How to Duplicate Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types (CPT) without Using a Plugin

Duplicating Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types (CPT) Using Code Only

In the following guide, we will explain how to duplicate posts, pages, and custom post types (CPT) without using a plugin, but rather through a code snippet we’ve written for the required function.

The ability to duplicate posts in WordPress is super useful, especially when working with many similar posts and particularly if the posts have the same custom field values.

This means there’s no need to re-enter custom fields, post tags, and categories each time.

It’s very simple to achieve this using the following code; you need to insert it into the functions.php file of the current theme or child theme, or into a custom plugin.

/**
 * @author   Digitizer
 * @url      https://www.digitizer.studio/post-duplicator 
 */

// Add the duplicate link to action list for post_row_actions
// for "post" and custom post types
add_filter( 'post_row_actions', 'dz_duplicate_post_link', 10, 2 );
// for "page" post type
add_filter( 'page_row_actions', 'dz_duplicate_post_link', 10, 2 );


function dz_duplicate_post_link( $actions, $post ) {

	if( ! current_user_can( 'edit_posts' ) ) {
		return $actions;
	}

	$url = wp_nonce_url(
		add_query_arg(
			array(
				'action' => 'dz_duplicate_post_as_draft',
				'post' => $post->ID,
			),
			'admin.php'
		),
		basename(__FILE__),
		'duplicate_nonce'
	);

	$actions[ 'duplicate' ] = '<a href="' . $url . '" title="Duplicate this item" rel="permalink">Duplicate</a>';

	return $actions;
}

/*
 * Function creates post duplicate as a draft and redirects then to the edit post screen
 */
add_action( 'admin_action_dz_duplicate_post_as_draft', 'dz_duplicate_post_as_draft' );

function dz_duplicate_post_as_draft(){

	// check if post ID has been provided and action
	if ( empty( $_GET[ 'post' ] ) ) {
		wp_die( 'No post to duplicate has been provided!' );
	}

	// Nonce verification
	if ( ! isset( $_GET[ 'duplicate_nonce' ] ) || ! wp_verify_nonce( $_GET[ 'duplicate_nonce' ], basename( __FILE__ ) ) ) {
		return;
	}

	// Get the original post id
	$post_id = absint( $_GET[ 'post' ] );

	// And all the original post data then
	$post = get_post( $post_id );

	/*
	 * if you don't want current user to be the new post author,
	 * then change next couple of lines to this: $new_post_author = $post->post_author;
	 */
	$current_user = wp_get_current_user();
	$new_post_author = $current_user->ID;

	// if post data exists (I am sure it is, but just in a case), create the post duplicate
	if ( $post ) {

		// new post data array
		$args = array(
			'comment_status' => $post->comment_status,
			'ping_status'    => $post->ping_status,
			'post_author'    => $new_post_author,
			'post_content'   => $post->post_content,
			'post_excerpt'   => $post->post_excerpt,
			'post_name'      => $post->post_name,
			'post_parent'    => $post->post_parent,
			'post_password'  => $post->post_password,
			'post_status'    => 'draft',
			'post_title'     => $post->post_title,
			'post_type'      => $post->post_type,
			'to_ping'        => $post->to_ping,
			'menu_order'     => $post->menu_order
		);

		// insert the post by wp_insert_post() function
		$new_post_id = wp_insert_post( $args );

		/*
		 * get all current post terms ad set them to the new post draft
		 */
		$taxonomies = get_object_taxonomies( get_post_type( $post ) ); // returns array of taxonomy names for post type, ex array("category", "post_tag");
		if( $taxonomies ) {
			foreach ( $taxonomies as $taxonomy ) {
				$post_terms = wp_get_object_terms( $post_id, $taxonomy, array( 'fields' => 'slugs' ) );
				wp_set_object_terms( $new_post_id, $post_terms, $taxonomy, false );
			}
		}

		// duplicate all post meta
		$post_meta = get_post_meta( $post_id );
		if( $post_meta ) {

			foreach ( $post_meta as $meta_key => $meta_values ) {

				if( '_wp_old_slug' == $meta_key ) { // do nothing for this meta key
					continue;
				}

				foreach ( $meta_values as $meta_value ) {
					add_post_meta( $new_post_id, $meta_key, $meta_value );
				}
			}
		}

		// finally, redirect to the edit post screen for the new draft
		// wp_safe_redirect(
		// 	add_query_arg(
		// 		array(
		// 			'action' => 'edit',
		// 			'post' => $new_post_id
		// 		),
		// 		admin_url( 'post.php' )
		// 	)
		// );
		// exit;
		// or we can redirect to all posts with a message
		wp_safe_redirect(
			add_query_arg(
				array(
					'post_type' => ( 'post' !== get_post_type( $post ) ? get_post_type( $post ) : false ),
					'saved' => 'post_duplication_created' // just a custom slug here
				),
				admin_url( 'edit.php' )
			)
		);
		exit;

	} else {
		wp_die( 'Post creation failed, could not find original post.' );
	}

}

/*
 * In case we decided to add admin notices
 */
add_action( 'admin_notices', 'rudr_duplication_admin_notice' );

function rudr_duplication_admin_notice() {

	// Get the current screen
	$screen = get_current_screen();

	if ( 'edit' !== $screen->base ) {
		return;
	}

    //Checks if settings updated
    if ( isset( $_GET[ 'saved' ] ) && 'post_duplication_created' == $_GET[ 'saved' ] ) {

		 echo '<div class="notice notice-success is-dismissible"><p>Post copy created.</p></div>';
		 
    }
}

That’s all! Simple and easy, and works excellently 🙂 Hope this was helpful to you.