Title: get_the_comments_navigation
Published: December 9, 2015
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# get_the_comments_navigation( array $args = array() ): string

## In this article

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

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

Retrieves navigation to next/previous set of comments, when applicable.

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

 `$args`arrayoptional

Default comments navigation arguments.

 * `prev_text` string
 * Anchor text to display in the previous comments link.
    Default ‘Older comments’.
 * `next_text` string
 * Anchor text to display in the next comments link.
    Default ‘Newer comments’.
 * `screen_reader_text` string
 * Screen reader text for the nav element. Default ‘Comments navigation’.
 * `aria_label` string
 * ARIA label text for the nav element. Default `'Comments'`.
 * `class` string
 * Custom class for the nav element. Default `'comment-navigation'`.

Default:`array()`

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

 string Markup for comments links.

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

    ```php
    function get_the_comments_navigation( $args = array() ) {
    	$navigation = '';

    	// Are there comments to navigate through?
    	if ( get_comment_pages_count() > 1 ) {
    		// Make sure the nav element has an aria-label attribute: fallback to the screen reader text.
    		if ( ! empty( $args['screen_reader_text'] ) && empty( $args['aria_label'] ) ) {
    			$args['aria_label'] = $args['screen_reader_text'];
    		}

    		$args = wp_parse_args(
    			$args,
    			array(
    				'prev_text'          => __( 'Older comments' ),
    				'next_text'          => __( 'Newer comments' ),
    				'screen_reader_text' => __( 'Comments navigation' ),
    				'aria_label'         => __( 'Comments' ),
    				'class'              => 'comment-navigation',
    			)
    		);

    		$prev_link = get_previous_comments_link( $args['prev_text'] );
    		$next_link = get_next_comments_link( $args['next_text'] );

    		if ( $prev_link ) {
    			$navigation .= '<div class="nav-previous">' . $prev_link . '</div>';
    		}

    		if ( $next_link ) {
    			$navigation .= '<div class="nav-next">' . $next_link . '</div>';
    		}

    		$navigation = _navigation_markup( $navigation, $args['class'], $args['screen_reader_text'], $args['aria_label'] );
    	}

    	return $navigation;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/link-template.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/link-template.php#L3317)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/link-template.php#L3317-L3353)

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

| Uses | Description | 
| [_navigation_markup()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_navigation_markup/)`wp-includes/link-template.php` |

Wraps passed links in navigational markup.

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

Retrieves the link to the previous comments page.

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

Retrieves the link to the next comments page.

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

Calculates the total number of comment pages.

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

Retrieves the translation of $text.

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

Merges user defined arguments into defaults array.

  |

[Show 2 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_the_comments_navigation/?output_format=md#)
[Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_the_comments_navigation/?output_format=md#)

| Used by | Description | 
| [the_comments_navigation()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/the_comments_navigation/)`wp-includes/link-template.php` |

Displays navigation to next/previous set of comments, when applicable.

  |

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

| Version | Description | 
| [5.5.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/5.5.0/) | Added the `class` parameter. | 
| [5.3.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/5.3.0/) | Added the `aria_label` parameter. | 
| [4.4.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/4.4.0/) | Introduced. |

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