How to use plugin_row_meta filter in WordPress

plugin_row_meta Filter

Filters the array of row meta for each plugin in the Plugins list table.

To use the plugin_row_meta filter, first you have to register it using add_filter. You can write this code into functions.php of your activated theme or in a custom WordPress Plugin.

We at WePlugins, always prefer to create a custom WordPress Plugin while using hooks so nothing breaks when you update your WordPress Theme in the future.

In the below live example, we have defined a function weplugins_modify_plugin_row_meta_defaults which takes 4 parameters and we registered using add_filter. The first parameter plugin_row_meta is the name of the hook, The second parameter weplugins_modify_plugin_row_meta_defaults is the name of the function which needs to be called, the third parameter is the priority of calling the hook if the same hook is used multiple times and the last parameter is the number of arguments (if any) to be passed in the registered function.

Sometimes, you have to remove a registered hook so you can use remove_filter to remove the plugin_row_meta filter.

Parameters

Below are the 4 parameters required to use this hook:

• $plugin_meta : (string[]) An array of the plugin’s metadata, including the version, author, author URI, and plugin URI.
• $plugin_file : (string) Path to the plugin file relative to the plugins directory.
• $plugin_data : (array) An array of plugin data.
  • ‘id’ (string) Plugin ID, e.g. w.org/plugins/[plugin-name].
  • ‘slug’ (string) Plugin slug.
  • ‘plugin’ (string) Plugin basename.
  • ‘new_version’ (string) New plugin version.
  • ‘url’ (string) Plugin URL.
  • ‘package’ (string) Plugin update package URL.
  • ‘icons’ (string[]) An array of plugin icon URLs.
  • ‘banners’ (string[]) An array of plugin banner URLs.
  • ‘banners_rtl’ (string[]) An array of plugin RTL banner URLs.
  • ‘requires’ (string) The version of WordPress which the plugin requires.
  • ‘tested’ (string) The version of WordPress the plugin is tested against.
  • ‘requires_php’ (string) The version of PHP which the plugin requires.
  • ‘upgrade_notice’ (string) The upgrade notice for the new plugin version.
  • ‘update-supported’ (bool) Whether the plugin supports updates.
  • ‘Name’ (string) The human-readable name of the plugin.
  • ‘PluginURI’ (string) Plugin URI.
  • ‘Version’ (string) Plugin version.
  • ‘Description’ (string) Plugin description.
  • ‘Author’ (string) Plugin author.
  • ‘AuthorURI’ (string) Plugin author URI.
  • ‘TextDomain’ (string) Plugin textdomain.
  • ‘DomainPath’ (string) Relative path to the plugin’s .mo file(s).
  • ‘Network’ (bool) Whether the plugin can only be activated network-wide.
  • ‘RequiresWP’ (string) The version of WordPress which the plugin requires.
  • ‘RequiresPHP’ (string) The version of PHP which the plugin requires.
  • ‘UpdateURI’ (string) ID of the plugin for update purposes, should be a URI.
  • ‘Title’ (string) The human-readable title of the plugin.
  • ‘AuthorName’ (string) Plugin author’s name.
  • ‘update’ (bool) Whether there’s an available update. Default null.
• $status : (string) Status filter currently applied to the plugin list. Possible values are: ‘all’, ‘active’, ‘inactive’, ‘recently_activated’, ‘upgrade’, ‘mustuse’, ‘dropins’, ‘search’, ‘paused’, ‘auto-update-enabled’, ‘auto-update-disabled’.

Live Examples

Example 1: Basic Usage

Below is an example of how you can use this hook:

    function weplugins_modify_plugin_row_meta_defaults($plugin_meta, $plugin_file, $plugin_data, $status) { 
        // Update the $plugin_meta variable according to your website requirements and return this variable. You can modify the $plugin_meta variable conditionally too if you want.
        return $plugin_meta; 
    }
    // add the filter
    add_filter("plugin_row_meta", "weplugins_modify_plugin_row_meta_defaults", 10, 4);
    

Example 2: Removing a Hook Callback

To remove a hook callback, use the example below:

    remove_filter("plugin_row_meta", "weplugins_modify_plugin_row_meta_defaults", 10, 4);
    

Please make sure to provide the same callback function name, priority, and number of arguments while removing the hook callback.

Example 3: Conditionally Modifying Plugin Meta

Another example where we conditionally modify the plugin meta:

    function weplugins_modify_plugin_row_meta_conditionally($plugin_meta, $plugin_file, $plugin_data, $status) { 
        if ($plugin_file == 'specific-plugin/specific-plugin.php') {
            // Modify the $plugin_meta for a specific plugin
            $plugin_meta[] = '<a href="https://example.com">Custom Link</a>';
        }
        return $plugin_meta; 
    }
    // add the filter
    add_filter("plugin_row_meta", "weplugins_modify_plugin_row_meta_conditionally", 10, 4);