What is the difference between get_the_* and the_* template tags in wordpress?

Question

I am confuse about get_the_* and the_* template tags. I have used those many times to my theme but i am not clear enough when to use get_the_* and when to use the_* . Would you please explain both concept clearly.

Answer 1

The difference is that you can only use the_* inside your loop. But get_the* you can use inside or oustide the loop. Outside the loop you should give the post_id as a parameter.

And by default the_* echo's the title for example and get_the* just gets the title for using it in your PHP.

Answer 2

There is something more to it. I just tried the_content() and echo get_the_content() which should the same thing but.. If you add a filter('the_content') it wont work with echo get_the_content() but it works fine with the_content() method.