This section covers the template tags that you use to display the body of each blog post you publish. The body of a blog post includes information such as the post date and time, title, author name, category, and content. Table 3-4 lists the common template tags you can use for posts, available for you to use in any WordPress theme template. The tags in Table 3-4 work only if you place them within The Loop (covered earlier in this chapter and found in the loop.php template file).
Table 3-4 Template Tags for Blog Posts
Tag
Function
get_the_date();
Displays the date of the post.
get_the_time();
Displays the time of the post.
the_title();
Displays the title of the post.
the_permalink();
Displays the permalink (URL) of the post.
get_the_author();
Displays the post author' name.
the_author_link();
Displays the URL of the post author' site.
the_content(‘Read More...’);
Displays the content of the post. (If you use an excerpt [below], the words Read More appear and are linked to the individual post page.)
the_excerpt();
Displays an excerpt (snippet) of the post.
the_category();
Displays the category (or categories) assigned to the post. If the post is assigned to multiple categories, commas will separate them.
Displays a link to the comments, along with the comment count for the post in parentheses. (If no comments exist, it displays a No Comments message.)
next_posts_link (‘« Previous Entries’)
Displays the words Previous Entries linked to the previous page of blog entries.
previous_posts_link (‘Next Entries »’)
Displays the words Next Entries linked to the next page of blog entries.
The last two tags in Table 3-4 aren't like the others. You don't place these tags in The Loop; instead, you insert them after The Loop but before the if statement ends. Here's an example:
