Show Featured Posts on the Homepage Using Meta Keys

If you mark posts as featured with custom fields, a meta_query in WP_Query can pull out just those posts. This example shows WordPress posts where the custom field featured is 1 and the custom field homepage is 1, which is handy for a featured block on your homepage.

Put the code in the template that renders your homepage, for example front-page.php or home.php.

<?php 
   $paged = get_query_var( "paged" )?get_query_var( "paged" ) : 1;
   $posts_per_page = -1;
   $_p = new WP_Query(array(
       'posts_per_page'    => $posts_per_page,
       'paged'             => $paged,
       'meta_query'        => array(
           'relation' => 'AND',
           array(
               'key'     => 'featured',
               'value'   => '1',
               'compare' => '=',
           ),
           array(
               'key'     => 'homepage',
               'value'   => '1',
               'compare' => '=',
           ),
       )
   ));
   while( $_p->have_posts() ):
   $_p->the_post();
   ?>




  //FEATURED POSTS TITLES
  <h3><?php the_title(  ); ?></h3>




<?php
   endwhile;
   wp_reset_query();
   ?>

How it works

• Each inner array in meta_query checks one custom field: key is the field name, value the value to match, and compare the comparison.
• 'relation' => 'AND' means a post must pass both checks. Use 'OR' to show posts that pass either one. A tax_query joins category and tag conditions the same way.
• posts_per_page is -1, so all matching posts are shown. Set a number such as 3 to limit the block.
• The loop only prints the titles. Add the_permalink(), the_post_thumbnail() or the_excerpt() as your design needs.

Setting the fields

Add both custom fields, with the value 1, to each post you want to feature. You can do that in the editor’s Custom Fields panel, or with ACF True / False fields named featured and homepage, which save 1 when checked.

Remove the //FEATURED POSTS TITLES line before you use the snippet: it sits outside the PHP tags and prints as text. After a custom loop like this, wp_reset_postdata() is enough to restore the global post.

Related articles

• a WP_Query loop with image, date and link: fills out the titles-only loop above
• hiding posts from the main blog query: pre_get_posts, to keep chosen posts out of the regular list