get_terms( string|array $args = array(), array $deprecated = '' )

Retrieve the terms in a given taxonomy or list of taxonomies.

Description
- Parameters
- Return
- Source
- Changelog
Related
- Uses
- Used By
User Contributed Notes

Description Description

You can fully inject any customizations to the query before it is sent, as well as control the output with a filter.

The ‘get_terms’ filter will be called when the cache has the term and will pass the found term along with the array of $taxonomies and array of $args. This filter is also called before the array of terms is passed and will pass the array of terms, along with the $taxonomies and $args.

The ‘list_terms_exclusions’ filter passes the compiled exclusions along with the $args.

The ‘get_terms_orderby’ filter passes the ORDER BY clause for the query along with the $args array.

Prior to 4.5.0, the first parameter of get_terms() was a taxonomy or list of taxonomies:

$terms = get_terms( 'post_tag', array(
    'hide_empty' => false,
) );

Since 4.5.0, taxonomies should be passed via the ‘taxonomy’ argument in the $args array:

$terms = get_terms( array(
    'taxonomy' => 'post_tag',
    'hide_empty' => false,
) );

Parameters Parameters

$args

(string|array) (Optional) Array or string of arguments. See WP_Term_Query::__construct() for information on accepted arguments.

Default value: array()

$deprecated

(array) (Optional) Argument array, when using the legacy function parameter format. If present, this parameter will be interpreted as $args, and the first function parameter will be parsed as a taxonomy or array of taxonomies.

Default value: ''

Top ↑

Return Return

(array|int|WP_Error) List of WP_Term instances and their children. Will return WP_Error, if any of $taxonomies do not exist.

Top ↑

Source Source

File: wp-includes/taxonomy.php

function get_terms( $args = array(), $deprecated = '' ) {
	$term_query = new WP_Term_Query();

	$defaults = array(
		'suppress_filter' => false,
	);

	/*
	 * Legacy argument format ($taxonomy, $args) takes precedence.
	 *
	 * We detect legacy argument format by checking if
	 * (a) a second non-empty parameter is passed, or
	 * (b) the first parameter shares no keys with the default array (ie, it's a list of taxonomies)
	 */
	$_args = wp_parse_args( $args );
	$key_intersect  = array_intersect_key( $term_query->query_var_defaults, (array) $_args );
	$do_legacy_args = $deprecated || empty( $key_intersect );

	if ( $do_legacy_args ) {
		$taxonomies = (array) $args;
		$args = wp_parse_args( $deprecated, $defaults );
		$args['taxonomy'] = $taxonomies;
	} else {
		$args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
		if ( isset( $args['taxonomy'] ) && null !== $args['taxonomy'] ) {
			$args['taxonomy'] = (array) $args['taxonomy'];
		}
	}

	if ( ! empty( $args['taxonomy'] ) ) {
		foreach ( $args['taxonomy'] as $taxonomy ) {
			if ( ! taxonomy_exists( $taxonomy ) ) {
				return new WP_Error( 'invalid_taxonomy', __( 'Invalid taxonomy.' ) );
			}
		}
	}

	// Don't pass suppress_filter to WP_Term_Query.
	$suppress_filter = $args['suppress_filter'];
	unset( $args['suppress_filter'] );

	$terms = $term_query->query( $args );

	// Count queries are not filtered, for legacy reasons.
	if ( ! is_array( $terms ) ) {
		return $terms;
	}

	if ( $suppress_filter ) {
		return $terms;
	}

	/**
	 * Filters the found terms.
	 *
	 * @since 2.3.0
	 * @since 4.6.0 Added the `$term_query` parameter.
	 *
	 * @param array         $terms      Array of found terms.
	 * @param array         $taxonomies An array of taxonomies.
	 * @param array         $args       An array of get_terms() arguments.
	 * @param WP_Term_Query $term_query The WP_Term_Query object.
	 */
	return apply_filters( 'get_terms', $terms, $term_query->query_vars['taxonomy'], $term_query->query_vars, $term_query );
}

Expand full source code Collapse full source code View on Trac

Top ↑

Changelog Changelog

Changelog
Version	Description
4.8.0	Introduced 'suppress_filter' parameter.
4.5.0	Changed the function signature so that the `$args` array can be provided as the first parameter. Introduced 'meta_key' and 'meta_value' parameters. Introduced the ability to order results by metadata.
4.4.0	Introduced the ability to pass 'term_id' as an alias of 'id' for the `orderby` parameter. Introduced the 'meta_query' and 'update_term_meta_cache' parameters. Converted to return a list of WP_Term objects.
4.2.0	Introduced 'name' and 'childless' parameters.
2.3.0	Introduced.

Top ↑

User Contributed Notes User Contributed Notes

Contributed by ancawonka — 2 years ago

As of WordPress 4.6.1, here’s the array that’s returned (to add to Leo’s helpful note above)

array(1) {
  [0]=&gt;
  object(WP_Term) (11) {
    ["term_id"]=&gt;  //int
    ["name"]=&gt;	//string 
    ["slug"]=&gt;  //string 
    ["term_group"]=&gt;  //int
    ["term_taxonomy_id"]=&gt; //int
    ["taxonomy"]=&gt;	//string
    ["description"]=&gt;	//string
    ["parent"]=&gt;	//int
    ["count"]=&gt;	// int
    ["filter"]=&gt;	//string
    ["meta"]=&gt; array(0) { // presumably this would be some returned meta-data?
    }
  }
}

Expand full source code Collapse full source code

Skip to note content

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 7You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

Contributed by mitch827 — 2 years ago
If parent => 0 is passed, only top-level terms will be returned
```
$terms = get_terms( array( 
    'taxonomy' => 'tax_name',
    'parent'   => 0
) );
```
EEELog in to add feedback

Contributed by kopernik1elfka — 1 year ago

All get_terms attributes with default values:
(I try default from this article and it didn’t work. This works.)

$get_terms_default_attributes = array (
			'taxonomy' => 'category', //empty string(''), false, 0 don't work, and return empty array
			'orderby' => 'name',
			'order' => 'ASC',
			'hide_empty' => true, //can be 1, '1' too
			'include' => 'all', //empty string(''), false, 0 don't work, and return empty array
			'exclude' => 'all', //empty string(''), false, 0 don't work, and return empty array
			'exclude_tree' => 'all', //empty string(''), false, 0 don't work, and return empty array
			'number' => false, //can be 0, '0', '' too
			'offset' => '',
			'fields' => 'all',
			'name' => '',
			'slug' => '',
			'hierarchical' => true, //can be 1, '1' too
			'search' => '',
			'name__like' => '',
			'description__like' => '',
			'pad_counts' => false, //can be 0, '0', '' too
			'get' => '',
			'child_of' => false, //can be 0, '0', '' too
			'childless' => false,
			'cache_domain' => 'core',
			'update_term_meta_cache' => true, //can be 1, '1' too
			'meta_query' => '',
			'meta_key' => array(),
			'meta_value'=> '',
	);

Expand full source code Collapse full source code

Skip to note content

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 4You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

Contributed by Siobhan — 4 years ago
Get all post categories ordered by count.

String syntax:
```
$categories = get_terms( 'category', 'orderby=count&hide_empty=0' );
```
Array syntax:
```
$categories = get_terms( 'category', array(
 	'orderby'    => 'count',
 	'hide_empty' => 0
) );
```
EEELog in to add feedback

Contributed by znowebdev — 3 years ago

Get all post categories ordered by count.

String syntax:

$categories = get_terms( 'category', 'orderby=count&hide_empty=0' );

Array syntax:

$categories = get_terms( 'category', array(
	'orderby'    => 'count',
	'hide_empty' => 0,
) );

Get all the links categories:

$my_links_categories = get_terms( 'link_category', 'orderby=count&hide_empty=0' );

List all the terms in a custom taxonomy, without a link:

$terms = get_terms( 'my_taxonomy' );
if ( ! empty( $terms ) && ! is_wp_error( $terms ) ){
	echo '<ul>';
	foreach ( $terms as $term ) {
		echo '<li>' . $term->name . '</li>';
	}
	echo '</ul>';
}

List all the terms, with link to term archive, separated by an interpunct (·):

$args = array( 'hide_empty=0' );

$terms = get_terms( 'my_term', $args );
if ( ! empty( $terms ) && ! is_wp_error( $terms ) ) {
	$count = count( $terms );
	$i = 0;
	$term_list = '<p class="my_term-archive">';
	foreach ( $terms as $term ) {
		$i++;
		$term_list .= '<a href="' . esc_url( get_term_link( $term ) ) . '" alt="' . esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'View all post filed under %s', 'my_localization_domain' ), $term->name ) ) . '">' . $term->name . '</a>';
		if ( $count != $i ) {
			$term_list .= ' &middot; ';
		}
		else {
			$term_list .= '</p>';
		}
	}
	echo $term_list;
}

Expand full source code Collapse full source code

Skip to note content

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 3You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

Contributed by rezapr2 — 2 years ago
List terms limit to those matching a specific metadata key and metadata value
```
    $terms= get_terms( array(
        'taxonomy' =&gt; 'taxonomy name',
        'meta_key' =&gt; 'metadata key',
        'meta_value' =&gt; 'metadata value'
    ) );
```
EEELog in to add feedback

Contributed by CdWritted — 2 years ago

Get categories and subcategories by custom taxonomies:

$taxonomies = get_terms( array(
	'taxonomy' => 'taxonomy_name',
	'hide_empty' => false
) );

if ( !empty($taxonomies) ) :
	$output = '<select>';
	foreach( $taxonomies as $category ) {
		if( $category->parent == 0 ) {
			$output.= '<optgroup label="'. esc_attr( $category->name ) .'">';
			foreach( $taxonomies as $subcategory ) {
				if($subcategory->parent == $category->term_id) {
				$output.= '<option value="'. esc_attr( $subcategory->term_id ) .'">
					'. esc_html( $subcategory->name ) .'</option>';
				}
			}
			$output.='</optgroup>';
		}
	}
	$output.='</select>';
	echo $output;
endif;

Expand full source code Collapse full source code

Contributed by khoipro — 1 year ago

Working with Advanced Custom Fields (field type: Taxonomy, output: Object) for filtering taxonomies.

Case: Create a filter with main categories defined by ACF field, and all another should belongs to *others*.

Solution:

// Define Featured Category IDs first
$featured_category_ids = array();
// It must be output WP_Object
$featured_categories = get_field('main_category_filters');

// Creating loop to insert IDs to array.
foreach( $featured_categories as $cat ) {
	$featured_category_ids[] = $cat-&gt;term_id;
}

// Now, if Featured Categories are match, add their IDs via 'exclude'
if( $featured_categories ) {
	$args = array(
		'taxonomy' =&gt; 'event_cat',
		'parent' =&gt; 0,
		'exclude' =&gt; $featured_category_ids
	);
} else {
    // If no featured, just display all terms
	$args = array(
		'taxonomy' =&gt; 'event_cat',
		'parent' =&gt; 0
	);
}

// Starting query terms now
$other_categories = get_terms($args);

Expand full source code Collapse full source code

Skip to note 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 kalor — 1 year ago
Order by parent term ID – not documented, but also works.
```
$categories = get_terms( 'category', array(
    'orderby'    => 'parent',
) );
```
EEELog in to add feedback

Contributed by Anvar Ulugov — 2 years ago

Get Terms filtered by first letter

$authors = get_terms('book-authors', array('name__like' => $first_l));

function custom_tax_query( $pieces, $taxonomies, $args ) {
  if ( 'book-authors' == $taxonomies[0] ) {
    $pieces['where'] = str_replace("LIKE '%", "LIKE '", $pieces['where']);
  }
return $pieces;
}

Skip to note content

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 0You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note

Contributed by ctousignant — 7 months ago
Meta Query using a custom field, and then ordering using a different custom field.
$terms = get_terms( array( 'taxonomy' => 'tax_slug', 'hide_empty' => false, 'meta_query' => array( [ 'key' => 'meta_key_slug_1', 'value' => 'desired value to look for' ] ), 'meta_key' => 'meta_key_slug_2', 'orderby' => 'meta_key_slug_2' ) );
Expand full source code Collapse full source code
EEELog in to add feedback
Skip to note 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 Asgaros — 2 years ago
Get terms ordered by value of meta-key:
```
$terms = get_terms(
    'taxonomy_name',
    array(
        'meta_key' => 'custom_meta_key',
        'orderby' => 'custom_meta_key'
    )
);
```
EEELog in to add feedback

-13

Contributed by khoipro — 2 years ago

Get Categories by custom post type with dropdown:

function taxonomy_list_dropdown($type, $post_type) {
  $terms = get_terms($type);
  $category = taxonomy_current($type);

  if ( !empty( $terms ) &amp;&amp; !is_wp_error( $terms ) ){
    the_terms_list(
      'categories__dropdown icon-dropdown',
      array(
        'show_option_all'  =&gt; 'Click to filter',
        'taxonomy'         =&gt; $type,
        'current_category' =&gt; $category-&gt;term_id,
        'value_field'      =&gt; 'slug',
        'selected'         =&gt; $category-&gt;slug,
      ),
      'dropdown',
      'data-module-init="redirect-dropdown"'
    );
  }
}

Expand full source code Collapse full source code

You must log in before being able to contribute a note or feedback.

WordPress.org

Code Reference

get_terms( string|array $args = array(), array $deprecated = '' )

Contents

Description Description

Parameters Parameters

Return Return

Source Source

Changelog Changelog

User Contributed Notes User Contributed Notes

WordPress.org

get_terms( string|array $args = array(), array $deprecated = '' )

Contents

Description #Description

Parameters #Parameters

Return #Return

Source #Source

Changelog #Changelog

Related #Related

Uses #Uses

Used By #Used By

User Contributed Notes #User Contributed Notes

Description Description

Parameters Parameters

Return Return

Source Source

Changelog Changelog

Related Related

Uses Uses

Used By Used By

User Contributed Notes User Contributed Notes