get_comments_number( int|WP_Post $post = 0 ): string|int
- Since
- 1.5.0
- Source
wp-includes/comment-template.php:919
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 1.5.0
- PHP
- 7.4–8.6-dev
- 6.7.7
- 6.8.8
- 6.9.7
- 7.0.4
- 7.1.0
Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.
Parameters
$postint|WP_Postoptional- Post ID or WP_Post object. Default is the global
$post.Default:0
Return value
string|int- If the post exists, a numeric string representing the number of comments the post has, otherwise 0.
Performance profile
How much work a call to get_comments_number() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.
- Cost class
- Heavy
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 17–19
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 14
Reaches the database via get_post().
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 21.
Third-party callbacks on 'get_comments_number' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
14 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- querycontent query
get_post()called directly - hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly
Further down the call graph this can also reach option, cache, serialize and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.
What one call costs · 1 distinct outcome
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost get_comments_number() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 17–19 | get_post(), apply_filters() |
Across PHP versions
| PHP | Compiled | Executed | Branches | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6-dev | 21 | 17–19 | 2 | |
| 8.5 | 21 | 17–19 | 2 | |
| 8.4 | 21 | 17–19 | 2 | |
| 8.3 | 21 | 17–19 | 2 | |
| 8.2 | 21 | 17–19 | 2 | |
| 8.1 | 21 | 17–19 | 2 | 2 fewer instructions than PHP 7.4 |
| 7.4 | 23 | 17–21 | 2 |
An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.
Hooks and filters fired · 1
One hook fires while get_comments_number() runs, in this order:
- apply_filters( get_comments_number )filterline 933 (+14 into the body)
Filters the returned comment count for a post.
Uses · 2
- get_post()Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
Used by · 14
- Twenty_Fourteen_Ephemera_Widget::widget()Output the HTML for this widget.
- WP_List_Table::comments_bubble()Displays a comment count bubble.
- comments_popup_link()Displays the link to the comments for the current post ID.
- get_comments_link()Retrieves the link to the current post comments.
- get_comments_number_text()Displays the language string for the number of comments the current post has.
- print_embed_comments_button()Prints the necessary markup for the embed comments button.
- render_block_core_comments()Renders the `core/comments` block on the server.
- render_block_core_comments_title()Renders the `core/comments-title` block on the server.
- twentyfifteen_entry_meta()Prints HTML with meta information for the categories, tags.
- twentynineteen_comment_count()Prints HTML with the comment count for the current post.
- twentynineteen_get_discussion_data()Returns information about the current post's discussion, with cache support.
- twentysixteen_entry_meta()Prints HTML with meta information for the categories, tags.
Show all 14
- twentytwenty_body_classes()Adds conditional body classes.
- twentytwenty_get_post_meta()Retrieves the post meta.
Source code
function get_comments_number( $post = 0 ) { $post = get_post( $post ); $comments_number = $post ? $post->comment_count : 0; $post_id = $post ? $post->ID : 0; /** * Filters the returned comment count for a post. * * @since 1.5.0 * * @param string|int $comments_number A string representing the number of comments a post has, otherwise 0. * @param int $post_id Post ID. */ return apply_filters( 'get_comments_number', $comments_number, $post_id );}Changelog
Introduced in 1.5.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
About this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.8.8 tag, from
src/wp-includes/comment-template.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it. - Corrections
- Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.