Lean SEO adds a user-friendly meta box to the post and page editors for customizing SEO settings.

What It Does

The Lean_SEO_Admin class provides:

• SEO Meta Box: Added to post and page editors
• Custom Title Field: Override the default page title
• Custom Description Field: Set custom meta description
• Live Preview: Shows how the page will appear in search results
• Character Counters: Visual indicators for optimal title/description length
• JavaScript Enhancement: Real-time preview updates

Code Structure

Located in includes/class-lean-seo-admin.php:

• add_meta_box() – Registers the SEO meta box
• render_meta_box() – Outputs the HTML form with fields and preview
• save_meta() – Processes and saves the form data

Configuration Options

Post Types

By default, the meta box appears on ‘post’ and ‘page’ post types. Customize this with:

add_filter('lean_seo_meta_box_post_types', function($post_types) {
    // Add to custom post types
    $post_types[] = 'product';
    $post_types[] = 'portfolio';
    
    // Remove from pages
    $post_types = array_diff($post_types, array('page'));
    
    return $post_types;
});

Custom Validation

Add custom validation to the save process:

add_action('save_post', function($post_id) {
    // Only for our post types
    if (!in_array(get_post_type($post_id), array('post', 'page'))) {
        return;
    }
    
    $title = get_post_meta($post_id, '_lean_seo_title', true);
    if (strlen($title) > 70) {
        // Handle validation error
        add_action('admin_notices', function() {
            echo '<div class="notice notice-error"><p>SEO title is too long!</p></div>';
        });
    }
}, 11); // After Lean SEO saves (priority 10)

Usage

Meta Box Fields

1. SEO Title (optional)

   • Defaults to post/page title
   • Recommended: 50-60 characters
   • Appears in browser tab and search results

2. Meta Description (optional)

   • Defaults to excerpt or auto-generated from content
   • Recommended: 150-160 characters
   • Appears in search result snippets

Live Preview

SEO Title (optional)

• Defaults to post/page title
• Recommended: 50-60 characters
• Appears in browser tab and search results

Saving Data

Meta Description (optional)

• Defaults to excerpt or auto-generated from content
• Recommended: 150-160 characters
• Appears in search result snippets

SEO Title (optional)

Technical Details

Security

• Defaults to post/page title
• Recommended: 50-60 characters
• Appears in browser tab and search results

JavaScript Features

• Defaults to excerpt or auto-generated from content
• Recommended: 150-160 characters
• Appears in search result snippets

Styling

Meta Description (optional)

• How the title will appear in search results
• How the description will appear in search results
• The page URL
• Character counts for both fields

Integration

The meta box includes a live preview that shows:

• _lean_seo_title – Custom SEO title
• _lean_seo_description – Custom meta description

Best Practices

• Uses wp_nonce_field() for CSRF protection
• Sanitizes input with sanitize_text_field() and sanitize_textarea_field()
• Checks user capabilities with current_user_can()
• Prevents autosave interference