Meaning
Template Tags are specialized PHP functions that retrieve and display WordPress content, metadata, and structural elements within theme template files.
Definition
Template Tags are WordPress’s API for theme development, providing standardized functions to output content: the_title() displays post titles, the_content() outputs post content, the_permalink() shows post URLs, and get_the_post_thumbnail() retrieves featured images.
These functions follow naming conventions: the_*() functions echo output directly, while get_*() functions return values for assignment to variables or further manipulation. Parameters allow customization: the_title(”, ”) wraps titles in h1 tags.
Common template tags include: the_author() (post author), the_date() (publication date), wp_nav_menu() (navigation menus), get_sidebar() (sidebar templates), bloginfo() (site information), and comments_template() (comments section). Plugins and developers can create custom template tags for extended functionality.
Example
In a theme’s single.php file, developers use template tags to structure post display: the_title(”, ”) for the title, the_post_thumbnail() for the featured image, the_content() for post body, the_author() for author name, and the_category() for categories, each function pulling appropriate data from the database and displaying it formatted according to theme styling.
