get_attachment_link() │ WP 2.0.0

Gets the URL of the media file page on the site (front-end).

If pretty permalinks (human-readable URLs) are enabled, the function will output a link like this:

http://example.com/post_slug/attachment_name

If pretty permalinks are disabled, the URL will be like this (ID — this is the ID of the attachment):

http://example.com/?attachment_id=ID

Use wp_get_attachment_url( $id ) when you need to get the URL to the file itself.

Used By: wp_get_attachment_link(), get_permalink()
Hooks from the function

Returns

String. URL to the attachment page.

Usage

$attachment_page = get_attachment_link( $id );
$id(int)
ID of the attachment whose URL you want to get.
Default: id of the current attachment

Examples

1

#1 Get the URL of the attachment page 

// file is not attached to the post
echo get_attachment_link( 104 ); //> http://example.com/screenshot_4-3

// file attached to the post
echo get_attachment_link( 105 ); //> http://example.com/conditional-fields/vkladka-s-nastrojkoj
0

#2 Display the link to the attachment

Since the function takes the URL and not the output, we will use the PHP echo command to show the link:

<?php
$attachment_id = 1; // attachment ID
$attachment_link = get_attachment_link( $attachment_id );
?>
<a href="<?php echo $attachment_page; ?>"><?php echo get_the_title($attachment_id) ?></a>
0

#3 Display attached images and titles as a list

To display the images attached to a certain page and display them as a list of bullets you can use the following:

<ul>
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();    

	$args = array(
		'post_type'   => 'attachment',
		'numberposts' => -1,
		'post_status' => null,
		'post_parent' => $post->ID
	);

	$attachments = get_posts( $args );
	if ( $attachments ) {
		foreach ( $attachments as $attachment ) {
			?>
			<li>
				<?php the_attachment_link( $attachment->ID, true ) ?>
				<p><?= apply_filters( 'the_title', $attachment->post_title ) ?></p>
			</li>
			<?php
		}
	}
endwhile; endif; ?>
</ul>

Notes

  • Global. WP_Rewrite. $wp_rewrite WordPress rewrite component.

Changelog

Since 2.0.0 Introduced.

get_attachment_link() code WP 6.9.1

wp-includes/link-template.php 
function get_attachment_link( $post = null, $leavename = false ) {
	global $wp_rewrite;

	$link = false;

	$post             = get_post( $post );
	$force_plain_link = wp_force_plain_post_permalink( $post );
	$parent_id        = $post->post_parent;
	$parent           = $parent_id ? get_post( $parent_id ) : false;
	$parent_valid     = true; // Default for no parent.
	if (
		$parent_id &&
		(
			$post->post_parent === $post->ID ||
			! $parent ||
			! is_post_type_viewable( get_post_type( $parent ) )
		)
	) {
		// Post is either its own parent or parent post unavailable.
		$parent_valid = false;
	}

	if ( $force_plain_link || ! $parent_valid ) {
		$link = false;
	} elseif ( $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks() && $parent ) {
		if ( 'page' === $parent->post_type ) {
			$parentlink = _get_page_link( $post->post_parent ); // Ignores page_on_front.
		} else {
			$parentlink = get_permalink( $post->post_parent );
		}

		if ( is_numeric( $post->post_name ) || str_contains( get_option( 'permalink_structure' ), '%category%' ) ) {
			$name = 'attachment/' . $post->post_name; // <permalink>/<int>/ is paged so we use the explicit attachment marker.
		} else {
			$name = $post->post_name;
		}

		if ( ! str_contains( $parentlink, '?' ) ) {
			$link = user_trailingslashit( trailingslashit( $parentlink ) . '%postname%' );
		}

		if ( ! $leavename ) {
			$link = str_replace( '%postname%', $name, $link );
		}
	} elseif ( $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks() && ! $leavename ) {
		$link = home_url( user_trailingslashit( $post->post_name ) );
	}

	if ( ! $link ) {
		$link = home_url( '/?attachment_id=' . $post->ID );
	}

	/**
	 * Filters the permalink for an attachment.
	 *
	 * @since 2.0.0
	 * @since 5.6.0 Providing an empty string will now disable
	 *              the view attachment page link on the media modal.
	 *
	 * @param string $link    The attachment's permalink.
	 * @param int    $post_id Attachment ID.
	 */
	return apply_filters( 'attachment_link', $link, $post->ID );
}

permalinks (clean friendly URL)

Attachments (Media files)

Post Thumbnails