Using WordPress ‘do_settings_fields()’ PHP function

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The do_settings_fields() WordPress PHP function is part of the Settings API. It is used to output a specific settings section on a settings page.

Usage

To use do_settings_fields(), you need to provide two parameters:

do_settings_fields($page, $section);

Here, $page is the slug title of the admin page whose settings fields you want to show, and $section is the slug title of the settings section whose fields you want to show.

Parameters

  • $page (string) – Required. This is the slug title of the admin page whose settings fields you want to show.
  • $section (string) – Required. This is the slug title of the settings section whose fields you want to show.

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: do_settings_fields()
This function is part of WordPress’s Settings API.

Examples

Displaying Settings for a Custom Page

This example shows how to use do_settings_fields() to display the settings fields for a custom admin page. We’ll assume that we have a settings page with the slug ‘my-custom-page’ and a settings section with the slug ‘my-section’.

settings_fields('my_custom_settings');
echo '<table class="form-table">';
do_settings_fields('my-custom-page', 'my-section');
echo '</table>';

Displaying Settings for Different Sections

In this example, we show how to display settings for different sections based on a GET parameter. This could be useful if you have different settings sections for different functionalities of your plugin or theme.

if ($_GET['type'] !== 'advanced') {
    settings_fields('my_basic_settings');
    echo '<table class="form-table">';
    do_settings_fields('my-custom-page', 'basic-section');
    echo '</table>';
} else {
    settings_fields('my_advanced_settings');
    echo '<table class="form-table">';
    do_settings_fields('my-custom-page', 'advanced-section');
    echo '</table>';
}

Displaying Multiple Settings Sections

If you have multiple settings sections on a single settings page, you can call do_settings_fields() multiple times to display them all.

settings_fields('my_settings');
echo '<table class="form-table">';
do_settings_fields('my-custom-page', 'section-1');
do_settings_fields('my-custom-page', 'section-2');
do_settings_fields('my-custom-page', 'section-3');
echo '</table>';

Conditional Display of Settings Sections

You can use do_settings_fields() in combination with conditions to control which settings sections are displayed.

settings_fields('my_settings');
echo '<table class="form-table">';
if ($some_condition) {
    do_settings_fields('my-custom-page', 'section-1');
} else {
    do_settings_fields('my-custom-page', 'section-2');
}
echo '</table>';

Displaying Settings for Custom Post Types

Here, we display settings fields for a custom post type settings page. We’re assuming a custom post type with the slug ‘my-custom-post-type’ and a settings section with the slug ‘cpt-section’.

settings_fields('my_cpt_settings');
echo '<table class="form-table">';
do_settings_fields('my-custom-post-type', 'cpt-section');
echo '</table>';