Using WordPress ‘get_the_terms()’ PHP function

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The get_the_terms() WordPress PHP function retrieves the terms of a taxonomy that are attached to a post.

Usage

get_the_terms($post, $taxonomy);

Example:

$categories = get_the_terms($post->ID, 'category');

Parameters

  • $post (int|WP_Post) – Required. Post ID or object.
  • $taxonomy (string) – Required. Taxonomy name.

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: get_the_terms()

Examples

Displaying categories of a post

This example retrieves the categories of a post and displays them as a list.

$categories = get_the_terms($post->ID, 'category');
if ($categories && !is_wp_error($categories)) {
    echo '<ul>';
    foreach ($categories as $category) {
        echo '<li>' . $category->name . '</li>';
    }
    echo '</ul>';
}

Displaying custom taxonomy terms of a post

This example retrieves the terms of a custom taxonomy called genre and displays them as a comma-separated list.

$genres = get_the_terms($post->ID, 'genre');
if ($genres && !is_wp_error($genres)) {
    $genre_names = wp_list_pluck($genres, 'name');
    echo implode(', ', $genre_names);
}

Displaying terms of all taxonomies attached to a post

This example retrieves the terms of all taxonomies attached to a post and displays them in separate lists.

$taxonomies = get_object_taxonomies($post->post_type, 'objects');
foreach ($taxonomies as $taxonomy_slug => $taxonomy) {
    $terms = get_the_terms($post->ID, $taxonomy_slug);
    if ($terms && !is_wp_error($terms)) {
        echo '<h2>' . $taxonomy->label . '</h2><ul>';
        foreach ($terms as $term) {
            echo '<li>' . $term->name . '</li>';
        }
        echo '</ul>';
    }
}

This example retrieves the categories of a post and displays them as a list with links to their respective archive pages.

$categories = get_the_terms($post->ID, 'category');
if ($categories && !is_wp_error($categories)) {
    echo '<ul>';
    foreach ($categories as $category) {
        echo '<li><a href="' . get_term_link($category) . '">' . $category->name . '</a></li>';
    }
    echo '</ul>';
}

Displaying term names with custom HTML

This example retrieves the tags of a post and displays them with custom HTML.

$tags = get_the_terms($post->ID, 'post_tag');
if ($tags && !is_wp_error($tags)) {
    echo '<div class="tags">';
    foreach ($tags as $tag) {
        echo '<span class="tag">' . $tag->name . '</span>';
    }
    echo '</div>';
}