wp_terms

Last updated: February 12, 2026

Stores the basic term data (name and slug) for categories, tags, and custom taxonomies.

Schema

Column	Type	Null	Default	Description
`term_id`	bigint(20) unsigned	NO	auto_increment	Unique identifier for the term
`name`	varchar(200)	NO	”	Human-readable term name
`slug`	varchar(200)	NO	”	URL-friendly slug
`term_group`	bigint(10)	NO	0	Group ID for term aliases (rarely used)

Indexes

Key Name	Columns	Unique	Purpose
`PRIMARY`	term_id	Yes	Primary key
`slug`	slug(191)	No	URL slug lookups
`name`	name(191)	No	Name searches

Foreign Key Relationships

Referenced by:

wp_term_taxonomy.term_id → wp_terms.term_id
wp_termmeta.term_id → wp_terms.term_id

Design Notes

WordPress separates term data from taxonomy assignments:

wp_terms – The term itself (name, slug)
wp_term_taxonomy – Which taxonomy it belongs to
wp_term_relationships – Links to posts/objects

This allows the same term name to exist in different taxonomies (e.g., "News" category and "News" tag are separate).

Common Queries

Get all terms

SELECT * FROM wp_terms ORDER BY name;

Get term by slug

SELECT * FROM wp_terms WHERE slug = 'my-category';

Get term by ID

SELECT * FROM wp_terms WHERE term_id = 5;

Search terms by name

SELECT * FROM wp_terms 
WHERE name LIKE '%nature%' 
ORDER BY name;

Get terms with their taxonomy

SELECT t.*, tt.taxonomy, tt.count 
FROM wp_terms t
JOIN wp_term_taxonomy tt ON t.term_id = tt.term_id
ORDER BY t.name;

Find duplicate slugs

SELECT slug, COUNT(*) as count 
FROM wp_terms 
GROUP BY slug 
HAVING count > 1;

WordPress API Functions

get_term( $term_id, $taxonomy ) – Get single term
get_terms( $args ) – Get terms matching criteria
get_term_by( $field, $value, $taxonomy ) – Get term by field
wp_insert_term( $name, $taxonomy, $args ) – Create term
wp_update_term( $term_id, $taxonomy, $args ) – Update term
wp_delete_term( $term_id, $taxonomy ) – Delete term
term_exists( $term, $taxonomy ) – Check if term exists

Term Groups

The term_group column was intended for term aliases (same meaning, different words). In practice, this feature is rarely used. Most implementations use:

Custom meta for synonyms
Plugins for term merging
Parent/child hierarchies instead