This tutorial works as a reference post to learn more about how we can output custom fields in WordPress and when we use a plugin like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), Pods or MetaBox.
While the Pods Framework is very simple and easy to use using the magic tag and template features, some other plugins can take more time to make the same feature work.
Here are some of the different ways to output Custom Fields in WordPress.
in Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
the_field() and get_field()
*Shortcode support.
https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/resources/the_field/
https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/resources/get_field/
https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/resources/shortcode/
https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/resources/code-examples/
in MetaBox
rwmb_meta()
rwmb_the_value()
rwmb_get_value()
https://docs.metabox.io/displaying-fields/
The Pods way
field() and display() for outputting values.
Shortcode and Magic tag supported.
in WordPress
get_post_meta()
https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_post_meta/
Difference Between the GET and THE(DISPLAY) value.
Example: in the MetaBox plugin.
Get: rwmb_get_value()
Display: rwmb_the_value()
Get Value = Take the image field as an example: getting = return an array of image info (url, width, height, path, title, alt, etc.)
The Display Value = output the image in an <img> tag.
This also works similar to what we have used in the tutorial Deal custom post type container with custom field in WordPress to output Post Title, Permalink and Featured Image.