Title: WP_Term_Query::format_terms
Published: May 25, 2022
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# WP_Term_Query::format_terms( WP_Term[] $term_objects, string $_fields ): 󠀁[WP_Term](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term/)󠁿[]|int[]|string[]

## In this article

 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Format response depending on field requested.

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$term_objects`[WP_Term](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term/)[]
required

Array of term objects.

`$_fields`stringrequired

Field to format.

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 [WP_Term](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term/)[]|int[]|string[]
Array of terms / strings / ints depending on field requested.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    protected function format_terms( $term_objects, $_fields ) {
    	$_terms = array();
    	if ( 'id=>parent' === $_fields ) {
    		foreach ( $term_objects as $term ) {
    			$_terms[ $term->term_id ] = $term->parent;
    		}
    	} elseif ( 'ids' === $_fields ) {
    		foreach ( $term_objects as $term ) {
    			$_terms[] = (int) $term->term_id;
    		}
    	} elseif ( 'tt_ids' === $_fields ) {
    		foreach ( $term_objects as $term ) {
    			$_terms[] = (int) $term->term_taxonomy_id;
    		}
    	} elseif ( 'names' === $_fields ) {
    		foreach ( $term_objects as $term ) {
    			$_terms[] = $term->name;
    		}
    	} elseif ( 'slugs' === $_fields ) {
    		foreach ( $term_objects as $term ) {
    			$_terms[] = $term->slug;
    		}
    	} elseif ( 'id=>name' === $_fields ) {
    		foreach ( $term_objects as $term ) {
    			$_terms[ $term->term_id ] = $term->name;
    		}
    	} elseif ( 'id=>slug' === $_fields ) {
    		foreach ( $term_objects as $term ) {
    			$_terms[ $term->term_id ] = $term->slug;
    		}
    	} elseif ( 'all' === $_fields || 'all_with_object_id' === $_fields ) {
    		$_terms = $term_objects;
    	}

    	return $_terms;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/class-wp-term-query.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-term-query.php#L979)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wp-term-query.php#L979-L1014)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Used by | Description | 
| [WP_Term_Query::get_terms()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/get_terms/)`wp-includes/class-wp-term-query.php` |

Retrieves the query results.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_term_query/format_terms/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [6.0.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/6.0.0/) | Introduced. |

## User Contributed Notes

You must [log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Fclasses%2Fwp_term_query%2Fformat_terms%2F)
before being able to contribute a note or feedback.