WordPress Breadcrumbs Without Plugin (advanced and easy method)

Breadcrumbs is an important element of a web site navigation and WordPress doesn’t have a default way of creating breadcrumbs. You have to include the Breadcrumbs on your own themes, either by adding some code to your theme’s files or by using a plugin. Here are some ways to create breadcrumbs in WordPress for you to consider.

1. Advanced breadcrumbs without plugin

Displays a full chain of links to the current page. For example, if the current post is in a second level category, so breadcrumbs will looks like this:

Home » Category » Subcategory » Post Title

But all, what you have seen, displays only such an option (excluding plugins):

Home » Subcategory » Post Title

The same applies to pages and subpages. For example, for a 3rd level page breadcrumbs will looks like this:

Home » Page Level 1 » Page Level 2 » Page Level 3

Breadcrumbs is appearing on a following types of WordPress pages:

  • paged navigation (like sitename.com/page/2/);
  • category archive;
  • tag archive;
  • daily archive;
  • monthly archive;
  • yearly archive;
  • author archive;
  • single post page;
  • single page;
  • attachment page;
  • search results;
  • 404 error page.
  • adding a page number (if archive page is second or more);

custom symbol of delimiter;

custom text for a ‘Home’ link;

current crumb styling.

Simply copy and paste this code into a functions.php file of your theme:

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function earlyedition_breadcrumbs() {
 
  $delimiter = '»';
  $home = 'Home'; // text for the 'Home' link
  $before = '<span class="current">'; // tag before the current crumb
  $after = '</span>'; // tag after the current crumb
 
  if ( !is_home() && !is_front_page() || is_paged() ) {
 
    echo '<div id="crumbs">';
 
    global $post;
    $homeLink = get_bloginfo('url');
    echo '<a href="' . $homeLink . '">' . $home . '</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 $before . 'Archive by category "' . single_cat_title('', false) . '"' . $after;
 
    } 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 $before . get_the_time('d') . $after;
 
    } elseif ( is_month() ) {
      echo '<a href="' . get_year_link(get_the_time('Y')) . '">' . get_the_time('Y') . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
      echo $before . get_the_time('F') . $after;
 
    } elseif ( is_year() ) {
      echo $before . get_the_time('Y') . $after;
 
    } elseif ( is_single() && !is_attachment() ) {
      if ( get_post_type() != 'post' ) {
        $post_type = get_post_type_object(get_post_type());
        $slug = $post_type->rewrite;
        echo '<a href="' . $homeLink . '/' . $slug['slug'] . '/">' . $post_type->labels->singular_name . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
        echo $before . get_the_title() . $after;
      } else {
        $cat = get_the_category(); $cat = $cat[0];
        echo get_category_parents($cat, TRUE, ' ' . $delimiter . ' ');
        echo $before . get_the_title() . $after;
      }
 
    } elseif ( !is_single() && !is_page() && get_post_type() != 'post' && !is_404() ) {
      $post_type = get_post_type_object(get_post_type());
      echo $before . $post_type->labels->singular_name . $after;
 
    } 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 $before . get_the_title() . $after;
 
    } elseif ( is_page() && !$post->post_parent ) {
      echo $before . get_the_title() . $after;
 
    } 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 $before . get_the_title() . $after;
 
    } elseif ( is_search() ) {
      echo $before . 'Search results for "' . get_search_query() . '"' . $after;
 
    } elseif ( is_tag() ) {
      echo $before . 'Posts tagged "' . single_tag_title('', false) . '"' . $after;
 
    } elseif ( is_author() ) {
       global $author;
      $userdata = get_userdata($author);
      echo $before . 'Articles posted by ' . $userdata->display_name . $after;
 
    } elseif ( is_404() ) {
      echo $before . 'Error 404' . $after;
    }
 
    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>';
 
  }
} // end earlyedition_breadcrumbs()
function earlyedition_breadcrumbs() {

  $delimiter = '&raquo;';
  $home = 'Home'; // text for the 'Home' link
  $before = '<span class="current">'; // tag before the current crumb
  $after = '</span>'; // tag after the current crumb

  if ( !is_home() && !is_front_page() || is_paged() ) {

    echo '<div id="crumbs">';

    global $post;
    $homeLink = get_bloginfo('url');
    echo '<a href="' . $homeLink . '">' . $home . '</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 $before . 'Archive by category "' . single_cat_title('', false) . '"' . $after;

    } 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 $before . get_the_time('d') . $after;

    } elseif ( is_month() ) {
      echo '<a href="' . get_year_link(get_the_time('Y')) . '">' . get_the_time('Y') . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
      echo $before . get_the_time('F') . $after;

    } elseif ( is_year() ) {
      echo $before . get_the_time('Y') . $after;

    } elseif ( is_single() && !is_attachment() ) {
      if ( get_post_type() != 'post' ) {
        $post_type = get_post_type_object(get_post_type());
        $slug = $post_type->rewrite;
        echo '<a href="' . $homeLink . '/' . $slug['slug'] . '/">' . $post_type->labels->singular_name . '</a> ' . $delimiter . ' ';
        echo $before . get_the_title() . $after;
      } else {
        $cat = get_the_category(); $cat = $cat[0];
        echo get_category_parents($cat, TRUE, ' ' . $delimiter . ' ');
        echo $before . get_the_title() . $after;
      }

    } elseif ( !is_single() && !is_page() && get_post_type() != 'post' && !is_404() ) {
      $post_type = get_post_type_object(get_post_type());
      echo $before . $post_type->labels->singular_name . $after;

    } 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 $before . get_the_title() . $after;

    } elseif ( is_page() && !$post->post_parent ) {
      echo $before . get_the_title() . $after;

    } 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 $before . get_the_title() . $after;

    } elseif ( is_search() ) {
      echo $before . 'Search results for "' . get_search_query() . '"' . $after;

    } elseif ( is_tag() ) {
      echo $before . 'Posts tagged "' . single_tag_title('', false) . '"' . $after;

    } elseif ( is_author() ) {
       global $author;
      $userdata = get_userdata($author);
      echo $before . 'Articles posted by ' . $userdata->display_name . $after;

    } elseif ( is_404() ) {
      echo $before . 'Error 404' . $after;
    }

    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>';

  }
} // end earlyedition_breadcrumbs()

Then paste the following code in a place of your theme, where breadcrumbs must appearing:

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

All that remains to do for now, is to design your breadcrumbs with CSS. You can use #crumbs for styling breadcrumbs block and #crumbs .current for styling a current crumb. Function works on WordPress 3.0 or higher.

 

2. Easy-to-Create breadcrumbs without plugins

How to make simple breadcrumbs menus using basic PHP template tags. All you have to do is insert the following code into the single.php file wherever you want the breadcrumbs to appear:

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<a href="<?php bloginfo('home'); ?>">Home</a> &raquo; <?php the_category(); ?> &raquo; <?php the_title(); ?>
<a href="<?php bloginfo('home'); ?>">Home</a> &raquo; <?php the_category(); ?> &raquo; <?php the_title(); ?>

You can style this with CSS to make it look a little nicer; my recommendation is that you wrap everything in a list like as follows, which will give you more options when it comes to styling:

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<ul>
<li><a href="<?php bloginfo('home'); ?>">Home</a></li>
<li><?php the_category('') ?></li>
<li><?php the_title(); ?></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="<?php bloginfo('home'); ?>">Home</a></li>
<li><?php the_category('') ?></li>
<li><?php the_title(); ?></li>
</ul>

This method is so simple to use. I’ve also used it before, and it serves it purpose if you only want to include the breadcrumbs on your blog posts. The only drawback is that there is no flexibility to use it anywhere other than the posts on your WordPress website.

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26.Sep.11 Tips

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