JSM Show Post Metadata

80 Quality Score

Active Installs

18/30

With 10,000 active installs the plugin has a modest niche footprint, well below the top alternatives like ACF or Meta Box, but it clearly fills a specific utility role.

Update Freshness

25/25

A recent update on 2026-06-10 and confirmed compatibility with WordPress 7.0 indicate the developer is actively maintaining the plugin, which is a strong positive signal.

User Rating

15/15

A perfect 100/100 from 12 raters is encouraging, though the small sample size limits how much weight this score should carry.

Support Health

8/15

Only 1 support thread with a 0.0% resolution rate is a concern, although with such a focused tool there may simply be very few issues to report.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Full marks for compatibility, supporting WordPress 6.0 through 7.0 and PHP 7.4.33, meaning it will run cleanly on most current and recent setups.

Scores higher than 81% of indexed plugins

About

Show post metadata (aka custom fields) in a metabox when editing posts / pages - a great tool for debugging issues with post metadata.

Active Installs 10k+

Rating ★★★★★ 5/5

Last Updated 2026-09-27 5:47pm GMT

Requires WordPress 6.0+

Tested Up To 7.1.2

Requires PHP 7.4.33+

Security History

1 known vulnerability, all patched

1 Medium

Most recent: January 24, 2025

View details ▸

What It Does

JSM Show Post Metadata adds a metabox to the WordPress post and page edit screens that displays every piece of post metadata (custom fields) stored in the database. It is purely a debugging and inspection tool, letting developers and site managers see raw key/value pairs without writing custom queries. It does not create, edit, or delete metadata; it only reveals what already exists.

Who It's For

This plugin is best suited for WordPress developers, agency support staff, and technical site owners who need to quickly inspect what custom fields a theme, SEO plugin, or custom post type is actually saving. It is particularly handy when troubleshooting plugin conflicts, verifying content migrations, or auditing product catalog and real estate listing data. Non-technical users who simply want to display custom fields on the front end should look elsewhere.

Who Should Skip It

Anyone looking to create, manage, or display custom fields on their site should skip this plugin, since it is read-only and offers no editing or front-end rendering capabilities. Casual bloggers and content creators will find the metabox distracting and of no practical use.

The Bottom Line

JSM Show Post Metadata is a focused, well-maintained debugging utility that does one thing well: revealing stored post metadata in the admin. Its overall quality score of 80.41/100 is dragged down primarily by limited popularity and a thin support track record, but for developers who frequently need to peek under the hood it is a worthwhile install. Anyone needing to create or display custom fields should look at ACF, Meta Box, or Pods instead.

Related Plugins

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) 94/100

Choose ACF if you actually need to create, manage, and display custom fields on the front end, not just inspect them.

WP Popular Posts 89/100

Pick this if you need to track and display popular posts by views or comments, which is outside the scope of metadata inspection.

Meta Box 87/100

Opt for Meta Box when you want a full custom field builder with a large library of field types and developer hooks.

Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 87/100

Choose this only if your goal is editing WooCommerce checkout, billing, or shipping fields specifically.

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 86/100

Select Pods when you need both custom post types and custom fields managed through a GUI, rather than just viewing existing metadata.