# Breadcrumbs Shortcode

> Adds a [wpide_breadcrumbs] shortcode that prints Home > Category > Post style breadcrumbs with schema.org markup, for themes that do not have them.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Frontend & Design](https://wpide.com/library/category/frontend/)
- Tags: breadcrumbs, navigation, seo, shortcode
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/frontend-breadcrumbs-shortcode/

## Code

```php
add_shortcode( 'wpide_breadcrumbs', function () {
    $crumbs = array( array( 'Home', home_url( '/' ) ) );

    if ( is_singular() ) {
        $post = get_queried_object();

        if ( 'post' === $post->post_type ) {
            $cats = get_the_category( $post->ID );

            if ( $cats ) {
                foreach ( array_reverse( get_ancestors( $cats[0]->term_id, 'category' ) ) as $ancestor ) {
                    $crumbs[] = array( get_cat_name( $ancestor ), get_category_link( $ancestor ) );
                }
                $crumbs[] = array( $cats[0]->name, get_category_link( $cats[0] ) );
            }
        } elseif ( is_post_type_hierarchical( $post->post_type ) ) {
            foreach ( array_reverse( get_post_ancestors( $post ) ) as $ancestor ) {
                $crumbs[] = array( get_the_title( $ancestor ), get_permalink( $ancestor ) );
            }
        } elseif ( get_post_type_archive_link( $post->post_type ) ) {
            $crumbs[] = array( get_post_type_object( $post->post_type )->labels->name, get_post_type_archive_link( $post->post_type ) );
        }

        $crumbs[] = array( get_the_title( $post ), '' );
    } elseif ( is_category() || is_tag() || is_tax() ) {
        $crumbs[] = array( single_term_title( '', false ), '' );
    } elseif ( is_search() ) {
        $crumbs[] = array( 'Search results', '' );
    } elseif ( is_404() ) {
        $crumbs[] = array( 'Page not found', '' );
    } elseif ( is_archive() ) {
        $crumbs[] = array( wp_strip_all_tags( get_the_archive_title() ), '' );
    }

    $html = '<nav class="wpide-breadcrumbs" aria-label="Breadcrumb"><ol itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/BreadcrumbList" style="display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:.4em;list-style:none;margin:0 0 1em;padding:0;font-size:.9em;">';

    foreach ( $crumbs as $i => $crumb ) {
        $html .= '<li itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ListItem">' . ( $i ? '<span aria-hidden="true">&rsaquo; </span>' : '' );
        $html .= $crumb[1]
            ? '<a itemprop="item" href="' . esc_url( $crumb[1] ) . '"><span itemprop="name">' . esc_html( $crumb[0] ) . '</span></a>'
            : '<span itemprop="name" aria-current="page">' . esc_html( $crumb[0] ) . '</span>';
        $html .= '<meta itemprop="position" content="' . ( $i + 1 ) . '"></li>';
    }

    return $html . '</ol></nav>';
} );
```

## Notes

Place it in a Shortcode block in your single post or page template. If an SEO plugin already outputs breadcrumb schema, use only one of them.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Breadcrumbs Shortcode" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/