# Subtitle Field for Posts

> Adds a "Subtitle" box to the post editor, saves it securely and provides a [wpide_subtitle] shortcode and a helper to display it in your theme.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Developer](https://wpide.com/library/category/developer/)
- Tags: custom-fields, meta-box, posts, shortcode
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/dev-subtitle-meta-box/

## Code

```php
add_action( 'add_meta_boxes', function () {
    add_meta_box( 'wpide-subtitle', 'Subtitle', function ( $post ) {
        wp_nonce_field( 'wpide_subtitle_save', 'wpide_subtitle_nonce' );
        printf( '<input type="text" class="widefat" name="wpide_subtitle" value="%s" placeholder="Optional subtitle">', esc_attr( get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_wpide_subtitle', true ) ) );
    }, 'post', 'side', 'high' );
} );

add_action( 'save_post_post', function ( $post_id ) {
    if ( ! isset( $_POST['wpide_subtitle_nonce'] ) || ! wp_verify_nonce( sanitize_key( $_POST['wpide_subtitle_nonce'] ), 'wpide_subtitle_save' ) ) {
        return;
    }

    if ( ( defined( 'DOING_AUTOSAVE' ) && DOING_AUTOSAVE ) || ! current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post_id ) ) {
        return;
    }

    $value = isset( $_POST['wpide_subtitle'] ) ? sanitize_text_field( wp_unslash( $_POST['wpide_subtitle'] ) ) : '';

    if ( '' === $value ) {
        delete_post_meta( $post_id, '_wpide_subtitle' );
    } else {
        update_post_meta( $post_id, '_wpide_subtitle', $value );
    }
} );

add_shortcode( 'wpide_subtitle', function () {
    $subtitle = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), '_wpide_subtitle', true );

    return $subtitle ? '<p class="wpide-subtitle">' . esc_html( $subtitle ) . '</p>' : '';
} );
```

## Notes

In a classic theme you can print it with echo esc_html( get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), '_wpide_subtitle', true ) );

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Subtitle Field for Posts" 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/