wp_count_comments( int $post_id = 0 ): stdClass
- Since
- 2.5.0
- Source
wp-includes/comment.php:1420
Description
The comment stats are cached and then retrieved, if they already exist in the cache.
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 2.5.0
- 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
$post_idintoptional- Restrict the comment counts to the given post. Default 0, which indicates that comment counts for the whole site will be retrieved.Default:
0
Return value
stdClass- The number of comments keyed by their status.
$approvedintThe number of approved comments.$moderatedintThe number of comments awaiting moderation (a.k.a. pending).$spamintThe number of spam comments.$trashintThe number of trashed comments.$post-trashedintThe number of comments for posts that are in the trash.$total_commentsintThe total number of non-trashed comments, including spam.$allintThe total number of pending or approved comments.
Performance profile
How much work a call to wp_count_comments() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.
- Cost class
- Heavy
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 12–35
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 6
Reaches the database via get_comments().
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 37.
Third-party callbacks on 'wp_count_comments' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
6 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly - cacheobject cache
wp_cache_get()called directly - querycontent query
get_comments()one call below wp_count_comments()
What one call costs · 3 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_count_comments() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
!empty($filtered) | 12 | apply_filters() |
empty($filtered) && $count !== false | 20 | apply_filters(), wp_cache_get() |
empty($filtered) && $count === false | 35 | apply_filters(), wp_cache_get(), get_comment_count(), wp_cache_set() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 37 instructions, 12–35 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 wp_count_comments() runs, in this order:
- apply_filters( wp_count_comments )filterline 1431 (+11 into the body)
Filters the comments count for a given post or the whole site.
Uses · 4
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
- wp_cache_get()Retrieves the cache contents from the cache by key and group.
- get_comment_count()Retrieves the total comment counts for the whole site or a single post.
- wp_cache_set()Saves the data to the cache.
Used by · 6
- WP_Comments_List_Table::get_views()
- _wp_ajax_delete_comment_response()Sends back current comment total and new page links if they need to be updated.
- wp_admin_bar_comments_menu()Adds edit comments link with awaiting moderation count bubble.
- wp_ajax_replyto_comment()Handles replying to a comment via AJAX.
- wp_dashboard_right_now()Dashboard widget that displays some basic stats about the site.
- wp_xmlrpc_server::wp_getCommentCount()Retrieves comment counts.
Source code
function wp_count_comments( $post_id = 0 ) { $post_id = (int) $post_id; /** * Filters the comments count for a given post or the whole site. * * @since 2.7.0 * * @param array|stdClass $count An empty array or an object containing comment counts. * @param int $post_id The post ID. Can be 0 to represent the whole site. */ $filtered = apply_filters( 'wp_count_comments', array(), $post_id ); if ( ! empty( $filtered ) ) { return $filtered; } $count = wp_cache_get( "comments-{$post_id}", 'counts' ); if ( false !== $count ) { return $count; } $stats = get_comment_count( $post_id ); $stats['moderated'] = $stats['awaiting_moderation']; unset( $stats['awaiting_moderation'] ); $stats_object = (object) $stats; wp_cache_set( "comments-{$post_id}", $stats_object, 'counts' ); return $stats_object;}Changelog
Introduced in 2.5.0. 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 6.7.7 tag, from
src/wp-includes/comment.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.