Create, Update, Delete, and Edit WordPress Terms with PHP.

Terms can be created, queried, and edited using PHP. WordPress provides functions for this purpose.

Querying a WordPress Term with PHP

To query a term, you can use the function get_term($term_id, $taxonomy). You only need the ID and the taxonomy.

$term_id = 10;
$taxonomy = "post_tag";

/**
 * @var \WP_Term $Term
 */
$Term = get_term($term_id, $taxonomy);

Querying a WordPress Term by Slug, Name, or Term ID

You can also query a term by slug, name, or ID using get_term_by($field, $value, $taxonomy, $output = OBJECT, $filter = 'raw').

/**
 * Query WordPress Term by Slug
 * @var \WP_Term|array|false $Term
 */
$Term = get_term_by("slug", "i-am-a-slug", "post_tag");

/**
 * Query WordPress Term by Name
 * @var \WP_Term|array|false $Term
 */
$Term = get_term_by("name", "I am a Slug", "post_tag");

/**
 * Query WordPress Term by Term ID
 * @var \WP_Term|array|false $Term
 */
$Term = get_term_by("term_id", 10, "post_tag");

Querying All WordPress Terms from a Taxonomy

Using get_terms($args), you can query all terms of a taxonomy.

$args = array(
   'taxonomy' => 'post_tag',
   'hide_empty' => false
);

/**
 * @var array<\WP_Term> $Terms
 */
$Terms = get_terms($args);

Inserting a New WordPress Term into a Taxonomy

New terms can be added using wp_insert_term($term, $taxonomy, $args = array()). If the term already exists, it will be updated.

/**
 * Arguments can be specified optionally
 */
$args = array(
   'description' => 'Description',
   'parent' => 0,
   'slug' => ''
);

/**
 * Create a new term in the post_tag taxonomy
 */
$term_id = wp_insert_term('I am a new term', 'post_tag', $args);

Deleting a Term in WordPress via PHP

Terms can also be quickly and easily removed via PHP. The function wp_delete_term($term_id,$taxonomy) exists for this purpose.

/**
 * Deletes the term with Term ID 10 in the post_tag taxonomy
 */
$result = wp_delete_term(10, 'post_tag');

Querying Metadata of a Term

Terms can also contain metadata like posts. This can be queried using get_term_meta($term_id, $meta_key, $single).

/**
 * Returns a single value
 * @var string|int|mixed $my_meta_data
 */
$my_meta_data = get_term_meta(10,'my_meta_data', true);

/**
 * Returns an array 
 * @var array $my_meta_data
 */
$my_meta_data = get_term_meta(10,'my_meta_data');

Deleting Metadata of a Term in WordPress

Metadata of terms can be deleted in WordPress using delete_term_meta($term_id, $meta_key, $meta_value = '').

$result = delete_term_meta(10, 'my_meta_data');

Updating/Creating Metadata of a Term via PHP

To update existing metadata of a term, the function update_term_meta($term_id, $meta_key, $meta_value, $prev_value = '') is used. If the data does not yet exist, it will be created.

$result = update_term_meta(10, 'my_meta_data', 'this will be output');