term_description( int $term = 0, mixed $deprecated = null ): string
- Since
- 2.8.0, 4.9.2
- Source
wp-includes/category-template.php:1265
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 4.9.2
- 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
$termintoptional- Term ID. Defaults to the current term ID.Default:
0 $deprecatedmixedoptional- Not used.Default:
null
Return value
string- Term description, if available.
Performance profile
How much work a call to term_description() 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
- 13–28
- Plugin surface
- None
- Called by
- 4
Reaches the database via get_term().
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 29.
Nothing here hands control to plugin code.
4 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- querycontent query
get_term()one call below term_description() - hookthird-party callbacks
do_action()one call below term_description()
Further down the call graph this can also reach option, 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 · 5 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost term_description() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 13 | get_term_field(), is_wp_error() |
is_tax() | 20–22 | is_tax(), get_queried_object(), get_term_field(), is_wp_error() |
!is_tax() && !is_tag() && !is_category() | 22 | is_tax(), is_tag(), is_category(), get_term_field(), is_wp_error() |
!is_tax() && is_tag() | 23–25 | is_tax(), is_tag(), get_queried_object(), get_term_field(), is_wp_error() |
!is_tax() && !is_tag() && is_category() | 26–28 | is_tax(), is_tag(), is_category(), get_queried_object(), get_term_field(), is_wp_error() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 29 instructions, 13–28 executed per call, 6 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 · 6
- is_tax()Determines whether the query is for an existing custom taxonomy archive page.
- is_tag()Determines whether the query is for an existing tag archive page.
- is_category()Determines whether the query is for an existing category archive page.
- get_queried_object()Retrieves the currently queried object.
- get_term_field()Gets sanitized term field.
- is_wp_error()Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
Used by · 4
- category_description()Retrieves category description.
- get_the_archive_description()Retrieves the description for an author, post type, or term archive.
- render_block_core_term_description()Renders the `core/term-description` block on the server.
- tag_description()Retrieves tag description.
Source code
function term_description( $term = 0, $deprecated = null ) { if ( ! $term && ( is_tax() || is_tag() || is_category() ) ) { $term = get_queried_object(); if ( $term ) { $term = $term->term_id; } } $description = get_term_field( 'description', $term ); return is_wp_error( $description ) ? '' : $description;}Changelog
Introduced in 2.8.0. One change between 6.7.7 and 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
$deprecated retyped from null to mixed.verified against source$taxonomy parameter was deprecated.from the docblockAbout this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 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.