get_the_content() – Function | Developer.WordPress.org

Retrieves the post content.

Parameters

$more_link_textstringoptional: Content for when there is more text.
Default:null
$strip_teaserbooloptional: Strip teaser content before the more text.
Default:false
$postWP_Post|object|intoptional: WP_Post instance or Post ID/object.
Default:null

More Information

When used inside The Loop, this function will get the content of the current post.

If used outside The Loop, you must inform the post you want to get the content from using the optional $post parameter.

An important difference from the_content() is that get_the_content() does not pass the content through the the_content filter. This means that get_the_content() will not auto-embed videos or expand shortcodes, among other things.

Source

function get_the_content( $more_link_text = null, $strip_teaser = false, $post = null ) {	global $page, $more, $preview, $pages, $multipage;	$_post = get_post( $post );	if ( ! ( $_post instanceof WP_Post ) ) {	return '';	}	/* * Use the globals if the $post parameter was not specified, * but only after they have been set up in setup_postdata(). */	if ( null === $post && did_action( 'the_post' ) ) {	$elements = compact( 'page', 'more', 'preview', 'pages', 'multipage' );	} else {	$elements = generate_postdata( $_post );	}	if ( null === $more_link_text ) {	$more_link_text = sprintf(	'<span aria-label="%1$s">%2$s</span>',	sprintf(	/* translators: %s: Post title. */	__( 'Continue reading %s' ),	the_title_attribute(	array(	'echo' => false,	'post' => $_post,	)	)	),	__( '(more&hellip;)' )	);	}	$output = '';	$has_teaser = false;	// If post password required and it doesn't match the cookie.	if ( post_password_required( $_post ) ) {	return get_the_password_form( $_post );	}	// If the requested page doesn't exist.	if ( $elements['page'] > count( $elements['pages'] ) ) {	// Give them the highest numbered page that DOES exist.	$elements['page'] = count( $elements['pages'] );	}	$page_no = $elements['page'];	$content = $elements['pages'][ $page_no - 1 ];	if ( preg_match( '/<!--more(.*?)?-->/', $content, $matches ) ) {	if ( has_block( 'more', $content ) ) {	// Remove the core/more block delimiters. They will be left over after $content is split up.	$content = preg_replace( '/<!-- \/?wp:more(.*?) -->/', '', $content );	}	$content = explode( $matches[0], $content, 2 );	if ( ! empty( $matches[1] ) && ! empty( $more_link_text ) ) {	$more_link_text = strip_tags( wp_kses_no_null( trim( $matches[1] ) ) );	}	$has_teaser = true;	} else {	$content = array( $content );	}	if ( str_contains( $_post->post_content, '<!--noteaser-->' )	&& ( ! $elements['multipage'] || 1 === $elements['page'] )	) {	$strip_teaser = true;	}	$teaser = $content[0];	if ( $elements['more'] && $strip_teaser && $has_teaser ) {	$teaser = '';	}	$output .= $teaser;	if ( count( $content ) > 1 ) {	if ( $elements['more'] ) {	$output .= '<span id="more-' . $_post->ID . '"></span>' . $content[1];	} else {	if ( ! empty( $more_link_text ) ) {	/** * Filters the Read More link text. * * @since 2.8.0 * * @param string $more_link_element Read More link element. * @param string $more_link_text Read More text. */	$output .= apply_filters( 'the_content_more_link', ' <a href="' . get_permalink( $_post ) . "#more-{$_post->ID}\" class=\"more-link\">$more_link_text</a>", $more_link_text );	}	$output = force_balance_tags( $output );	}	}	return $output; }

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Hooks

apply_filters( ‘the_content_more_link’, string $more_link_element, string $more_link_text ): Filters the Read More link text.

Uses	Description
generate_postdata()`wp-includes/query.php`	Generates post data.
has_block()`wp-includes/blocks.php`	Determines whether a $post or a string contains a specific block type.
force_balance_tags()`wp-includes/formatting.php`	Balances tags of string using a modified stack.
wp_kses_no_null()`wp-includes/kses.php`	Removes any invalid control characters in a text string.
did_action()`wp-includes/plugin.php`	Retrieves the number of times an action has been fired during the current request.
get_the_password_form()`wp-includes/post-template.php`	Retrieves protected post password form content.
post_password_required()`wp-includes/post-template.php`	Determines whether the post requires password and whether a correct password has been provided.
the_title_attribute()`wp-includes/post-template.php`	Sanitizes the current title when retrieving or displaying.
get_permalink()`wp-includes/link-template.php`	Retrieves the full permalink for the current post or post ID.
apply_filters()`wp-includes/plugin.php`	Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
get_post()`wp-includes/post.php`	Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.

Show 6 more Show less

Used by	Description
wp_trim_excerpt()`wp-includes/formatting.php`	Generates an excerpt from the content, if needed.
the_content_rss()`wp-includes/deprecated.php`	Display the post content for the feed.
get_the_content_feed()`wp-includes/feed.php`	Retrieves the post content for feeds.
the_content()`wp-includes/post-template.php`	Displays the post content.

Changelog

Version	Description
5.2.0	Added the `$post` parameter.
0.71	Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

Skip to note 7 content

Hay 10 years ago

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Note that get_the_content doesn’t return the same thing as what the_content displays. For that you need to do this:
```
$content = apply_filters( 'the_content', get_the_content() ); echo $content;
```
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Codex 10 years ago

You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this noteVote results for this note: 3You must log in to vote on the helpfulness of this note
Basic Usage
Display the post content, ending with “Read more” if needed
```
$content = get_the_content( 'Read more' ); echo apply_filters( 'the_content', $content );
```
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netzgestaltung 6 years ago

find out if the_content has content before output

in functions.php and similar files:

// write inside the loop $the_content = apply_filters('the_content', get_the_content()); if ( !empty($the_content) ) { echo $the_content; } // with post object by id $post = get_post(12); // specific post $the_content = apply_filters('the_content', $post->post_content); if ( !empty($the_content) ) { echo $the_content; }

as function

// call inside the loop or with ID // taken from has_excerpt() // https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/has_excerpt function mytheme_has_content( $post = 0 ){ $post = get_post( $post ); return ( !empty(apply_filters('the_content', $post->post_content)) ); }

template inside the loop:

<?php if ( $customQuery->have_posts() ) {?> <?php while ( $customQuery->have_posts() ) { $customQuery->the_post(); ?> <?php $the_content = apply_filters('the_content', get_the_content()); ?> <!-- html --> <?php if ( !empty($the_content) ) { ?> <div class="content"> <?php echo $the_content; ?> </div> <?php } ?> <?php } ?> <?php wp_reset_postdata(); ?> <?php } ?>

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tylerlwsmith 6 years ago

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If you’re having trouble getting the $post parameter to work, make sure your WordPress is up-to-date: $post was only added in WordPress 5.2.

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Stéphane Le Roy 6 years ago

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If you use get_the_content() before the global $wp_query object is set, the postmeta are not well generated because generate_postdata() use $wp_query.
To get around this issue, just construct a global $wp_query object before calling get_the_content()
```
global $wp_query; $wp_query = new WP_Query();
```
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Lovro Hrust 3 years ago

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If you need to embed content coded as URL in post content, like youtube video, use following:
```
global $wp_embed; $content = $wp_embed->autoembed( $content );
```
This is the way how it is handled in the WordPress core.
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get_the_content( string $more_link_text = null, bool $strip_teaser = false, WP_Post|object|int $post = null ): string

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