previous_post( string $format = '%', string $previous = 'previous post: ', string $title = 'yes', string $in_same_cat = 'no', int $limitprev = 1, string $excluded_categories = '' )
- Since
- 1.5.0
- Source
wp-includes/deprecated.php:137
Compatibility
Deprecated in WordPress 2.0.0. Use previous_post_link()
- 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
$formatstringoptional- Default:
'%' $previousstringoptional- Default:
'previous post: ' $titlestringoptional- Default:
'yes' $in_same_catstringoptional- Default:
'no' $limitprevintoptional- Default:
1 $excluded_categoriesstringoptional- Default:
''
Performance profile
How much work a call to previous_post() 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
- 22–49
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 0
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 51.
Third-party callbacks on 'the_title' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
Nothing in core calls this; the cost is only what you spend yourself.
What it touches
- hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly - querycontent query
get_post()one call below previous_post() - optionoption read or write
get_option()one call below previous_post()
Further down the call graph this can also reach 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 · 3 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost previous_post() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 22–24 | _deprecated_function(), get_previous_post() |
$title != "yes" | 37–39 | _deprecated_function(), get_previous_post(), get_permalink() |
$title == "yes" | 47–49 | _deprecated_function(), get_previous_post(), get_permalink(), apply_filters() |
Across PHP versions
| PHP | Compiled | Executed | Branches | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6-dev | 51 | 22–49 | 4 | |
| 8.5 | 51 | 22–49 | 4 | |
| 8.4 | 51 | 22–49 | 4 | 3 fewer instructions than PHP 8.3 |
| 8.3 | 54 | 22–52 | 4 | |
| 8.2 | 54 | 22–52 | 4 | |
| 8.1 | 54 | 22–52 | 4 | |
| 7.4 | 54 | 22–52 | 4 |
An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.
Hooks and filters fired · 1
One hook fires while previous_post() runs, in this order:
Uses · 4
- _deprecated_function()Marks a function as deprecated and inform when it has been used.
- get_previous_post()Retrieves the previous post that is adjacent to the current post.
- get_permalink()Retrieves the full permalink for the current post or post ID.
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
Source code
function previous_post($format='%', $previous='previous post: ', $title='yes', $in_same_cat='no', $limitprev=1, $excluded_categories='') { _deprecated_function( __FUNCTION__, '2.0.0', 'previous_post_link()' ); if ( empty($in_same_cat) || 'no' == $in_same_cat ) $in_same_cat = false; else $in_same_cat = true; $post = get_previous_post($in_same_cat, $excluded_categories); if ( !$post ) return; $string = '<a href="'.get_permalink($post->ID).'">'.$previous; if ( 'yes' == $title ) $string .= apply_filters('the_title', $post->post_title, $post->ID); $string .= '</a>'; $format = str_replace('%', $string, $format); echo $format;}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 6.9.7 tag, from
src/wp-includes/deprecated.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.