The Tool Desk
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Show assigned top-level categories
get_the_category() returns the categories assigned to the current post in WordPress’s built-in category taxonomy. A category with a parent value of 0 is top-level. Filtering the returned terms therefore shows only top-level categories that are actually assigned to this post—not every top-level category on the site. See the WordPress reference for get_the_category() and the term reference example using parent.
<?php
$categories = get_the_category();
$parent_categories = array_filter(
$categories,
static function ( $category ) {
return 0 === (int) $category->parent;
}
);
if ( ! empty( $parent_categories ) ) {
$links = array();
foreach ( $parent_categories as $category ) {
$links[] = sprintf(
'<a href="%s">%s</a>',
esc_url( get_category_link( $category->term_id ) ),
esc_html( $category->name )
);
}
echo implode( ', ', $links );
}
?>The URL is escaped with esc_url(), and the category name with esc_html(). If no assigned top-level categories remain after filtering, this snippet prints nothing.
Choose what “parent category” means for nested terms
The filter above checks each assigned category’s immediate parent. It does not automatically replace an assigned child or grandchild with its root ancestor. Choose the behavior that matches your post data:
- Only assigned top-level categories: use the filter above. Assigned child categories are omitted.
- Root categories for assigned descendants: start with the post’s assigned categories, follow each term’s
parentchain until reaching a term whose parent is0, then deduplicate the resulting roots before making links. A grandchild’s immediate parent is still a child, so checking only whether its parent is zero will not find the root. - Full hierarchy path: use
get_the_category_list()with itsparentsoption when you want parent-path text, rather than only the root name. WordPress documents the option values asmultiple,single, or empty; see the function reference.
Why not query all top-level categories?
get_categories( array( 'parent' => 0 ) ) retrieves top-level categories from the taxonomy. It is appropriate for a general category list, but it does not by itself restrict results to categories assigned to the post currently being displayed. For a per-post display, filter the current post’s terms as shown above. See the get_categories() reference.
Use the right function for the template context
Outside the loop
By default, get_the_category() uses the current loop post. Outside the loop, pass the post ID: get_the_category( $post_id ). WordPress documents this use in its function reference.
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For a custom taxonomy
get_the_category() is for the built-in category taxonomy. For a custom taxonomy, retrieve the post’s terms with get_the_terms( $post_id, 'taxonomy_name' ), handle an empty or error return, and apply the same parent or ancestor logic to those terms. The category function documentation points custom taxonomy use to get_the_terms().
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