Get author meta function to retrieve author url

Child theme files only automatically override parent template files, not other PHP code. I don’t know this theme, but I’m reasonably sure html-blocks.php is not a template file. In the case of non-template parent theme code, you need to utilize filter and action hooks to modify behavior. Unless the function declared by the parent is “pluggable” (declaration starts with something like if ( ! function_exists( 'function_name' ) ) :), in which case you can simply re-declare the same function using your own code.

If all else fails, declare your own function using a unique name and call it from which ever template is applicable. Or just alter the template directly to do as you wish. Directly outputting the author’s link on the single post template should be relatively straight forward.

Hi @bcworkz Thank you so much for your reply. It looks like the function is indeed pluggable, in which case, does that mean I can just copy paste it into functions.php of my child theme? I will try this in any case.

Here is the whole function:

if ( ! function_exists( 'basic_get_postmeta' ) ):
	function basic_get_postmeta() {

		$default_meta_list = get_theme_mod( 'postmeta_list', 
						   apply_filters( 'basic_postmeta_list_defaults', array( 'date', 'category', 'comments' ) )
						  );
		$default_meta_list = ! is_array( $default_meta_list ) ? explode( '_', $default_meta_list ) : $default_meta_list;

		$meta_list           = apply_filters( 'basic_post_meta_list', $default_meta_list );
		$displayed_meta_list = $meta_list;

		if ( is_customize_preview() ) {
			$all       = array_merge( $meta_list, array( 'date', 'category', 'comments', 'tags', 'author' ) );
			$meta_list = array_unique( $all );
		}

		if ( empty( $meta_list ) ) {
			return;
		}

		$meta_html = array();

		foreach ( $meta_list as $meta ) {
			$preview = ( ! in_array( $meta, $displayed_meta_list ) ) ? ' hide' : '';
			switch ( $meta ) {
				case 'date':
					$meta_html[ $meta ] = '<span class="date' . $preview . '">' . get_the_time( get_option( 'date_format' ) ) . '</span>';
					break;
				case 'author':
					$meta_html[ $meta ] = '<span class="author' . $preview . '"><a href="' . get_the_author_meta('url', $author_id) . '">' . get_the_author() . '</a></span>';
					break;
				case 'category':
					$meta_html[ $meta ] = '<span class="category' . $preview . '">' . get_the_category_list( ', ' ) . '</span>';
					break;
				case 'comments':
					$meta_html[ $meta ] = '<span class="comments' . $preview . '"><a href="' . get_comments_link() . '">' . __( 'Comments', 'basic' ) . ': ' . get_comments_number() . '</a></span>';
					break;
				case 'tags':
					$meta_html[ $meta ] = '<span class="tags' . $preview . '">' . get_the_tag_list( __( 'Tags: ', 'basic' ), ', ' ) . '</span>';
					break;
			}
		}
		$meta_html = apply_filters( 'basic_post_meta_list_html', $meta_html );

		$html = '';
		foreach ( $meta_list as $meta ) {
			$html .= ( array_key_exists($meta,$meta_html) ) ? $meta_html[ $meta ] : '';
		}

		$html = apply_filters( 'basic_post_meta_html', $html );

		echo '<aside class="meta">';
		do_action( 'basic_post_meta_before_first' );

		echo $html;

		do_action( 'basic_post_meta_after_last' );
		echo '</aside>';
	}
endif;
add_action( 'basic_after_post_title', 'basic_get_postmeta', 10 );

Thanks again.

Hi again @bcworkz I tried your advice and it worked, the author name is now hyperlinked. However it links to the home page. Any idea how I can get it to link to the author profile?

Here is a sample post and the profile I would like it linked to (I am using profile ID as the url).

Thank you in advance.

Try this:

case 'author':
	$meta_html[ $meta ] = '<span class="author' . $preview . '"><a href="' . get_the_author_meta('user_url', $author_id) . '">' . get_the_author() . '</a></span>';
	break;

(using different meta field key name) I think ‘url’ is to their personal site, or maybe I have it backwards, unverified. If that doesn’t work, determine the correct meta key and use get_user_meta().

Hi @bcworkz Thanks for your reply. While searching for the correct meta key, I found this post. I was able to fix the problem using this code:

case 'author':
	$meta_html[ $meta ] = '<span class="author' . $preview . '">' . get_the_author_posts_link() . '</span>';
	break;

Thanks again for your support!