Title: WP_Widget_Archives::widget
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# WP_Widget_Archives::widget( array $args, array $instance )

## In this article

 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_archives/widget/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_archives/widget/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_archives/widget/?output_format=md#hooks)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_archives/widget/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_archives/widget/?output_format=md#changelog)

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

Outputs the content for the current Archives widget instance.

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

 `$args`arrayrequired

Display arguments including `'before_title'`, `'after_title'`, `'before_widget'`,
and `'after_widget'`.

`$instance`arrayrequired

Settings for the current Archives widget instance.

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

    ```php
    	public function widget( $args, $instance ) {
    		$default_title = __( 'Archives' );
    		$title         = ! empty( $instance['title'] ) ? $instance['title'] : $default_title;

    		/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-pages.php */
    		$title = apply_filters( 'widget_title', $title, $instance, $this->id_base );

    		$count    = ! empty( $instance['count'] ) ? '1' : '0';
    		$dropdown = ! empty( $instance['dropdown'] ) ? '1' : '0';

    		echo $args['before_widget'];

    		if ( $title ) {
    			echo $args['before_title'] . $title . $args['after_title'];
    		}

    		if ( $dropdown ) {
    			$dropdown_id = "{$this->id_base}-dropdown-{$this->number}";
    			?>
    		<label class="screen-reader-text" for="<?php echo esc_attr( $dropdown_id ); ?>"><?php echo $title; ?></label>
    		<select id="<?php echo esc_attr( $dropdown_id ); ?>" name="archive-dropdown">
    			<?php
    			/**
    			 * Filters the arguments for the Archives widget drop-down.
    			 *
    			 * @since 2.8.0
    			 * @since 4.9.0 Added the `$instance` parameter.
    			 *
    			 * @see wp_get_archives()
    			 *
    			 * @param array $args     An array of Archives widget drop-down arguments.
    			 * @param array $instance Settings for the current Archives widget instance.
    			 */
    			$dropdown_args = apply_filters(
    				'widget_archives_dropdown_args',
    				array(
    					'type'            => 'monthly',
    					'format'          => 'option',
    					'show_post_count' => $count,
    				),
    				$instance
    			);

    			switch ( $dropdown_args['type'] ) {
    				case 'yearly':
    					$label = __( 'Select Year' );
    					break;
    				case 'monthly':
    					$label = __( 'Select Month' );
    					break;
    				case 'daily':
    					$label = __( 'Select Day' );
    					break;
    				case 'weekly':
    					$label = __( 'Select Week' );
    					break;
    				default:
    					$label = __( 'Select Post' );
    					break;
    			}
    			?>

    			<option value=""><?php echo esc_html( $label ); ?></option>
    			<?php wp_get_archives( $dropdown_args ); ?>

    		</select>

    			<?php ob_start(); ?>
    <script>
    ( ( dropdownId ) => {
    	const dropdown = document.getElementById( dropdownId );
    	function onSelectChange() {
    		setTimeout( () => {
    			if ( 'escape' === dropdown.dataset.lastkey ) {
    				return;
    			}
    			if ( dropdown.value ) {
    				document.location.href = dropdown.value;
    			}
    		}, 250 );
    	}
    	function onKeyUp( event ) {
    		if ( 'Escape' === event.key ) {
    			dropdown.dataset.lastkey = 'escape';
    		} else {
    			delete dropdown.dataset.lastkey;
    		}
    	}
    	function onClick() {
    		delete dropdown.dataset.lastkey;
    	}
    	dropdown.addEventListener( 'keyup', onKeyUp );
    	dropdown.addEventListener( 'click', onClick );
    	dropdown.addEventListener( 'change', onSelectChange );
    })( <?php echo wp_json_encode( $dropdown_id, JSON_HEX_TAG | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES ); ?> );
    </script>
    			<?php
    			wp_print_inline_script_tag( wp_remove_surrounding_empty_script_tags( ob_get_clean() ) . "\n//# sourceURL=" . rawurlencode( __METHOD__ ) );
    		} else {
    			$format = current_theme_supports( 'html5', 'navigation-widgets' ) ? 'html5' : 'xhtml';

    			/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-nav-menu-widget.php */
    			$format = apply_filters( 'navigation_widgets_format', $format );

    			if ( 'html5' === $format ) {
    				// The title may be filtered: Strip out HTML and make sure the aria-label is never empty.
    				$title      = trim( strip_tags( $title ) );
    				$aria_label = $title ? $title : $default_title;
    				echo '<nav aria-label="' . esc_attr( $aria_label ) . '">';
    			}
    			?>

    			<ul>
    				<?php
    				wp_get_archives(
    					/**
    					 * Filters the arguments for the Archives widget.
    					 *
    					 * @since 2.8.0
    					 * @since 4.9.0 Added the `$instance` parameter.
    					 *
    					 * @see wp_get_archives()
    					 *
    					 * @param array $args     An array of Archives option arguments.
    					 * @param array $instance Array of settings for the current widget.
    					 */
    					apply_filters(
    						'widget_archives_args',
    						array(
    							'type'            => 'monthly',
    							'show_post_count' => $count,
    						),
    						$instance
    					)
    				);
    				?>
    			</ul>

    			<?php
    			if ( 'html5' === $format ) {
    				echo '</nav>';
    			}
    		}

    		echo $args['after_widget'];
    	}
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-archives.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-archives.php#L43)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-archives.php#L43-L188)

## 󠀁[Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_archives/widget/?output_format=md#hooks)󠁿

 [apply_filters( ‘navigation_widgets_format’, string $format )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/navigation_widgets_format/)

Filters the HTML format of widgets with navigation links.

 [apply_filters( ‘widget_archives_args’, array $args, array $instance )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/widget_archives_args/)

Filters the arguments for the Archives widget.

 [apply_filters( ‘widget_archives_dropdown_args’, array $args, array $instance )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/widget_archives_dropdown_args/)

Filters the arguments for the Archives widget drop-down.

 [apply_filters( ‘widget_title’, string $title, array $instance, mixed $id_base )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/widget_title/)

Filters the widget title.

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

| Uses | Description | 
| [wp_remove_surrounding_empty_script_tags()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_remove_surrounding_empty_script_tags/)`wp-includes/script-loader.php` |

Removes leading and trailing _empty_ script tags.

  | 
| [wp_print_inline_script_tag()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_print_inline_script_tag/)`wp-includes/script-loader.php` |

Prints an inline script tag.

  | 
| [wp_get_archives()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_get_archives/)`wp-includes/general-template.php` |

Displays archive links based on type and format.

  | 
| [wp_json_encode()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_json_encode/)`wp-includes/functions.php` |

Encodes a variable into JSON, with some confidence checks.

  | 
| [current_theme_supports()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/current_theme_supports/)`wp-includes/theme.php` |

Checks a theme’s support for a given feature.

  | 
| [__()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` |

Retrieves the translation of $text.

  | 
| [esc_attr()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/esc_attr/)`wp-includes/formatting.php` |

Escaping for HTML attributes.

  | 
| [esc_html()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/esc_html/)`wp-includes/formatting.php` |

Escaping for HTML blocks.

  | 
| [apply_filters()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/apply_filters/)`wp-includes/plugin.php` |

Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.

  |

[Show 6 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_archives/widget/?output_format=md#)
[Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_archives/widget/?output_format=md#)

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

| Version | Description | 
| [2.8.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/2.8.0/) | Introduced. |

## User Contributed Notes

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