If you’ve ever built a site using WordPress, you’ll know that customizing your homepage is critical for shaping the user’s first impressions. However, sometimes adjustments need to be specific to the blog posts page which can turn out to be different from the actual homepage.
Enter the function ‘is_home()’. It’s a handy function that comes to the rescue when you’re designing or adjusting your blog listings differently than your main homepage. Let’s say you want to present an engaging interactive banner or a unique meta-description on your blog page to entice more readers. With ‘is_home()’, detecting if the current page is indeed your posts page – even when it’s set differently than your main frontpage – becomes a breeze, and helps apply those unique stylistic changes or elements you’ve brainstormed. Thus, maneuvering WordPress to achieve dynamic content on your website while maintaining a sleek and consistent design becomes a simpler task.
Syntax
| is_home(): bool |
Parameters
This function does not have any parameters.
Return Value
The function returns a boolean value indicating whether the current query is for the blog homepage. It returns true if the query is for the blog homepage and false otherwise.
How it works
| <?php | |
| /** | |
| * Determines whether the query is for the blog homepage. | |
| * | |
| * The blog homepage is the page that shows the time-based blog content of the site. | |
| * | |
| * is_home() is dependent on the site's "Front page displays" Reading Settings 'show_on_front' | |
| * and 'page_for_posts'. | |
| * | |
| * If a static page is set for the front page of the site, this function will return true only | |
| * on the page you set as the "Posts page". | |
| * | |
| * For more information on this and similar theme functions, check out | |
| * the {@link https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/basics/conditional-tags/ | |
| * Conditional Tags} article in the Theme Developer Handbook. | |
| * | |
| * @since 1.5.0 | |
| * | |
| * @see is_front_page() | |
| * @global WP_Query $wp_query WordPress Query object. | |
| * | |
| * @return bool Whether the query is for the blog homepage. | |
| */ | |
| function is_home() { | |
| global $wp_query; | |
| if ( ! isset( $wp_query ) ) { | |
| _doing_it_wrong( __FUNCTION__, __( 'Conditional query tags do not work before the query is run. Before then, they always return false.' ), '3.1.0' ); | |
| return false; | |
| } | |
| return $wp_query->is_home(); | |
| } |
- The function first checks if the global
$wp_queryvariable is set. If it is not set, it means that the conditional query tags do not work before the query is executed. In this case, the function throws a warning using_doing_it_wrong()and returns false. - Otherwise, if
$wp_queryis set, the function uses the$wp_queryobject to check if it represents the blog homepage by calling itsis_home()method. - The
is_home()method of$wp_querydetermines whether the query corresponds to the blog homepage and returns a boolean value, which is then returned by the mainis_home()function.
For more information on conditional tags and their usage in WordPress themes, you can refer to the Conditional Tags article in WordPress Theme Developer Handbook.
Note: If you’re new to WordPress development or need more information about how queries work in WordPress, it’s recommended to explore WordPress Query documentation as well.
Usage
Inside a Plugin:
Suppose you are developing a plugin that adds custom functionality to the WordPress blog homepage. You want to perform certain actions only on the blog homepage. To achieve this, you can use the is_home() function provided by WordPress.
| <?php | |
| // Define the custom functionality for the blog homepage | |
| function my_plugin_custom_function() | |
| { | |
| if (is_home()) | |
| { | |
| // Perform actions specific to the blog homepage | |
| // ... | |
| } | |
| } | |
| add_action('init', 'my_plugin_custom_function'); |
Explanation:
- Inside your plugin file, you define a custom function
my_plugin_custom_function()that contains the functionality you want to add to the blog homepage. - Within this function, you use
is_home()to check if the current page is the blog homepage. - If the condition is true, then you can perform your desired actions specific to the blog homepage.
In this example, whenever any page on your site loads, WordPress will call your my_plugin_custom_function() during the initialization process. Inside this function, you can take any action you want specifically for the blog homepage.
Inside a Theme:
Suppose you are developing a custom WordPress theme with different layout options based on whether it is displayed on the blog homepage or any other page. You want to conditionally load specific CSS styles or scripts based on whether it’s the blog homepage or not. To accomplish this, you can utilize the is_home() function provided by WordPress in combination with theme hooks.
| <?php | |
| // Enqueue styles and scripts for different pages | |
| function my_theme_enqueue_assets() | |
| { | |
| if (is_home()) | |
| { | |
| // Load additional styles and scripts for the blog homepage | |
| wp_enqueue_style('home-styles', get_template_directory_uri() . '/assets/css/home.css'); | |
| wp_enqueue_script('home-scripts', get_template_directory_uri() . '/assets/js/home.js', array() , '1.0', true); | |
| } | |
| else | |
| { | |
| // Load default styles and scripts for other pages | |
| wp_enqueue_style('default-styles', get_template_directory_uri() . '/assets/css/default.css'); | |
| wp_enqueue_script('default-scripts', get_template_directory_uri() . '/assets/js/default.js', array() , '1.0', true); | |
| } | |
| } | |
| add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_theme_enqueue_assets'); |
Explanation:
- Inside your theme’s
functions.phpfile, you define a functionmy_theme_enqueue_assets()that enqueues different styles and scripts based on the page being loaded. - Within this function, you use
is_home()to check if the current page is the blog homepage. - If it is, the function loads additional styles (
home.css) and scripts (home.js) specifically for the blog homepage usingwp_enqueue_style()andwp_enqueue_script(). - Otherwise, if it’s any other page, the function loads default styles (
default.css) and scripts (default.js).
In this example, WordPress will call your my_theme_enqueue_assets() function when enqueueing scripts and styles on any public-facing page of your website. Based on whether the page is the blog homepage or not, you can conditionally load specific assets to customize the appearance and functionality of your theme.
