wp_list_categories( string|array $args = '' )

Display or retrieve the HTML list of categories.


Parameters

$args

(Optional) Array of optional arguments.

  • 'child_of'
    (int) Term ID to retrieve child terms of. See get_terms(). Default 0.
  • 'current_category'
    (int|array) ID of category, or array of IDs of categories, that should get the 'current-cat' class. Default 0.
  • 'depth'
    (int) Category depth. Used for tab indentation. Default 0.
  • 'echo'
    (bool|int) True to echo markup, false to return it. Default 1.
  • 'exclude'
    (array|string) Array or comma/space-separated string of term IDs to exclude. If $hierarchical is true, descendants of $exclude terms will also be excluded; see $exclude_tree. See get_terms().
  • 'exclude_tree'
    (array|string) Array or comma/space-separated string of term IDs to exclude, along with their descendants. See get_terms().
  • 'feed'
    (string) Text to use for the feed link. Default 'Feed for all posts filed under [cat name]'.
  • 'feed_image'
    (string) URL of an image to use for the feed link.
  • 'feed_type'
    (string) Feed type. Used to build feed link. See get_term_feed_link(). Default empty string (default feed).
  • 'hide_empty'
    (bool|int) Whether to hide categories that don't have any posts attached to them. Default 1.
  • 'hide_title_if_empty'
    (bool) Whether to hide the $title_li element if there are no terms in the list. Default false (title will always be shown).
  • 'hierarchical'
    (bool) Whether to include terms that have non-empty descendants. See get_terms(). Default true.
  • 'order'
    (string) Which direction to order categories. Accepts 'ASC' or 'DESC'. Default 'ASC'.
  • 'orderby'
    (string) The column to use for ordering categories. Default 'name'.
  • 'separator'
    (string) Separator between links. Default <br />.
  • 'show_count'
    (bool|int) Whether to show how many posts are in the category. Default 0.
  • 'show_option_all'
    (string) Text to display for showing all categories.
  • 'show_option_none'
    (string) Text to display for the 'no categories' option. Default 'No categories'.
  • 'style'
    (string) The style used to display the categories list. If 'list', categories will be output as an unordered list. If left empty or another value, categories will be output separated by <br> tags. Default 'list'.
  • 'taxonomy'
    (string) Taxonomy name. Default 'category'.
  • 'title_li'
    (string) Text to use for the list title <li> element. Pass an empty string to disable. Default 'Categories'.
  • 'use_desc_for_title'
    (bool|int) Whether to use the category description as the title attribute. Default 1.

Default value: ''


Return

(false|string) HTML content only if 'echo' argument is 0.


Source

File: wp-includes/category-template.php

function wp_list_categories( $args = '' ) {
	$defaults = array(
		'child_of'            => 0,
		'current_category'    => 0,
		'depth'               => 0,
		'echo'                => 1,
		'exclude'             => '',
		'exclude_tree'        => '',
		'feed'                => '',
		'feed_image'          => '',
		'feed_type'           => '',
		'hide_empty'          => 1,
		'hide_title_if_empty' => false,
		'hierarchical'        => true,
		'order'               => 'ASC',
		'orderby'             => 'name',
		'separator'           => '<br />',
		'show_count'          => 0,
		'show_option_all'     => '',
		'show_option_none'    => __( 'No categories' ),
		'style'               => 'list',
		'taxonomy'            => 'category',
		'title_li'            => __( 'Categories' ),
		'use_desc_for_title'  => 1,
	);

	$r = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );

	if ( !isset( $r['pad_counts'] ) && $r['show_count'] && $r['hierarchical'] )
		$r['pad_counts'] = true;

	// Descendants of exclusions should be excluded too.
	if ( true == $r['hierarchical'] ) {
		$exclude_tree = array();

		if ( $r['exclude_tree'] ) {
			$exclude_tree = array_merge( $exclude_tree, wp_parse_id_list( $r['exclude_tree'] ) );
		}

		if ( $r['exclude'] ) {
			$exclude_tree = array_merge( $exclude_tree, wp_parse_id_list( $r['exclude'] ) );
		}

		$r['exclude_tree'] = $exclude_tree;
		$r['exclude'] = '';
	}

	if ( ! isset( $r['class'] ) )
		$r['class'] = ( 'category' == $r['taxonomy'] ) ? 'categories' : $r['taxonomy'];

	if ( ! taxonomy_exists( $r['taxonomy'] ) ) {
		return false;
	}

	$show_option_all = $r['show_option_all'];
	$show_option_none = $r['show_option_none'];

	$categories = get_categories( $r );

	$output = '';
	if ( $r['title_li'] && 'list' == $r['style'] && ( ! empty( $categories ) || ! $r['hide_title_if_empty'] ) ) {
		$output = '<li class="' . esc_attr( $r['class'] ) . '">' . $r['title_li'] . '<ul>';
	}
	if ( empty( $categories ) ) {
		if ( ! empty( $show_option_none ) ) {
			if ( 'list' == $r['style'] ) {
				$output .= '<li class="cat-item-none">' . $show_option_none . '</li>';
			} else {
				$output .= $show_option_none;
			}
		}
	} else {
		if ( ! empty( $show_option_all ) ) {

			$posts_page = '';

			// For taxonomies that belong only to custom post types, point to a valid archive.
			$taxonomy_object = get_taxonomy( $r['taxonomy'] );
			if ( ! in_array( 'post', $taxonomy_object->object_type ) && ! in_array( 'page', $taxonomy_object->object_type ) ) {
				foreach ( $taxonomy_object->object_type as $object_type ) {
					$_object_type = get_post_type_object( $object_type );

					// Grab the first one.
					if ( ! empty( $_object_type->has_archive ) ) {
						$posts_page = get_post_type_archive_link( $object_type );
						break;
					}
				}
			}

			// Fallback for the 'All' link is the posts page.
			if ( ! $posts_page ) {
				if ( 'page' == get_option( 'show_on_front' ) && get_option( 'page_for_posts' ) ) {
					$posts_page = get_permalink( get_option( 'page_for_posts' ) );
				} else {
					$posts_page = home_url( '/' );
				}
			}

			$posts_page = esc_url( $posts_page );
			if ( 'list' == $r['style'] ) {
				$output .= "<li class='cat-item-all'><a href='$posts_page'>$show_option_all</a></li>";
			} else {
				$output .= "<a href='$posts_page'>$show_option_all</a>";
			}
		}

		if ( empty( $r['current_category'] ) && ( is_category() || is_tax() || is_tag() ) ) {
			$current_term_object = get_queried_object();
			if ( $current_term_object && $r['taxonomy'] === $current_term_object->taxonomy ) {
				$r['current_category'] = get_queried_object_id();
			}
		}

		if ( $r['hierarchical'] ) {
			$depth = $r['depth'];
		} else {
			$depth = -1; // Flat.
		}
		$output .= walk_category_tree( $categories, $depth, $r );
	}

	if ( $r['title_li'] && 'list' == $r['style'] && ( ! empty( $categories ) || ! $r['hide_title_if_empty'] ) ) {
		$output .= '</ul></li>';
	}

	/**
	 * Filters the HTML output of a taxonomy list.
	 *
	 * @since WP-2.1.0
	 *
	 * @param string $output HTML output.
	 * @param array  $args   An array of taxonomy-listing arguments.
	 */
	$html = apply_filters( 'wp_list_categories', $output, $args );

	if ( $r['echo'] ) {
		echo $html;
	} else {
		return $html;
	}
}


Changelog

Changelog
Version Description
WP-4.4.0 Introduced the hide_title_if_empty and separator arguments. The current_category argument was modified to optionally accept an array of values.
WP-2.1.0 Introduced.