get_categories( string|array $args = '' )

Retrieves a list of category objects.

Contents

Description

If you set the ‘taxonomy’ argument to ‘link_category’, the link categories will be returned instead.

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See also

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Parameters

$args

(string|array) (Optional) Arguments to retrieve categories. See get_terms() for additional options.

  • 'taxonomy'
    (string) Taxonomy to retrieve terms for. Default 'category'.

Default value: ''

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Return

(array) List of category objects.

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Source

File: wp-includes/category.php 

function get_categories( $args = '' ) {
	$defaults = array( 'taxonomy' => 'category' );
	$args     = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );

	/**
	 * Filters the taxonomy used to retrieve terms when calling get_categories().
	 *
	 * @since 2.7.0
	 *
	 * @param string $taxonomy Taxonomy to retrieve terms from.
	 * @param array  $args     An array of arguments. See get_terms().
	 */
	$args['taxonomy'] = apply_filters( 'get_categories_taxonomy', $args['taxonomy'], $args );

	// Back compat.
	if ( isset( $args['type'] ) && 'link' === $args['type'] ) {
		_deprecated_argument(
			__FUNCTION__,
			'3.0.0',
			sprintf(
				/* translators: 1: "type => link", 2: "taxonomy => link_category" */
				__( '%1$s is deprecated. Use %2$s instead.' ),
				'<code>type => link</code>',
				'<code>taxonomy => link_category</code>'
			)
		);
		$args['taxonomy'] = 'link_category';
	}

	$categories = get_terms( $args );

	if ( is_wp_error( $categories ) ) {
		$categories = array();
	} else {
		$categories = (array) $categories;
		foreach ( array_keys( $categories ) as $k ) {
			_make_cat_compat( $categories[ $k ] );
		}
	}

	return $categories;
}

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Uses

Uses
Uses Description
wp-includes/l10n.php: __()

Retrieve the translation of $text.
wp-includes/category.php: _make_cat_compat()

Updates category structure to old pre-2.3 from new taxonomy structure.
wp-includes/category.php: get_categories_taxonomy

Filters the taxonomy used to retrieve terms when calling get_categories().
wp-includes/functions.php: _deprecated_argument()

Mark a function argument as deprecated and inform when it has been used.
wp-includes/functions.php: wp_parse_args()

Merges user defined arguments into defaults array.
wp-includes/taxonomy.php: get_terms()

Retrieves the terms in a given taxonomy or list of taxonomies.
wp-includes/plugin.php: apply_filters()

Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
wp-includes/load.php: is_wp_error()

Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
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Used By

Used By
Used By Description
wp-admin/includes/export.php: export_wp()

Generates the WXR export file for download.
wp-admin/includes/deprecated.php: wp_dropdown_cats()

Legacy function used for generating a categories drop-down control.
wp-includes/category-template.php: wp_list_categories()

Displays or retrieves the HTML list of categories.
wp-includes/deprecated.php: get_links_list()

Output entire list of links by category.
wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php: wp_xmlrpc_server::mw_getCategories()

Retrieve the list of categories on a given blog.
wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php: wp_xmlrpc_server::mt_getCategoryList()

Retrieve list of all categories on blog.
wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php: wp_xmlrpc_server::wp_suggestCategories()

Retrieve category list.
Show 2 more used by Hide more used by

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Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
2.1.0 Introduced.

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User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 1 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 15You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Codex —

    List Categories and Descriptions
    This example will list, in alphabetic order, all categories presented as links to the corresponding category archive. Each category description is listed after the category link.

    <?php
$categories = get_categories( array(
	'orderby' => 'name',
	'order'   => 'ASC'
) );

foreach( $categories as $category ) {
	$category_link = sprintf( 
		'<a href="%1$s" alt="%2$s">%3$s</a>',
		esc_url( get_category_link( $category->term_id ) ),
		esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'View all posts in %s', 'textdomain' ), $category->name ) ),
		esc_html( $category->name )
	);
	
	echo '<p>' . sprintf( esc_html__( 'Category: %s', 'textdomain' ), $category_link ) . '</p> ';
	echo '<p>' . sprintf( esc_html__( 'Description: %s', 'textdomain' ), $category->description ) . '</p>';
	echo '<p>' . sprintf( esc_html__( 'Post Count: %s', 'textdomain' ), $category->count ) . '</p>';
}

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  2. Skip to note 2 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 10You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by isMike() —

    Function only returns categories in use by posts

    It is very important to note that by default, the get_category() will ONLY return categories that ARE IN USE. This means if no post is assigned to the category, then the category object for that category is not returned.

    This means if you are developer, and you created a category (maybe during testing), you should supply an argument array having the 'hide_empty' => false in it. Check the example usage below.

    		$args = array(
			'hide_empty'      => false,
		);
		get_categories($args); //This returns both used and unused categories
  3. Skip to note 3 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 6You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Codex —

    Get only top level categories
    To get the top level categories only, set parent value to zero. This example gets link and name of top level categories.

    $categories = get_categories( array(
	'orderby' => 'name',
	'parent'  => 0
) );

foreach ( $categories as $category ) {
	printf( '<a href="%1$s">%2$s</a><br />',
		esc_url( get_category_link( $category->term_id ) ),
		esc_html( $category->name )
	);
}
  4. Skip to note 4 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 1You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by boundless_ink —

    Specific category parent title with linked menu of subcategories

    – could be used in a sidebar application

    <div class="category-menu-container">

			<ul class="category-menu">
				<li class="unstyled">
					<h4 class="category-menu-heading">
						<?php echo get_cat_name( $category_id = 130 );?>
					</h4>
				</li>
				<?php 
				$categories = get_categories( array(
					'orderby' => 'name',
					'order'   => 'ASC',
					'parent'  => 130,
				) );

				foreach( $categories as $category ) {
					$category_link = sprintf( 
						'<a href="%1$s" alt="%2$s">%3$s</a>',
						esc_url( get_category_link( $category->term_id ) ),
						esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'View all posts in %s', 'textdomain' ), $category->name ) ),
						esc_html( $category->name )
					);

					echo '<p>' . sprintf( esc_html__( '%s', 'textdomain' ), $category_link ) . '</p> ';
				}
				?>
			</ul>

		</div>

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  6. Skip to note 6 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: -2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Codex —

    Drop-down box as used in Parent category at post category page
    This is the code used in the built-in category page.

    wp_dropdown_categories( array(
	'hide_empty'       => 0,
	'name'             => 'category_parent',
	'orderby'          => 'name',
	'selected'         => $category->parent,
	'hierarchical'     => true,
	'show_option_none' => __('None')
) );

    The slightly altered code below will grab all categories and display them with indent for a new level (child category). The select box will have name and id attribute values of ‘select_name’. This select element will not display a default “none” as the original code was used to attach a category as a child to another category (or none).

    wp_dropdown_categories( array(
	'hide_empty'   => 0,
	'name'         => 'select_name',
	'id'           => 'select_name',
	'hierarchical' => true
) );
  7. Skip to note 7 content
    You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: -2You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
    Contributed by Codex —

    Drop-down Box
    Here’s how to create a drop-down box of the subcategories of, say, a category that archives information on past events.
    This mirrors the example of the drop-down example of wp_get_archives() which shows how to create a drop-down box for monthly archives.

    Suppose the category whose subcategories you want to show is category 10, and that its category “nicename” is “archives”.

    <select name="event-dropdown"> 
	<option value=""><?php echo esc_attr_e( 'Select Event', 'textdomain' ); ?></option> 
	<?php 
	$categories = get_categories( array( 'child_of' => 10 ) ); 
	foreach ( $categories as $category ) {
		printf( '<option value="%1$s">%2$s (%3$s)</option>',
			esc_attr( '/category/archives/' . $category->category_nicename ),
			esc_html( $category->cat_name ),
			esc_html( $category->category_count )
		);
  	}
 	?>
</select>

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