get_categories( string|array $args = '' )

Retrieve list of category objects.


Description

If you change the type to ‘link’ in the arguments, then the link categories will be returned instead. Also all categories will be updated to be backward compatible with pre-2.3 plugins and themes.

See also


Parameters

$args

(string|array) (Optional) Arguments to retrieve categories. See get_terms() for additional options.

  • 'taxonomy'
    (string) Taxonomy to retrieve terms for. In this case, default 'category'.

Default value: ''


Return

(array) List of categories.


Source

File: wp-includes/category.php

function get_categories( $args = '' ) {
	$defaults = array( 'taxonomy' => 'category' );
	$args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );

	$taxonomy = $args['taxonomy'];

	/**
	 * Filters the taxonomy used to retrieve terms when calling get_categories().
	 *
	 * @since WP-2.7.0
	 *
	 * @param string $taxonomy Taxonomy to retrieve terms from.
	 * @param array  $args     An array of arguments. See get_terms().
	 */
	$taxonomy = apply_filters( 'get_categories_taxonomy', $taxonomy, $args );

	// Back compat
	if ( isset($args['type']) && 'link' == $args['type'] ) {
		_deprecated_argument( __FUNCTION__, 'WP-3.0.0',
			/* translators: 1: "type => link", 2: "taxonomy => link_category" */
			sprintf( __( '%1$s is deprecated. Use %2$s instead.' ),
				'<code>type => link</code>',
				'<code>taxonomy => link_category</code>'
			)
		);
		$taxonomy = $args['taxonomy'] = 'link_category';
	}

	$categories = get_terms( $taxonomy, $args );

	if ( is_wp_error( $categories ) ) {
		$categories = array();
	} else {
		$categories = (array) $categories;
		foreach ( array_keys( $categories ) as $k ) {
			_make_cat_compat( $categories[ $k ] );
		}
	}

	return $categories;
}


Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
WP-2.1.0 Introduced.