the_terms( int $post_id, string $taxonomy, string $before = '', string $sep = ', ', string $after = '' ): void|false

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$post_idint

Post ID.

$taxonomystring

Taxonomy name.

$beforestringoptional

String to use before the terms. Default empty.Default: ''

$sepstringoptional

String to use between the terms. Default ', '.Default: ', '

$afterstringoptional

String to use after the terms. Default empty.Default: ''

Return value

void|false

Void on success, false on failure.

Performance profile

How much work a call to 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

Trivial

Touches nothing outside its own arguments.

Scaling

Constant

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

Instructions

18–27

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 28.

Plugin surface

1 hook

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

Called by

0

Nothing in core calls this; the cost is only what you spend yourself.

What it touches

• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()called directly

Further down the call graph this can also reach query, cache, 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 · 2 distinct outcomes

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

Hooks and filters fired · 1

One hook fires while the_terms() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   apply_filters( the_terms )filterline 1475 (+18 into the body)

   Filters the list of terms to display.

Uses · 3

• get_the_term_list()Retrieves a post's terms as a list with specified format.
• is_wp_error()Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
• apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

1457function the_terms( $post_id, $taxonomy, $before = '', $sep = ', ', $after = '' ) {1458	$term_list = get_the_term_list( $post_id, $taxonomy, $before, $sep, $after );1459 1460	if ( is_wp_error( $term_list ) ) {1461		return false;1462	}1463 1464	/**1465	 * Filters the list of terms to display.1466	 *1467	 * @since 2.9.01468	 *1469	 * @param string $term_list List of terms to display.1470	 * @param string $taxonomy  The taxonomy name.1471	 * @param string $before    String to use before the terms.1472	 * @param string $sep       String to use between the terms.1473	 * @param string $after     String to use after the terms.1474	 */1475	echo apply_filters( 'the_terms', $term_list, $taxonomy, $before, $sep, $after );1476}

Changelog

Introduced in 2.5.0. 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 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

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