get_the_date( string $format = '', int|WP_Post $post = null ): string|int|false
- Since
- 3.0.0
- Source
wp-includes/general-template.php:2711
Description
Unlike the_date() this function will always return the date.
Modify output with the 'get_the_date' filter.
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 3.0.0
- 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
$formatstringoptional- PHP date format. Defaults to the 'date_format' option.Default:
'' $postint|WP_Postoptional- Post ID or WP_Post object. Default current post.Default:
null
Return value
string|int|false- Date the current post was written. False on failure.
Performance profile
How much work a call to get_the_date() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.
- Cost class
- Heavy
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 8–28
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 18
Reaches the database via get_post().
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 31.
Third-party callbacks on 'get_the_date' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
18 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- querycontent query
get_post()called directly - optionoption read or write
get_option()called directly - hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly - cacheobject cache
wp_cache_get()one call below get_the_date() - serializeserialisation
maybe_unserialize()one call below get_the_date()
Further down the call graph this can also reach transient. That is the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.
What one call costs · 3 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost get_the_date() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 8 | get_post() |
!empty($format) | 26 | get_post(), get_post_time(), apply_filters() |
empty($format) | 28 | get_post(), get_option(), get_post_time(), apply_filters() |
Across PHP versions
| PHP | Compiled | Executed | Branches | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6-dev | 30 | 8–27 | 2 | 1 fewer instruction than PHP 8.5 |
| 8.5 | 31 | 8–28 | 2 | |
| 8.4 | 31 | 8–28 | 2 | |
| 8.3 | 31 | 8–28 | 2 | |
| 8.2 | 31 | 8–28 | 2 | |
| 8.1 | 31 | 8–28 | 2 | |
| 7.4 | 31 | 8–28 | 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_the_date() runs, in this order:
Uses · 4
- get_post()Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.
- get_option()Retrieves an option value based on an option name.
- get_post_time()Retrieves the localized time of the post.
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
Used by · 18
- Twenty_Fourteen_Ephemera_Widget::widget()Output the HTML for this widget.
- WP_Widget_Recent_Posts::widget()Outputs the content for the current Recent Posts widget instance.
- get_the_archive_title()Retrieves the archive title based on the queried object.
- render_block_core_latest_posts()Renders the `core/latest-posts` block on server.
- render_block_core_post_date()Renders the `core/post-date` block on the server.
- the_date()Displays or retrieves the date of the post (once per date).
- twenty_twenty_one_posted_on()Prints HTML with meta information for the current post-date/time.
- twentyeleven_posted_on()Print HTML with meta information for the current post-date/time and author.
- twentyfifteen_entry_meta()Prints HTML with meta information for the categories, tags.
- twentyfourteen_posted_on()Print HTML with meta information for the current post-date/time and author.
- twentynineteen_get_the_archive_title()Filters the default archive titles.
- twentynineteen_posted_on()Prints HTML with meta information for the current post-date/time.
Show all 18
- twentyseventeen_time_link()Gets a nicely formatted string for the published date.
- twentysixteen_entry_date()Prints HTML with date information for current post.
- twentyten_posted_on()Print HTML with meta information for the current post-date/time and author.
- twentythirteen_entry_date()Print HTML with date information for current post.
- twentytwelve_entry_meta()Set up post entry meta.
- wp_get_document_title()Returns document title for the current page.
Source code
function get_the_date( $format = '', $post = null ) { $post = get_post( $post ); if ( ! $post ) { return false; } $_format = ! empty( $format ) ? $format : get_option( 'date_format' ); $the_date = get_post_time( $_format, false, $post, true ); /** * Filters the date of the post. * * @since 3.0.0 * * @param string|int $the_date Formatted date string or Unix timestamp if `$format` is 'U' or 'G'. * @param string $format PHP date format. * @param WP_Post $post The post object. */ return apply_filters( 'get_the_date', $the_date, $format, $post );}Changelog
Introduced in 3.0.0. One change between 6.7.7 and 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
$post retyped from int|WP_Post to int|WP_Post|null.verified against sourceAbout this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.8.8 tag, from
src/wp-includes/general-template.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it. - Corrections
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