# Custom Field Values in Feed Items

> Adds the custom fields you choose, such as an event date or location, to each RSS item as its own element, for newsletter tools, aggregators and partner sites that read your feed.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [RSS Feeds](https://wpide.com/library/category/rss/)
- Tags: feeds, custom-fields, xml
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/custom-fields-in-feed-items/

## Code

```php
// Custom field key => element name in the feed (lowercase letters, digits and dashes). Empty = off. Examples:
// 'event_date'  => 'event-date',
// 'location'    => 'location',
$wpide_feed_fields = array();
// Prefix of the elements, for example <site:event-date>.
$wpide_feed_fields_prefix = 'site';

if ( $wpide_feed_fields ) {
    add_action( 'rss2_ns', function () use ( $wpide_feed_fields_prefix ) {
        echo 'xmlns:' . esc_attr( sanitize_key( $wpide_feed_fields_prefix ) ) . '="' . esc_url( home_url( '/' ) ) . '"' . "\n\t";
    } );

    add_action( 'rss2_item', function () use ( $wpide_feed_fields, $wpide_feed_fields_prefix ) {
        $post_id = get_the_ID();

        if ( ! $post_id || post_password_required( $post_id ) ) {
            return;
        }

        $prefix = sanitize_key( $wpide_feed_fields_prefix );

        foreach ( $wpide_feed_fields as $key => $element ) {
            $element = preg_replace( '/[^a-z0-9-]/', '', strtolower( (string) $element ) );
            $value   = get_post_meta( $post_id, $key, true );

            if ( '' === $element || ! is_scalar( $value ) || '' === trim( (string) $value ) ) {
                continue;
            }

            printf( "\t\t<%1\$s:%2\$s>%3\$s</%1\$s:%2\$s>\n", $prefix, $element, esc_xml( wp_strip_all_tags( (string) $value ) ) ); // phpcs:ignore WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput -- names are sanitized above.
        }
    } );
}
```

## Notes

The field list is empty by default; add field keys and the element names to use. Password-protected posts are skipped.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Custom Field Values in Feed Items" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/