Title: Update post_content in database
Last modified: August 20, 2016

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# Update post_content in database

 *  [jshamm](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jshamm/)
 * (@jshamm)
 * [13 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-post_content-in-database/)
 * I have over 2000 pages in my wordpress site and I want to replace the post content
   on them with updated information.
    The issue I’m having is part of the content
   is the company name which will be dynamic on each post. I also need to do this
   by category.
 * First, I realize I can use phpmyadmin and clear out the contents and the custom
   field I need to insert into the post content is housed in wp_postmeta.metakey
   which is ‘Supplier’. I need to insert the wp_postmeta.metavalue for that key 
   into the corresponding post_content in wp_posts.postcontent. Right now, for example,
   lets say I want to do this for category_id 9. How would I go about clearing out
   the post content and then putting in new content?
    To clarify, I want to clear
   out the current content and then have something like this:
 * “No current data for ” **put supplier name here from post_meta data** “. Please
   contact us for more information.”
    Thanks for any insight!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  [dc5ala](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dc5ala/)
 * (@dc5ala)
 * [13 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-post_content-in-database/#post-3174793)
 * That will be a complex query with like 4 joins. Without test data and running
   some tests it’s not a trivial task to compile that query. The slower but easier
   way would be writing a plugin that just uses WordPress functions.
 * In case it takes too long to process and the script may be terminated, you can
   track which posts been updated by setting a meta_key. Another thing you can do
   on bulk updates is DISABLE KEYS for the tables you change and re-enable them 
   when finished, this should also speed up the process.
 *  Thread Starter [jshamm](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jshamm/)
 * (@jshamm)
 * [13 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-post_content-in-database/#post-3174802)
 * So an Update wp_posts with a concatenation of “text” wp_postmeta “more text” 
   where category_id = 9 would necessarily work? This stinks. Individually going
   through 2000 posts is going to take forever.
 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [13 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-post_content-in-database/#post-3174808)
 * You could break up the execution loop into segments and run them separately. 
   You can also `set_time_limit(600);` in wp-config.php. Just be sure your script
   is flawless before doing so, or you could have a long wait until you get your
   server control back.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The topic ‘Update post_content in database’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Hacks](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/plugins-and-hacks/hacks/)
 * 3 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * Last activity: [13 years, 7 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/update-post_content-in-database/#post-3174808)
 * Status: not resolved

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