Why i need a wp loop in single.php

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In WordPress theme development we can use single.php to show the specific single post.

For this purpose the common practice is:

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<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
  <?php the_content();?>
<?php endwhile; ?>
<?php endif; ?>

Why do I need looping to show a single post? Can any one give some valid reason?

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2 comments

  1. this was something that killed me for years and I found the answer:
    No, you don’t need to use the LOOP in single pages, you just call the_post() and you have all data needed

    .... BUT ....

    If you don’t use the loop (while(have_posts())….) a hook “loop_end” is not called and if a plugin/process has any action on this hook, it won’t work. So for safety reasons you should use the loop.

    Also, people ask do I need to check for existence before the loop: if(have_posts())?

    <?
if( have_posts() ):
    while( have_posts() ):
        the_post();
        .....
    endwhile;
endif
?>

    No, you don’t need to check

    .... BUT ....

    Checking allows you to include headers/titles before the loop and not having them if the loop is empty.

  2. The WordPress Loop instantiates some functions like the_title(), the_content() and others.

    In other words, your post is loaded in that loop, and the loop is gone through once if you are on a single post. Although it might be strange to have a loop, it is actually quite useful.

    WordPress uses a template hierarchy, which is a way of choosing which template to load for a given post/page. In your single.php, the loop will run once. But if you do not have a single.php file, WordPress will use index.php instead for that same post.

    For the sake of consistency, having a loop which works for any number of posts is helpful. Else, in you index.php, you would have needed a case for one post and another case for multiple posts and keeping a consistent templating method would be difficult.