setup_postdata( WP_Post|object|int $post ): bool

Set up global post data.

Parameters

$postWP_Post|object|intrequired
WP_Post instance or Post ID/object.

Return

bool True when finished.

More Information

Sets up global post data. Helps to format custom query results for using Template tags.

setup_postdata() fills the global variables $id, $authordata, $currentday, $currentmonth, $page, $pages, $multipage, $more, $numpages, which help many Template Tags work in the current post context.

setup_postdata() does not assign the global $post variable so it’s important that you do this yourself. Failure to do so will cause problems with any hooks that use any of the above globals in conjunction with the $post global, as they will refer to separate entities.

Usage

<?php
global $post;

// modify the $post variable with the post data you want. Note that this variable must have this name!

setup_postdata( $post );
?>

Source

function setup_postdata( $post ) {
	global $wp_query;

	if ( ! empty( $wp_query ) && $wp_query instanceof WP_Query ) {
		return $wp_query->setup_postdata( $post );
	}

	return false;
}

Changelog

VersionDescription
4.4.0Added the ability to pass a post ID to $post.
1.5.0Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 7 content

    An important note about setup_postdata and the $post global: setup_postdata( $new_post ) sets various globals related to the current post but it does not update the $post global. This disjoint can cause problems both in WP internals and in plugins/themes.

    Therefore if you call setup_postdata( $new_post ), you should also assign it to the global $post object.

  2. Skip to note 8 content
    <ul>
        <?php
        global $post;
         
        $myposts = get_posts( array(
            'posts_per_page' => 5,
            'offset'         => 1,
            'category'       => 1
        ) );
         
        if ( $myposts ) :
            foreach ( $myposts as $post ) :
              setup_postdata( $post ); ?>
                <li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
            endforeach; 
            wp_reset_postdata();
        endif;
        ?>
    </ul>
  3. Skip to note 9 content

    Example of using setup_postdata in a custom query:

    global $wpdb, $post;
    
    $query = "SELECT * FROM `wp_posts` WHERE `post_type` = 'cpt_1' AND `post_status` = 'publish' AND `comment_count` > 0 LIMIT 5";
    $result = $wpdb->get_results($query, OBJECT);
    
    if ( $result && count($result) > 0 ):
    
      echo '<ol>';
    
      foreach ($result as $post):
    
        setup_postdata($post);
    
        echo '<li>';
    
        the_title();
    
        echo '</li>';
    
      endforeach;
    
      echo '</ol>';
    
      wp_reset_postdata();
    
    endif;
  4. Skip to note 10 content

    Here’s a good simple working example that also assigns the global $post before passing it to setup_postdata.

    // ... your custom query..., and then:
    
    global $post; // Call global $post variable
    
    foreach ( $your_posts as $current_post ) {
    	$post = $current_post; // Set $post global variable to the current post object   
    	setup_postdata( $post ); // Set up "environment" for template tags
    
    	// Use template tags normally
    	the_title();
    	the_post_thumbnail( 'large' );
    	the_excerpt();
    	// Or the_content(), the_permalink(), etc.
    }
    
    wp_reset_postdata();
  5. Skip to note 11 content

    Example 1

    <ul>
    	<?php
    	global $post;
    	
    	$myposts = get_posts( array(
    		'posts_per_page' => 5,
    		'offset'         => 1,
    		'category'       => 1
    	) );
    	
    	if ( $myposts ) :
    		foreach ( $myposts as $mypost ) :
    		  setup_postdata( $mypost ); ?>
    			<li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
    		endforeach; 
    		wp_reset_postdata();
    	endif;
    	?>
    </ul>
  6. Skip to note 12 content

    Note, it is probably best not to use this function, although it is neat, it goes against WordPress’ own coding standards.

    Issue reported here, back in 2017.

    If you use this function, and run PHPCS with WordPress standards you’ll see this error:

     24 | ERROR | [ ] Overriding WordPress globals is prohibited. Found assignment to $post

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