WordPress Functions are the tools to build an amazing WordPress Site.

You can find an official list by category in the Codex and a complete alphabetical list in the WordPress Code Reference.

The following list is my personal selection of the most useful and frequently used PHP WordPress functions. It is based on my daily WordPress Development experience. The list is updated with each new version of WordPress (if needed).

Some useful remarks:

• the meaning of the get_ prefix – There are pairs of functions whose names differ only by the get_ prefix. The function with get_ simply returns some value, while the function without get_ displays the value. Example: the_title() – get_the_title()
• the meaning of the _e suffix – There are pairs of functions whose names differ only in the ending _e (echo). The function with the _e suffix displays the value, while the other simply returns the value. Example: esc_html() – esc_html_e()

Content management

Template functions

• the_post()
• the_ID()
• get_the_ID()
• the_title()
• get_the_title()
• the_permalink()
• get_the_permalink()
• the_content()
• get_the_content()
• the_excerpt()
• get_the_excerpt()
• the_post_thumbnail()
• get_the_post_thumbnail()
• get_post_thumbnail_id()
• the_custom_logo()
• get_custom_logo()

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• get_post_meta()

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• get_header()
• wp_head()
• get_footer()
• wp_footer()
• get_sidebar()
• get_template_part()

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• dynamic_sidebar()

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• the_author()
• get_the_author()
• the_author_posts_link()
• get_the_author_posts_link()
• get_the_author_meta()

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• the_category()
• get_the_category()
• get_the_category_list()

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• the_tags()
• get_the_tags()
• get_the_tag_list()

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• the_archive_title()
• get_the_archive_title()
• the_archive_description()
• get_the_archive_description()

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• wp_nav_menu()

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• get_search_form()
• get_search_query()

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• paginate_links()

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• site_url()
• bloginfo()
• get_bloginfo()
• language_attributes()
• get_language_attributes()

Conditional statements

• have_posts()
• have_comments()
• is_page()
• is_attachment()
• is_single()
• is_singular()
• is_main_query()
• is_admin()
• is_home()
• is_front_page()
• is_search()
• is_archive()
• has_post_thumbnail()
• has_nav_menu()
• has_custom_logo()

Formatting functions

• wp_trim_words()

Utility functions

• the_time()
• get_the_time()

Sanitization

Input

• sanitize_text_field()
• sanitize_textarea_field()
• sanitize_email()
• sanitize_title()
• view all Sanitization functions

Output

• wp_kses()
• wp_kses_post()
• esc_html()
• esc_html_e()
• esc_attr()
• esc_attr_e()
• esc_textarea()
• esc_url()
• view all Escaping functions

Manage users

• wp_get_current_user()
• current_user_can()

Localization

• __()
• _e()
• _x()

Actions and Filters

• add_action()
• add_filter()
• do_action()
• apply_filters()

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• get_site_url()
• get_home_path()
• get_stylesheet_directory_uri()
• get_stylesheet_directory()
• get_template_directory_uri()
• get_template_directory()
• get_theme_file_uri()
• get_theme_file_path()
• plugin_dir_url()
• plugin_dir_path()
• admin_url()

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• wp_enqueue_style()
• wp_enqueue_script()
• wp_register_style()
• wp_deregister_style()
• wp_register_script()
• wp_deregister_script()

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• load_theme_textdomain()

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• add_theme_support()
• get_theme_mod()

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• add_image_size()

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• register_nav_menu()

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• register_sidebar()

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• register_post_type()

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• register_meta()

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• register_taxonomy()

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• register_block_type()

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• add_shortcode()
• shortcode_atts()
• do_shortcode()

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• register_widget()

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• add_settings_section()
• add_settings_field()
• register_setting()
• view all Settings API functions

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• get_option()
• update_option()

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• add_menu_page()
• add_options_page()

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• wp_create_nonce()
• wp_nonce_field()
• wp_verify_nonce()
• view all Nonces functions

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• wp_reset_postdata()

WordPress REST API

• register_rest_route()
• register_rest_field()

General functions

• current_time()
• number_format_i18n()
• absint()
• wp_localize_script()
• get_avatar_url()
• wp_json_encode()
• wp_json_file_decode()