[Resolved] Set CPT Date to today by default

[Author]

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[dmitryK-2]

Tell us what you are trying to do?
Hello, I've created a field group and added it to standard WP-posts.
How can I set date field value for today while creating/editing post in WP-Admin. Please see screenshots attached//

Thank you1

What is the link to your site? hidden link

[Christian Cox]

Hi, you can add this custom code to your child theme's functions.php file. This will automatically set the custom field date whenever a Post is created or edited:

add_action( 'save_post', 'set_sht_date_field_to_today', 100, 3 );
function set_sht_date_field_to_today( $post_id, $post, $update ) {
  if ( $post->post_type == 'post' ) {
    update_post_meta( $post_id, 'wpcf-sht-event-date_from-new', date('U') );
  }
}

This will overwrite any date that already exists in the date field, and change it to today's date.

[dmitryK-2]

Dear Christian, is it possible to add if field empty condition... I mean, no need to overwrite in case not empty...

Thanks!

[Christian Cox]

Sure, try this variation:

add_action( 'save_post', 'set_sht_date_field_to_today', 100, 3 );
function set_sht_date_field_to_today( $post_id, $post, $update ) {
  if ( $post->post_type == 'post' ) {
    $date = get_post_meta( $post_id, 'wpcf-sht-event-date_from-new', true);
    if( $date ) { 
      return;
    }
    update_post_meta( $post_id, 'wpcf-sht-event-date_from-new', date('U') );
  }
}