has_category( string|int|array $category = '', int|WP_Post $post = null ): bool
- Since
- 3.1.0
- Source
wp-includes/category-template.php:1494
Description
The given categories are checked against the post's categories' term_ids, names and slugs.
Categories given as integers will only be checked against the post's categories' term_ids.
If no categories are given, determines if post has any categories.
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 3.1.0
- 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
$categorystring|int|arrayoptional- The category name/term_id/slug, or an array of them to check for. Default empty.Default:
'' $postint|WP_Postoptional- Post to check. Defaults to the current post.Default:
null
Return value
bool- True if the current post has any of the given categories (or any category, if no category specified). False otherwise.
Performance profile
How much work a call to has_category() 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
- Plugin surface
- None
- Called by
- 3
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. The body compiles to 8.
Nothing here hands control to plugin code.
3 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- querycontent query
get_post()one call below has_category()
Further down the call graph this can also reach cache, hook, 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 · 1 distinct outcome
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost has_category() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 8 | has_term() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 8 instructions, 8 executed per call, 0 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.
Uses · 1
- has_term()Checks if the current post has any of given terms.
Used by · 3
- in_category()Checks if the current post is within any of the given categories.
- twenty_twenty_one_entry_meta_footer()Prints HTML with meta information for the categories, tags and comments.
- twentytwenty_get_post_meta()Retrieves the post meta.
Source code
function has_category( $category = '', $post = null ) { return has_term( $category, 'category', $post );}Changelog
Introduced in 3.1.0. 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 6.7.7 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.