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WordPress

is_multi_author(): bool

Since
3.2.0
Source
wp-includes/author-template.php:619
Determines whether this site has more than one author.

Description

Checks to see if more than one author has published posts.

For more information on this and similar theme functions, check out the https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/basics/conditional-tags/ Conditional Tags article in the Theme Developer Handbook.

Compatibility

WordPress
since 3.2.0
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.

Return value

bool
Whether or not we have more than one author

Performance profile

How much work a call to is_multi_author() 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

Reaches the database via ->get_col().

Scaling
Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions
13–31

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 32.

Plugin surface
1 hook

Third-party callbacks on 'is_multi_author' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by
7

7 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

  • transienttransientget_transient()called directly
  • hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()called directly
  • sqldatabase query->get_col()called directly
  • cacheobject cachewp_cache_get()one call below is_multi_author()
  • optionoption read or writeget_option()one call below is_multi_author()

Further down the call graph this can also reach serialize and query. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 2 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost is_multi_author() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

WhenInstructionsCalls it makes
$is_multi_author !== false13get_transient(), apply_filters()
$is_multi_author === false30–31get_transient(), ->get_col(), set_transient(), 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: 32 instructions, 13–31 executed per call, 2 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 is_multi_author() runs, in this order:

  1. apply_filters( is_multi_author )filterline 636 (+17 into the body)

    Filters whether the site has more than one author with published posts.

Uses · 3

Used by · 7

Source code

function is_multi_author() {	global $wpdb; 	$is_multi_author = get_transient( 'is_multi_author' );	if ( false === $is_multi_author ) {		$rows            = (array) $wpdb->get_col( "SELECT DISTINCT post_author FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_type = 'post' AND post_status = 'publish' LIMIT 2" );		$is_multi_author = 1 < count( $rows ) ? 1 : 0;		set_transient( 'is_multi_author', $is_multi_author );	} 	/**	 * Filters whether the site has more than one author with published posts.	 *	 * @since 3.2.0	 *	 * @param bool $is_multi_author Whether $is_multi_author should evaluate as true.	 */	return apply_filters( 'is_multi_author', (bool) $is_multi_author );}

Changelog

Introduced in 3.2.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

  1. 6.7.7
  2. 6.8.8
  3. 6.9.7
  4. 7.0.4
  5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data
Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/author-template.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.
Corrections
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