get_the_terms( int|WP_Post $post, string $taxonomy ): WP_Term[]|false|WP_Error
- Since
- 2.5.0
- Source
wp-includes/category-template.php:1288
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 2.5.0
- 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_Post- Post ID or object.
$taxonomystring- Taxonomy name.
Return value
WP_Term[]|false|WP_Error- Array of WP_Term objects on success, false if there are no terms or the post does not exist, WP_Error on failure.
Performance profile
How much work a call to get_the_terms() 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
- 8–52
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 16
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 54.
Third-party callbacks on 'get_the_terms' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
16 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 - cacheobject cache
wp_cache_add()called directly - hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly
Further down the call graph this can also reach option, 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 · 4 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost get_the_terms() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 8 | get_post() |
$terms !== false | 28 | get_post(), get_object_term_cache(), apply_filters() |
$terms === false && is_wp_error() | 39 | get_post(), get_object_term_cache(), wp_get_object_terms(), is_wp_error(), apply_filters() |
$terms === false && !is_wp_error() | 52 | get_post(), get_object_term_cache(), wp_get_object_terms(), is_wp_error(), wp_list_pluck(), wp_cache_add(), apply_filters() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 54 instructions, 8–52 executed per call, 4 branches. The work does not change between versions.
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_terms() runs, in this order:
- apply_filters( get_the_terms )filterline 1314 (+26 into the body)
Filters the list of terms attached to the given post.
Uses · 7
- get_post()Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.
- get_object_term_cache()Retrieves the cached term objects for the given object ID.
- wp_get_object_terms()Retrieves the terms associated with the given object(s), in the supplied taxonomies.
- is_wp_error()Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
- wp_list_pluck()Plucks a certain field out of each object or array in an array.
- wp_cache_add()Adds data to the cache, if the cache key doesn't already exist.
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
Used by · 16
- WP_Media_List_Table::column_default()Handles output for the default column.
- WP_Post::__get()Getter.
- WP_Posts_List_Table::column_default()Handles the default column output.
- WP_REST_Menu_Items_Controller::prepare_item_for_response()Prepares a single nav menu item output for response.
- WP_REST_Posts_Controller::prepare_item_for_response()Prepares a single post output for response.
- _build_block_template_result_from_post()Builds a unified template object based a post Object.
- get_post_class()Retrieves an array of the class names for the post container element.
- get_post_format()Retrieve the format slug for a post
- get_the_category()Retrieves post categories.
- get_the_tags()Retrieves the tags for a post.
- get_the_term_list()Retrieves a post's terms as a list with specified format.
- inject_ignored_hooked_blocks_metadata_attributes()Inject ignoredHookedBlocks metadata attributes into a template or template part.
Show all 16
- wp_filter_wp_template_unique_post_slug()Generates a unique slug for templates.
- wp_publish_post()Publishes a post by transitioning the post status.
- wp_set_unique_slug_on_create_template_part()Sets a custom slug when creating auto-draft template parts.
- wp_update_post()Updates a post with new post data.
Source code
function get_the_terms( $post, $taxonomy ) { $post = get_post( $post ); if ( ! $post ) { return false; } $terms = get_object_term_cache( $post->ID, $taxonomy ); if ( false === $terms ) { $terms = wp_get_object_terms( $post->ID, $taxonomy ); if ( ! is_wp_error( $terms ) ) { $term_ids = wp_list_pluck( $terms, 'term_id' ); wp_cache_add( $post->ID, $term_ids, $taxonomy . '_relationships' ); } } /** * Filters the list of terms attached to the given post. * * @since 3.1.0 * * @param WP_Term[]|WP_Error $terms Array of attached terms, or WP_Error on failure. * @param int $post_id Post ID. * @param string $taxonomy Name of the taxonomy. */ $terms = apply_filters( 'get_the_terms', $terms, $post->ID, $taxonomy ); if ( empty( $terms ) ) { return false; } return $terms;}Changelog
Introduced in 2.5.0. 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/category-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.