The get_post() WordPress function

The get_post() WordPress function is one of the most important functions within WordPress. It allows you to get the post content or other information regarding the post easily. In this article, we will introduce you to how you can use the get_post() function to display post data in your plugin or theme.

If you would like more information on creating WordPress plugins, see our tutorial series on creating your first WordPress plugin.

Basic usage

<?php get_post( $id, $output, $filter ); ?>

Parameters

$id: This optional parameter allows you to define the ID of the post that you would like to gather information from. By default, it will get the current post.

$output: By default, it will return a WP_Post object. If you would like an associative or numeric array of field values instead, you may define either ARRAY_A or ARRAY_N.

$filter: Here, you can optionally sanitize the post fields. This parameter defaults to raw which will not filter the content at all. Optional values are raw, edit, db, display, attribute or js.

What is returned?

The get_post() function returns a WP_Post object. The variables that can be defined are the following:

• ID
• post_author
• post_name
• post_type
• post_title
• post_date
• post_date_gmt
• post_content
• post_excerpt
• post_status
• comment_status
• ping_status
• post_password
• post_parent
• post_modified
• post_modified_gmt
• comment_count
• menu_order

For example, we could use the get_post() function to get the author of the post and display it in the following code:

<?php
$post_author = get_post();
echo $post_author->post_author;
?>

Resources

You may find more information on the get_post() function on the get_post WordPress Codex page.