The WordPress function the_title() is showing blank

Question

I am using this code to display a post on my homepage. <?php the_title(); ?> is returning blank.

-- If you hover over the thumbnails, the title and excerpt of the post should appear over the image (excerpt is title is not).

<?php if(!of_get_option('ttrust_open_project_single')) : ?>

    <div class="project small ajx <?php echo $p; ?>" id="project-<?php echo $post->post_name;?>">
        <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" ></a>

        <a href="#<?php echo $post->post_name; ?>" ><?php the_post_thumbnail($project_thumb_size, array('class' => 'thumb', 'alt' => ''.get_the_title().'', 'title' => ''.get_the_title().'')); ?></a>
        <span class="title">
            <div>
                <span id="theTitle"><?php the_title(); ?></span>
                <span id="theExcerpt"><?php the_excerpt(); ?></span>
            </div>
        </span>
    </div>

<?php else: ?>

    <div class="project small <?php echo $p; ?>" id="project-<?php echo $post->post_name;?>">
        <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" ></a>

        <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" ><?php the_post_thumbnail($project_thumb_size, array('class' => 'thumb', 'alt' => ''.get_the_title().'', 'title' => ''.get_the_title().'')); ?></a>
        <span class="title">
            <div>
                <span id="theTitle"><?php the_title(); ?></span>
                <span id="theExcerpt"><?php the_excerpt() ?></span>
            </div>
        </span>
    </div>
<?php endif; ?>

@SpencerCameron - this is what happens when I'm under-caffeinated. Though I'd still like to know if it works :) — andrewsi, Jun 19 '13 at 19:07
I figured it was a typo. :) I don't think it will, though. His template is missing an integral piece needed by the template tag system. See my answer below. — Spencer Cameron-Morin, Jun 19 '13 at 19:12
Did you try get_the_title ? Does that return anything? Look at this : http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/the_title — Software Engineer, Jun 19 '13 at 18:41
What do you mean by *"excerpt is title is not"* (seems incomprehensible)? — Peter Mortensen, Nov 24 '19 at 19:39
Strongly related: [Solomon Closson's answer to *How can I add a PHP page to WordPress?*](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2810124/how-can-i-add-a-php-page-to-wordpress/39800534#39800534) (that is, `get_header();` will include "Page not found" (instead of the page title) and `the_title();` is blank, with a possible common cause). — Peter Mortensen, Nov 24 '19 at 21:39

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 19 '13 at 19:01

3

Put the following code at the top of your file:

<?php if( have_posts() ) the_post(); ?>

See: The Loop

answered Jun 19 '13 at 19:01

Spencer Cameron-Morin

1,375
8
18

I added this above `` and it didn't work – Eric Goncalves Jun 19 '13 at 21:56
1

Perhaps there is no valid post to display? Put this at the top of your file temporarily: `` If you see **No valid posts** output, you've got other problems. – Spencer Cameron-Morin Jun 19 '13 at 22:24
I added the code, it didn't apear. I'm lost as to why `the_excerpt()` works and not `the_title()` – Eric Goncalves Jun 20 '13 at 00:32
What if it is a *'[page](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVqzKAUsM68&t=1h32m50s)'*, not a *'post'*? – Peter Mortensen Nov 24 '19 at 19:50

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 20 '13 at 00:39

3

I am still unsure what exactly was the issue, but replacing the_title(); with <?php echo $post->post_title; ?> worked fine.

answered Jun 20 '13 at 00:39

Eric Goncalves

5,253
4
35
59

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 24 '19 at 20:03

0

Check your page.php file. Do you have all these things included in that file?

global $post;global $wpdb;
// Your header goes here

<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<div id="your_main_div_to_display_content">
// Your title goes here
<?php the_title();?>
</div>
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

// Your footer goes here

edited Nov 24 '19 at 20:03

Peter Mortensen

30,738
21
105
131

answered Jun 20 '13 at 11:27

Moeed Farooqui

3,604
1
18
23

What if it is WordPress *'pages'* (static), not WordPress *'posts'* (blog posts)? – Peter Mortensen Nov 25 '19 at 01:35

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 24 '19 at 20:04

0

I had same issue, and in my case I was using $post for another purpose, which was conflicting and causing the_title() to display blank.

edited Nov 24 '19 at 20:04

Peter Mortensen

30,738
21
105
131

answered Sep 09 '15 at 10:35

papoola

143
1
7

What purpose? Form submit? – Peter Mortensen Nov 24 '19 at 20:05

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 29 '20 at 08:37

I recently ran into this issue while developing a WordPress theme. WordPress has some declared variables being declared globally, like $post, $posts, Post and so on, if you are coding a WordPress plugin or theme, you need to make sure you treat those variable names like a reserved word. This is one of the errors you can encounter if you don't.

The WordPress function the_title() is showing blank

5 Answers5