Preserve Modified Date During Updates surerank_freeze_modified_date

Hook: surerank_freeze_modified_date

Description: The surerank_freeze_modified_date filter lets you preserve the existing post_modified and post_modified_gmt values when a post is updated. This is useful for programmatic updates where you want to change post content or metadata without making WordPress treat the post as newly modified.

Source: inc/functions/modified-date-lock.php

Usage: Use this filter when you need to keep the current modified timestamp intact during a post update. SureRank checks this filter only for existing posts, and skips revisions and autosaves.

Example

/**
 * Preserve the modified date for a specific post during updates.
 */
add_filter(
	'surerank_freeze_modified_date',
	function ( $freeze, $post_id ) {
		if ( 123 === (int) $post_id ) {
			return true;
		}

		return $freeze;
	},
	10,
	2
);

Example: Freeze modified dates for updates triggered by a custom process.

/**
 * Preserve modified dates for posts updated by a custom sync routine.
 */
add_filter(
	'surerank_freeze_modified_date',
	function ( $freeze, $post_id, $post, $data, $postarr, $unsanitized_postarr ) {
		if ( ! empty( $unsanitized_postarr['my_custom_sync'] ) ) {
			return true;
		}

		return $freeze;
	},
	10,
	6
);

Arguments:

• $freeze (bool) Whether to preserve the modified timestamp. Default false.
• $post_id (int) Post ID being updated.
• $post (\WP_Post) Current post object from the database before the update.
• $data (array) Sanitized post data that will be sent to WordPress.
• $postarr (array) Post data array for the update request.
• $unsanitized_postarr (array) Original unsanitized post data before WordPress processing.

Notes:

• This filter only runs during post updates, not new post creation.
• Revisions and autosaves are ignored.
• Returning true preserves only post_modified and post_modified_gmt. Other post fields still update normally.
• Use this only when you intentionally want to avoid changing the visible modified date.

You can add the example code to your child theme’s functions.php file or use a plugin like Code Snippets to safely insert custom code. Using a code snippet plugin is recommended for easier management and to keep the customization active even when changing themes.