get_the_content() │ WP 0.71

Gets the content of the current post. Must be used inside the WordPress loop.

Does not filter content as the_content() does. Therefore, if you want to get the result by applying all the_content hooks to the content, use this construction:

apply_filters( 'the_content', get_the_content() );
Used By: get_the_content_feed(), the_content()
1 time — 0.005081 sec (very slow) | 50000 times — 3.32 sec (fast) | PHP 7.2.5, WP 4.9.6
Hooks from the function

Return

String. Post content.

Usage

$content = get_the_content( $more_link_text, $strip_teaser );
$more_link_text(string)
The text of the "read more" link. This link is added when the post content has html comment <!--more--> and when this function uses on any archive page (not single page).
Default: null
$strip_teaser(true/false)

Do we need strip content before the <!--more--> tag when the content is shown on singular page. The word "teaser" means attractive text before the <!--more--> tag.

By default this parameter is disabled. It can also be enabled by specifying anywhere in the post content <!--noteaser--> html comment (usually, it specified immediately after the <!--more-->).
Default: false

$post(WP_Post/object/int) (since 5.2)
Post, content of which we need to get.
Default: null

Examples

0

#1 Get the content of the post in to the variable

Note that this function does not return the same content as the_content(). To display the same content, you must pass it through the the_content() hook:

$content = apply_filters( 'the_content', get_the_content() );

echo $content;
0

#2 Display the post content, ending with “Read more” if needed 

$content = get_the_content( 'Read more' );

echo apply_filters( 'the_content', $content );
0

#3 Display the post content only if it is not empty [auto-translate] 

$the_content = apply_filters( 'the_content', get_the_content() );
if ( ! empty( $the_content ) ) {
	echo $the_content;
}

For a separate post with ID 12:

$post = get_post( 12 ); // specific post
$the_content = apply_filters( 'the_content', $post->post_content );
if ( ! empty( $the_content ) ) {
	echo $the_content;
}

Notes

  • Global. Int. $page Page number of a single post/page.
  • Global. Int. $more Boolean indicator for whether single post/page is being viewed.
  • Global. true|false. $preview Whether post/page is in preview mode.
  • Global. Array. $pages Array of all pages in post/page. Each array element contains part of the content separated by the <!--nextpage--> tag.
  • Global. Int. $multipage Boolean indicator for whether multiple pages are in play.

Changelog

Since 0.71 Introduced.
Since 5.2.0 Added the $post parameter.

get_the_content() code WP 6.1.1

wp-includes/post-template.php 
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 ( false !== strpos( $_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;
}

WP Loop

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