How to Get Post Format by Post ID in WordPress

The get_post_format function is responsible to retrieve the format of a WP post. This functionality has been added to WordPress since version 3.1.

get_post_format function syntax

This is the syntax when you want to use the get_post_format function of WordPress (keep reading for the practical example):

get_post_format(int|WP_Post|null $post = null)

If you do not specify the optional $post parameter for this function, or you just pass null, get_post_format will retrieve the post format of the current queried WP post (current post in the loop or in the single.php file).

Example of using the get_post_format function to retrieve a post’s format in WP

We have specified the ID of the post in $postId variable. We used 1 as the post ID, you can change it to any post ID you need or do not specify it for the current queried post (the default value for $post parameter is null).

$postId = 1;
$postFormat = get_post_format($postId);
if($postFormat)
	echo $postFormat;

WordPress default Post Formats

WP has its own post formats; also, developers can add new post formats with specifications they desire.

If you did not add any new post formats to WordPress, either by installing third-party plugins or your own codes, This is the list of possible formats (as a “string” that represents the name of the format):

• aside
• chat
• gallery
• link
• image
• quote
• status
• video
• audio

If you try the function on a not -freshly installed WordPress, you may get other formats too.