get_the_category() – Function | Developer.WordPress.org

Retrieves post categories.

Description

This tag may be used outside The Loop by passing a post ID as the parameter.

Note: This function only returns results from the default "category" taxonomy.
For custom taxonomies use get_the_terms() .

Parameters

$post_idintoptional: The post ID. Defaults to current post ID.
Default:false

Return

WP_Term[] Array of WP_Term objects, one for each category assigned to the post.

Source

function get_the_category( $post_id = false ) {
	$categories = get_the_terms( $post_id, 'category' );
	if ( ! $categories || is_wp_error( $categories ) ) {
		$categories = array();
	}

	$categories = array_values( $categories );

	foreach ( array_keys( $categories ) as $key ) {
		_make_cat_compat( $categories[ $key ] );
	}

	/**
	 * Filters the array of categories to return for a post.
	 *
	 * @since 3.1.0
	 * @since 4.4.0 Added the `$post_id` parameter.
	 *
	 * @param WP_Term[] $categories An array of categories to return for the post.
	 * @param int|false $post_id    The post ID.
	 */
	return apply_filters( 'get_the_categories', $categories, $post_id );
}

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Hooks

apply_filters( ‘get_the_categories’, WP_Term[] $categories, int|false $post_id ): Filters the array of categories to return for a post.

Uses	Description
get_the_terms()`wp-includes/category-template.php`	Retrieves the terms of the taxonomy that are attached to the post.
_make_cat_compat()`wp-includes/category.php`	Updates category structure to old pre-2.3 from new taxonomy structure.
apply_filters()`wp-includes/plugin.php`	Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
is_wp_error()`wp-includes/load.php`	Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.

Show 2 more Show less

Used by	Description
get_the_category_list()`wp-includes/category-template.php`	Retrieves category list for a post in either HTML list or custom format.
the_category_ID()`wp-includes/deprecated.php`	Returns or prints a category ID.
the_category_head()`wp-includes/deprecated.php`	Prints a category with optional text before and after.
get_permalink()`wp-includes/link-template.php`	Retrieves the full permalink for the current post or post ID.
get_the_category_rss()`wp-includes/feed.php`	Retrieves all of the post categories, formatted for use in feeds.

Changelog

Version	Description
0.71	Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

Skip to note 10 content

Codex 10 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 28You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
Show the First Category Name Only
```
$categories = get_the_category();

if ( ! empty( $categories ) ) {
	echo esc_html( $categories[0]->name );	
}
```
(Echoes the first array element ([0]) of $categories.)

Make the first category link to the category page:
```
$categories = get_the_category();
if ( ! empty( $categories ) ) {
	echo '<a href="' . esc_url( get_category_link( $categories[0]->term_id ) ) . '">' . esc_html( $categories[0]->name ) . '</a>';
}
```
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Stefano 9 years ago

Get the post category if you have a custom post_type

<?php
/* FIRST
 * Note: This function only returns results from the default “category” taxonomy. For custom taxonomies use get_the_terms().
 */
$categories = get_the_terms( $post->ID, 'taxonomy' );
// now you can view your category in array:
// using var_dump( $categories );
// or you can take all with foreach:
foreach( $categories as $category ) {
    echo $category->term_id . ', ' . $category->slug . ', ' . $category->name . '<br />';
}

juanvillegas 10 years ago

Example response from function:

$categories = get_the_category();

var_dump($categories);

array(1) {
[0]=>
  object(stdClass)#310 (17) {
    ["term_id"]=>
    &int(6)
    ["name"]=>
    &string(10) "familylife"
    ["slug"]=>
    &string(10) "familylife"
    ["term_group"]=>
    int(0)
    ["term_taxonomy_id"]=>
    int(6)
    ["taxonomy"]=>
    string(8) "category"
    ["description"]=>
    &string(0) ""
    ["parent"]=>
    &int(0)
    ["count"]=>
    &int(208)
    ["object_id"]=>
    int(7729)
    ["filter"]=>
    string(3) "raw"
    ["cat_ID"]=>
    &int(6)
    ["category_count"]=>
    &int(208)
    ["category_description"]=>
    &string(0) ""
    ["cat_name"]=>
    &string(10) "familylife"
    ["category_nicename"]=>
    &string(10) "familylife"
    ["category_parent"]=>
    &int(0)
  }
}

Codex 10 years ago

Show All Categories as Links
This outputs all the categories assigned to the post as links. Must be used inside the loop. You can also use the function get_the_category_list() for this.

$categories = get_the_category();
$separator = ' ';
$output = '';
if ( ! empty( $categories ) ) {
	foreach( $categories as $category ) {
		$output .= '<a href="' . esc_url( get_category_link( $category->term_id ) ) . '" alt="' . esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'View all posts in %s', 'textdomain' ), $category->name ) ) . '">' . esc_html( $category->name ) . '</a>' . $separator;
	}
	echo trim( $output, $separator );
}

Skip to note 14 content

Codex 10 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 5You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
Get the Post Categories From Outside the Loop
```
<?php
$post = get_post();
if ( $post ) {
	$categories = get_the_category( $post->ID );
	var_dump( $categories );
}
```
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fgilio 9 years ago

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

To display a list of categories associated with a post, separated by commas, write this code:

$cats = array(); foreach (get_the_category($post_id) as $c) { $cat = get_category($c); array_push($cats, $cat->name); }
if (sizeOf($cats) > 0) { $post_categories = implode(', ', $cats); } else { $post_categories = 'Not Assigned'; }
echo $post_categories;

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kommasri 8 years ago

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
Display all categories with name and description
```
<div>
<?php 
	foreach((get_the_category()) as $category){
		echo $category->name."<br>";
		echo category_description($category);
		}
	?>
</div>
```
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Skip to note 17 content

soullighter 4 years ago

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
Show list of categories with comma
```
<?php
$categories = get_the_category();
$category_list = join( ', ', wp_list_pluck( $categories, 'name' ) );

echo wp_kses_post( $category_list );
```
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Codex 10 years ago

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Show Category Images
This outputs category images named after the cat_ID with the alt attribute set to cat_name. You can also use any of the other member variables instead.
```
<?php
$categories = get_the_category();
foreach ( $categories as $category ) { 
	echo '<img src="' . esc_url( 'http://example.com/images/' . intval( $category->term_id ) . '.jpg' ) . '" alt="' . esc_attr( $category->name ) . '" />'; 
}
```
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get_the_category( int $post_id = false ): WP_Term[]

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