How to Add Breadcrumbs in WordPress

Are you looking for a way to add breadcrumbs and display them in WordPress? While there’s probably a plugin for this, we have created a quick code snippet that you can use to add breadcrumbs in WordPress.

Instructions:

All you have to do is add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or in a site-specific plugin:

function dimox_breadcrumbs() {
 
  $delimiter = '»';
  $name = 'Home'; //text for the 'Home' link
  $currentBefore = '<span class="current">';
  $currentAfter = '</span>';
 
  if ( !is_home() && !is_front_page() || is_paged() ) {
 
    echo '<div id="crumbs">';
 
    global $post;
    $home = get_bloginfo('url');
    echo '<a href="' . $home . '">' . $name . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
 
    if ( is_category() ) {
      global $wp_query;
      $cat_obj = $wp_query->get_queried_object();
      $thisCat = $cat_obj->term_id;
      $thisCat = get_category($thisCat);
      $parentCat = get_category($thisCat->parent);
      if ($thisCat->parent != 0) echo(get_category_parents($parentCat, TRUE, ' ' . $delimiter . ' '));
      echo $currentBefore . 'Archive by category &#39;';
      single_cat_title();
      echo '&#39;' . $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_day() ) {
      echo '<a href="' . get_year_link(get_the_time('Y')) . '">' . get_the_time('Y') . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
      echo '<a href="' . get_month_link(get_the_time('Y'),get_the_time('m')) . '">' . get_the_time('F') . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
      echo $currentBefore . get_the_time('d') . $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_month() ) {
      echo '<a href="' . get_year_link(get_the_time('Y')) . '">' . get_the_time('Y') . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
      echo $currentBefore . get_the_time('F') . $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_year() ) {
      echo $currentBefore . get_the_time('Y') . $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_single() && !is_attachment() ) {
      $cat = get_the_category(); $cat = $cat[0];
      echo get_category_parents($cat, TRUE, ' ' . $delimiter . ' ');
      echo $currentBefore;
      the_title();
      echo $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_attachment() ) {
      $parent = get_post($post->post_parent);
      $cat = get_the_category($parent->ID); $cat = $cat[0];
      echo get_category_parents($cat, TRUE, ' ' . $delimiter . ' ');
      echo '<a href="' . get_permalink($parent) . '">' . $parent->post_title . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
      echo $currentBefore;
      the_title();
      echo $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_page() && !$post->post_parent ) {
      echo $currentBefore;
      the_title();
      echo $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_page() && $post->post_parent ) {
      $parent_id  = $post->post_parent;
      $breadcrumbs = array();
      while ($parent_id) {
        $page = get_page($parent_id);
        $breadcrumbs[] = '<a href="' . get_permalink($page->ID) . '">' . get_the_title($page->ID) . '</a>';
        $parent_id  = $page->post_parent;
      }
      $breadcrumbs = array_reverse($breadcrumbs);
      foreach ($breadcrumbs as $crumb) echo $crumb . ' ' . $delimiter . ' ';
      echo $currentBefore;
      the_title();
      echo $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_search() ) {
      echo $currentBefore . 'Search results for &#39;' . get_search_query() . '&#39;' . $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_tag() ) {
      echo $currentBefore . 'Posts tagged &#39;';
      single_tag_title();
      echo '&#39;' . $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_author() ) {
       global $author;
      $userdata = get_userdata($author);
      echo $currentBefore . 'Articles posted by ' . $userdata->display_name . $currentAfter;
 
    } elseif ( is_404() ) {
      echo $currentBefore . 'Error 404' . $currentAfter;
    }
 
    if ( get_query_var('paged') ) {
      if ( is_category() || is_day() || is_month() || is_year() || is_search() || is_tag() || is_author() ) echo ' (';
      echo __('Page') . ' ' . get_query_var('paged');
      if ( is_category() || is_day() || is_month() || is_year() || is_search() || is_tag() || is_author() ) echo ')';
    }
 
    echo '</div>';
 
  }
}

Add this code to your theme’s template file where you want to show the breadcrumbs.

<?php 
           if (function_exists('dimox_breadcrumbs')) dimox_breadcrumbs(); 
?>

Alternatively, you can you this shorter, similar snippet. Add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or in a site-specific plugin:

function the_breadcrumb() {
        echo '<ul id="crumbs">';
    if (!is_home()) {
        echo '<li><a href="';
        echo get_option('home');
        echo '">';
        echo 'Home';
        echo "</a></li>";
        if (is_category() || is_single()) {
            echo '<li>';
            the_category(' </li><li> ');
            if (is_single()) {
                echo "</li><li>";
                the_title();
                echo '</li>';
            }
        } elseif (is_page()) {
            echo '<li>';
            echo the_title();
            echo '</li>';
        }
    }
    elseif (is_tag()) {single_tag_title();}
    elseif (is_day()) {echo"<li>Archive for "; the_time('F jS, Y'); echo'</li>';}
    elseif (is_month()) {echo"<li>Archive for "; the_time('F, Y'); echo'</li>';}
    elseif (is_year()) {echo"<li>Archive for "; the_time('Y'); echo'</li>';}
    elseif (is_author()) {echo"<li>Author Archive"; echo'</li>';}
    elseif (isset($_GET['paged']) && !empty($_GET['paged'])) {echo "<li>Blog Archives"; echo'</li>';}
    elseif (is_search()) {echo"<li>Search Results"; echo'</li>';}
    echo '</ul>';
}

You can add this code to your single.php file or page.php to display the breadcrumbs menu.

<?php the_breadcrumb(); ?>

Note: If this is your first time adding code snippets in WordPress, then please refer to our guide on how to properly add code snippets in WordPress, so you don’t accidentally break your site.

If you liked this code snippet, please consider checking out our other articles on the site like: 9 best WordPress accordion plugins and how to create a contact form .