WordPress Conditional Tags
Conditional tags are functions which return true or false. They tell your code what kind of page is being shown, so you can change the output for the home page, a post, a page, a category or a search.
Common conditional tags
| Tag | True when |
|---|---|
| is_front_page() | The front page of the site is shown (the blog list or the static page) |
| is_home() | The blog posts index is shown |
| is_single() | One post (or any custom post type item, not a page) is shown |
| is_page() | One page is shown. Can take an ID, title or slug: is_page( 'about' ) |
| is_singular() | Any single item: post, page or custom post type |
| is_category(), is_tag(), is_tax() | An archive of that taxonomy |
| is_archive() | Any archive (category, tag, author, date) |
| is_search() | The search results page |
| is_404() | A not found page |
| is_user_logged_in() | The visitor is logged in |
| is_admin() | The dashboard is being shown |
See them in action
This footer prints which tags are true on each page. First we make the theme:
<footer>
<?php
$checks = array( 'is_front_page', 'is_home', 'is_single', 'is_page', 'is_category', 'is_search', 'is_404' );
$true = array();
foreach ( $checks as $fn ) {
if ( $fn() ) {
$true[] = $fn . '()';
}
}
echo 'TRUE: ' . implode( ', ', $true );
?>
</footer>
<?php wp_footer(); ?>
</body>
</html>
$ for u in / /hello-world/ /sample-page/ /category/uncategorized/ "/?s=hello" /no-such-page/; do echo "$u => $(curl -s http://example.com$u | grep -o 'TRUE: [^<]*')"; done
/ => TRUE: is_front_page(), is_home()
/hello-world/ => TRUE: is_single()
/sample-page/ => TRUE: is_page()
/category/uncategorized/ => TRUE: is_category()
/?s=hello => TRUE: is_search()
/no-such-page/ => TRUE: is_404()
On the home page both is_front_page() and is_home() are true, because the site shows the latest posts. If you set a static front page in Settings > Reading, they become different: the static page is the front page, and the blog page is home.
Use them in a template
<?php if ( is_front_page() ) : ?>
<section class="hero">Welcome to our site!</section>
<?php elseif ( is_category( 'news' ) ) : ?>
<p>You are reading the news archive.</p>
<?php endif; ?>
<?php if ( is_user_logged_in() ) : ?>
<a href="<?php echo esc_url( wp_logout_url() ); ?>">Log out</a>
<?php endif; ?>Use them in the right place
Conditional tags only work after WordPress has read the URL, which means after the wp action. Using them too early, for example directly in functions.php (outside a hook), gives wrong results and a notice. Put them inside a function which runs on a hook like wp_enqueue_scripts.
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