wp_count_terms( array|string $args = array(), array|string $deprecated = '' ): string|WP_Error
- Since
- 2.3.0, 5.6.0
- Source
wp-includes/taxonomy.php:1963
Description
Default $args is 'hide_empty' which can be 'hide_empty=true' or array('hide_empty' => true).
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 5.6.0
- 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
$argsarray|stringoptional- Array or string of arguments. See WP_Term_Query::__construct() for information on accepted arguments. Default empty array.Default:
array() $deprecatedarray|stringoptional- Argument array, when using the legacy function parameter format.
If present, this parameter will be interpreted as$args, and the first function parameter will be parsed as a taxonomy or array of taxonomies.
Default empty.Default:''
Return value
string|WP_Error- Numeric string containing the number of terms in that taxonomy or WP_Error if the taxonomy does not exist.
Performance profile
How much work a call to wp_count_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
- Heavy
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 19–39
- Plugin surface
- None
- Called by
- 5
Reaches the database via get_terms().
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 39.
Nothing here hands control to plugin code.
5 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- querycontent query
get_terms()called directly - hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()one call below wp_count_terms()
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 · 4 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_count_terms() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 19–30 | wp_parse_args(), get_terms() |
is_string($args) | 26–34 | taxonomy_exists(), wp_parse_args(), get_terms() |
!is_string($args) && is_array($args) | 27–35 | wp_is_numeric_array(), wp_parse_args(), get_terms() |
is_string($args) && !taxonomy_exists() && is_array($args) | 31–39 | taxonomy_exists(), wp_is_numeric_array(), wp_parse_args(), get_terms() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 39 instructions, 19–39 executed per call, 7 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 · 4
- taxonomy_exists()Determines whether the taxonomy name exists.
- wp_is_numeric_array()Determines if the variable is a numeric-indexed array.
- wp_parse_args()Merges user defined arguments into defaults array.
- get_terms()Retrieves the terms in a given taxonomy or list of taxonomies.
Used by · 5
- WP_REST_Term_Search_Handler::search_items()Searches terms for a given search request.
- WP_REST_Terms_Controller::get_items()Retrieves terms associated with a taxonomy.
- WP_Sitemaps_Taxonomies::get_max_num_pages()Gets the max number of pages available for the object type.
- WP_Terms_List_Table::prepare_items()
- wp_nav_menu_item_taxonomy_meta_box()Displays a meta box for a taxonomy menu item.
Source code
function wp_count_terms( $args = array(), $deprecated = '' ) { $use_legacy_args = false; // Check whether function is used with legacy signature: `$taxonomy` and `$args`. if ( $args && ( is_string( $args ) && taxonomy_exists( $args ) || is_array( $args ) && wp_is_numeric_array( $args ) ) ) { $use_legacy_args = true; } $defaults = array( 'hide_empty' => false ); if ( $use_legacy_args ) { $defaults['taxonomy'] = $args; $args = $deprecated; } $args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults ); // Backward compatibility. if ( isset( $args['ignore_empty'] ) ) { $args['hide_empty'] = $args['ignore_empty']; unset( $args['ignore_empty'] ); } $args['fields'] = 'count'; return get_terms( $args );}Changelog
Introduced in 2.3.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
$args array can be provided as the first parameter.from the docblockAbout this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from
src/wp-includes/taxonomy.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.