How to Display Only Parent Category in the WordPress Post Loop

We all know how important it is to organize content on a website. At WPBeginner, we understand that using categories and subcategories helps visitors explore your site and improves how it ranks in search results. A good category structure also helps visitors to find what they need.

Most WordPress themes will automatically list all the categories associated with a post, even the subcategories. This can make things very confusing for your visitors. However, we recently had a reader who wanted to show only the main category on their single post page. They wanted their visitors to focus on the main topic instead of being overwhelmed by a lot of subcategories.

In this article, we will show you how to use a simple piece of code to modify the way WordPress displays categories. This will allow you to show only the main category on a single post page, which can greatly improve the experience of your site for visitors.

When to Display Only Parent Category in WordPress

Many website owners use parent and child categories to create a structure for their websites.

For instance, a travel blog may have travel destinations organized by categories where each region is a parent category and cities as child categories.

Similarly, a food blog may publish recipes organized in parent and child categories. For instance, a parent category could be cuisine type, and a child category could be dish type.

Now, most WordPress themes use the_category() template tag to list all categories associated with a post.

This function is efficient, but it will display all categories alphabetically and ignore the parent/child relationship completely.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to change this behavior and only display the parent category in the WordPress loop.

Display Only Parent Category in WordPress Post Loop

For this tutorial, you will need to edit your WordPress theme files. If you haven’t done this before, then check out our article on how to copy and paste code snippets in WordPress.

First, you need to add a code to your theme’s functions.php file or use a code snippets plugin. We recommend using WPCode because it lets you add code without breaking your site, and its smart code snippet validation helps you prevent common code errors.

Learn more in our guide on how to add custom code in WordPress without breaking your site.

For this tutorial, we’ll use the free version of WPCode. While it doesn’t have all of the advanced features of the full version, it comes with everything you need to get started.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WPCode plugin. If you need help, then you can follow our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can go to the WPCode » New Snippet page

This will open a page where you can create a custom snippet.

First, you need to add a title for the snippet. After that, you can copy and paste the following code snippet into the Code Preview pane.

function wpb_get_parent_terms($taxonomy = 'category')
{
    $currentPost = get_post();
    $terms       = get_the_terms($currentPost->ID, $taxonomy);

    if (is_wp_error($terms)) {
        /** @var \WP_Error $terms */
        throw new \Exception($terms->get_error_message());
    }

    $map = array_map(
        function ($term) use ($taxonomy) {
            return '<a href="' . esc_url(get_term_link($term->term_id,
                    $taxonomy)) . '" title="' . esc_attr($term->name) . '">
                ' . $term->name . '
                </a>';
        },
        array_filter($terms, function ($term) {
            return $term->parent == 0;
        })
    );

    return implode(', ', $map);
}

Next, you need to select the ‘PHP Snippet’ option from the Code Type drop-down menu and toggle the Inactive switch to Active.

Finally, make sure you click the ‘Save Snippet’ button to store your settings.

This code simply creates a new function wpb_get_parent_terms(). By default, this function will only display parent categories.

Next, you need to place this function in your WordPress theme files where you want to display the parent category alone.

To figure out which template file to look into, see our WordPress template hierarchy cheatsheet for beginners.

Basically, you will be looking for the_category(); template tag inside the WordPress loop. Once you have found it, you need to replace it with the following code:

<?php wpb_get_parent_terms(); ?> 

This code will display your parent category alone.

If you have multiple categories that are the parent or standalone categories, then all such categories will also be displayed.

The code snippet will work for all other taxonomies as well. For instance, WooCommerce product categories or any custom taxonomy that you may have.

Simply modify the code like this:

<?php wpb_get_parent_terms( 'product_cat '); ?>

This code will display product categories for a WooCommerce store.

It will also only display the parent or standalone categories for a product.

If you want to display a custom taxonomy, then replace product_cat with your custom taxonomy name.

Expert Guides on Displaying Categories in WordPress

We hope this article helped you learn how to display only the parent category for your WordPress posts. You may also want to see some other guides related to displaying WordPress categories:

• How to Display Only Child Category in Your WordPress Post Loop
• How to Display Subcategories on Category Pages in WordPress
• How to Display Category Descriptions in WordPress
• How to Change the Category Order in WordPress
• How to Display Recent Posts From a Specific Category in WordPress
• How to Show / Hide Categories in WordPress (Ultimate Guide)
• How to Show Empty Categories in WordPress Widgets
• How to Style Individual Categories Differently in WordPress
• How to Hide or Style Your Subcategories in WordPress
• How to Add Taxonomy Images (Category Icons) in WordPress

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