer docs for themes, plugins, hooks and APIs.
• WordPress Plugins – expansions like custom fields, custom post types, customizer settings, and widgets.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m happy to point you in the right direction on your journey to WordPress customization mastery.

Summary

You made it to the end of the complete guide on troubleshooting missing custom fields in WordPress!

Let‘s recap what we learned:

✅ What custom fields are, and how to enable them

✅ Conflicts with ACF and how to fix

✅ Best practices for using custom fields

✅ Alternative option of custom meta boxes

✅ Additional resources for customization

Hopefully now you have the power to use custom fields effectively on your site. They can be a Swiss Army knife for all kinds of WordPress customizations.

As always, drop me a line if you run into any other issues!