* Author Template functions for use in themes.
* These functions must be used within the WordPress Loop.
* @link https://codex.wordpress.org/Author_Templates
* Retrieves the author of the current post.
* @since 6.3.0 Returns an empty string if the author's display name is unknown.
* @global WP_User $authordata The current author's data.
* @param string $deprecated Deprecated.
* @return string The author's display name, empty string if unknown.
function get_the_author( $deprecated = '' ) {
if ( ! empty( $deprecated ) ) {
_deprecated_argument( __FUNCTION__, '2.1.0' );
* Filters the display name of the current post's author.
* @param string $display_name The author's display name.
return apply_filters( 'the_author', is_object( $authordata ) ? $authordata->display_name : '' );
* Displays the name of the author of the current post.
* The behavior of this function is based off of old functionality predating
* get_the_author(). This function is not deprecated, but is designed to echo
* the value from get_the_author() and as an result of any old theme that might
* still use the old behavior will also pass the value from get_the_author().
* The normal, expected behavior of this function is to echo the author and not
* return it. However, backward compatibility has to be maintained.
* @link https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/the_author/
* @param string $deprecated Deprecated.
* @param bool $deprecated_echo Deprecated. Use get_the_author(). Echo the string or return it.
* @return string The author's display name, from get_the_author().
function the_author( $deprecated = '', $deprecated_echo = true ) {
if ( ! empty( $deprecated ) ) {
_deprecated_argument( __FUNCTION__, '2.1.0' );
if ( true !== $deprecated_echo ) {
/* translators: %s: get_the_author() */
__( 'Use %s instead if you do not want the value echoed.' ),
'<code>get_the_author()</code>'
if ( $deprecated_echo ) {
* Retrieves the author who last edited the current post.
* @since 6.9.0 Added the `$post` parameter. Unknown return value is now explicitly null instead of void.
* @param int|WP_Post|null $post Optional. Post ID or post object. Default is global `$post` object.
* @return string|null The author's display name. Empty string if user is unavailable. Null if there was no last editor or the post is invalid.
function get_the_modified_author( $post = null ) {
$post = get_post( $post );
$last_id = get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_edit_last', true );
$last_user = get_userdata( $last_id );
* Filters the display name of the author who last edited the current post.
* @param string $display_name The author's display name, empty string if user is unavailable.
return apply_filters( 'the_modified_author', $last_user ? $last_user->display_name : '' );
* Displays the name of the author who last edited the current post,
* if the author's ID is available.
function the_modified_author() {
echo get_the_modified_author();
* Retrieves the requested data of the author of the current post.
* Valid values for the `$field` parameter include:
* @since 6.9.0 Removed `aim`, `jabber`, and `yim` as valid values for the `$field` parameter.
* @global WP_User $authordata The current author's data.
* @param string $field Optional. The user field to retrieve. Default empty.
* @param int|false $user_id Optional. User ID. Defaults to the current post author.
* @return string The author's field from the current author's DB object, otherwise an empty string.
function get_the_author_meta( $field = '', $user_id = false ) {
$original_user_id = $user_id;
$user_id = isset( $authordata->ID ) ? $authordata->ID : 0;
$authordata = get_userdata( $user_id );
if ( in_array( $field, array( 'login', 'pass', 'nicename', 'email', 'url', 'registered', 'activation_key', 'status' ), true ) ) {
$field = 'user_' . $field;
$value = isset( $authordata->$field ) ? $authordata->$field : '';
* Filters the value of the requested user metadata.
* The filter name is dynamic and depends on the $field parameter of the function.
* @since 4.3.0 The `$original_user_id` parameter was added.
* @param string $value The value of the metadata.
* @param int $user_id The user ID for the value.
* @param int|false $original_user_id The original user ID, as passed to the function.
return apply_filters( "get_the_author_{$field}", $value, $user_id, $original_user_id );
* Outputs the field from the user's DB object. Defaults to current post's author.
* @param string $field Selects the field of the users record. See get_the_author_meta()
* for the list of possible fields.
* @param int|false $user_id Optional. User ID. Defaults to the current post author.
* @see get_the_author_meta()
function the_author_meta( $field = '', $user_id = false ) {
$author_meta = get_the_author_meta( $field, $user_id );
* Filters the value of the requested user metadata.
* The filter name is dynamic and depends on the $field parameter of the function.
* @param string $author_meta The value of the metadata.
* @param int|false $user_id The user ID.
echo apply_filters( "the_author_{$field}", $author_meta, $user_id );
* Retrieves either author's link or author's name.
* If the author has a home page set, return an HTML link, otherwise just return
* @global WP_User $authordata The current author's data.
* @return string An HTML link if the author's URL exists in user meta,
* otherwise the result of get_the_author().
function get_the_author_link() {
if ( get_the_author_meta( 'url' ) ) {
$author_url = get_the_author_meta( 'url' );
$author_display_name = get_the_author();
'<a href="%1$s" title="%2$s" rel="author external">%3$s</a>',
/* translators: %s: Author's display name. */
esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Visit %s’s website' ), $author_display_name ) ),
* Filters the author URL link HTML.
* @param string $link The default rendered author HTML link.
* @param string $author_url Author's URL.
* @param WP_User $authordata Author user data.
return apply_filters( 'the_author_link', $link, $author_url, $authordata );
* Displays either author's link or author's name.
* If the author has a home page set, echo an HTML link, otherwise just echo the
* @link https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/the_author_link/
function the_author_link() {
echo get_the_author_link();
* Retrieves the number of posts by the author of the current post.
* @return int The number of posts by the author.
function get_the_author_posts() {
return (int) count_user_posts( $post->post_author, $post->post_type );
* Displays the number of posts by the author of the current post.
* @link https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/the_author_posts/
function the_author_posts() {
echo get_the_author_posts();
* Retrieves an HTML link to the author page of the current post's author.
* Returns an HTML-formatted link using get_author_posts_url().
* @global WP_User $authordata The current author's data.
* @return string An HTML link to the author page, or an empty string if $authordata is not set.
function get_the_author_posts_link() {
if ( ! is_object( $authordata ) ) {
'<a href="%1$s" title="%2$s" rel="author">%3$s</a>',
esc_url( get_author_posts_url( $authordata->ID, $authordata->user_nicename ) ),
/* translators: %s: Author's display name. */
esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Posts by %s' ), get_the_author() ) ),
* Filters the link to the author page of the author of the current post.
* @param string $link HTML link.
return apply_filters( 'the_author_posts_link', $link );
* Displays an HTML link to the author page of the current post's author.
* @since 4.4.0 Converted into a wrapper for get_the_author_posts_link()
* @param string $deprecated Unused.
function the_author_posts_link( $deprecated = '' ) {
if ( ! empty( $deprecated ) ) {
_deprecated_argument( __FUNCTION__, '2.1.0' );
echo get_the_author_posts_link();
* Retrieves the URL to the author page for the user with the ID provided.
* @global WP_Rewrite $wp_rewrite WordPress rewrite component.
* @param int $author_id Author ID.
* @param string $author_nicename Optional. The author's nicename (slug). Default empty.
* @return string The URL to the author's page.
function get_author_posts_url( $author_id, $author_nicename = '' ) {
$author_id = (int) $author_id;
$link = $wp_rewrite->get_author_permastruct();
$link = $file . '?author=' . $author_id;
if ( '' === $author_nicename ) {
$user = get_userdata( $author_id );
if ( ! empty( $user->user_nicename ) ) {
$author_nicename = $user->user_nicename;
$link = str_replace( '%author%', $author_nicename, $link );
$link = home_url( user_trailingslashit( $link ) );
* Filters the URL to the author's page.
* @param string $link The URL to the author's page.
* @param int $author_id The author's ID.
* @param string $author_nicename The author's nice name.
$link = apply_filters( 'author_link', $link, $author_id, $author_nicename );
* Lists all the authors of the site, with several options available.
* @link https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_list_authors/
* @global wpdb $wpdb WordPress database abstraction object.
* @param string|array $args {
* Optional. Array or string of default arguments.
* @type string $orderby How to sort the authors. Accepts 'nicename', 'email', 'url', 'registered',
* 'user_nicename', 'user_email', 'user_url', 'user_registered', 'name',
* 'display_name', 'post_count', 'ID', 'meta_value', 'user_login'. Default 'name'.
* @type string $order Sorting direction for $orderby. Accepts 'ASC', 'DESC'. Default 'ASC'.
* @type int $number Maximum authors to return or display. Default empty (all authors).
* @type bool $optioncount Show the count in parenthesis next to the author's name. Default false.
* @type bool $exclude_admin Whether to exclude the 'admin' account, if it exists. Default true.
* @type bool $show_fullname Whether to show the author's full name. Default false.
* @type bool $hide_empty Whether to hide any authors with no posts. Default true.
* @type string $feed If not empty, show a link to the author's feed and use this text as the alt
* parameter of the link. Default empty.
* @type string $feed_image If not empty, show a link to the author's feed and use this image URL as
* clickable anchor. Default empty.
* @type string $feed_type The feed type to link to. Possible values include 'rss2', 'atom'.
* Default is the value of get_default_feed().
* @type bool $echo Whether to output the result or instead return it. Default true.
* @type string $style If 'list', each author is wrapped in an `<li>` element, otherwise the authors
* will be separated by commas.
* @type bool $html Whether to list the items in HTML form or plaintext. Default true.
* @type int[]|string $exclude Array or comma/space-separated list of author IDs to exclude. Default empty.
* @type int[]|string $include Array or comma/space-separated list of author IDs to include. Default empty.
* @return void|string Void if 'echo' argument is true, list of authors if 'echo' is false.
function wp_list_authors( $args = '' ) {
'show_fullname' => false,
$parsed_args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
$query_args = wp_array_slice_assoc( $parsed_args, array( 'orderby', 'order', 'number', 'exclude', 'include' ) );
$query_args['fields'] = 'ids';
* Filters the query arguments for the list of all authors of the site.
* @param array $query_args The query arguments for get_users().
* @param array $parsed_args The arguments passed to wp_list_authors() combined with the defaults.
$query_args = apply_filters( 'wp_list_authors_args', $query_args, $parsed_args );
$authors = get_users( $query_args );
* Filters whether to short-circuit performing the query for author post counts.
* @param int[]|false $post_counts Array of post counts, keyed by author ID.
* @param array $parsed_args The arguments passed to wp_list_authors() combined with the defaults.
$post_counts = apply_filters( 'pre_wp_list_authors_post_counts_query', false, $parsed_args );
if ( ! is_array( $post_counts ) ) {
$post_counts_query = $wpdb->get_results(
"SELECT DISTINCT post_author, COUNT(ID) AS count
WHERE " . get_private_posts_cap_sql( 'post' ) . '
foreach ( (array) $post_counts_query as $row ) {
$post_counts[ $row->post_author ] = $row->count;