How to add an inline style to the <p> tag outputted in the_content() using PHP?

Question

I am trying to add an inline style to my paragraph tags which are ouputted using the_content();

I've tried string replace, see question I did earlier. But it won't because the_content echo's it and does not return it. If I return the content using get_the_content();, it does not output in paragraph tags.

Can anyone help me with this?

Answer 1

Thanks to @papirtiger

Came up with this solution just to apply it to a specific content function.

I did not explain in my question that I only needed to work on a specific the_content, instead I think the above solutions are a global solutions, and both are great solutions from that point of view.

<?php 

    $phrase = get_the_content();
    // This is where wordpress filters the content text and adds paragraphs
    $phrase = apply_filters('the_content', $phrase);
    $replace = '<p style="text-align: left; font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; color: #1b3d52; font-weight: normal; margin: 15px 0px; font-style: italic;">';

    echo str_replace('<p>', $replace, $phrase);

?>

Answer 2

You can use your custom string replace in a custom "the_content" function.

function custom_the_content($more_link_text = null, $stripteaser = false) {

    $content = get_the_content($more_link_text, $stripteaser);
    $content = apply_filters('the_content', $content);
    $content = str_replace(']]>', ']]>', $content);
    // apply you own string replace here
    echo $content;
}

Answer 3

Use filter and actions:

/**
 * Plugin Name: Your_awsome_inlinestyle
 * Plugin URI:  http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/72681/how-to-add-an-inline-style-to-the-p-tag-outputted-in-the-content-using-php
 * Description: See link to plugin
 * Version:     0.1
 * Author:      Ralf Albert
 * Author URI:  http://yoda.neun12.de
 * Text Domain:
 * Domain Path:
 * Network:
 * License:     GPLv3
 */
    add_action( 'plugins_loaded', 'init_inlinestyler', 10, 0 );

    function init_inlinestyler(){

        add_filter( 'the_content', 'add_inlinestyle_to_p_tag', 10, 1 );

    }

    function add_inlinestyle_to_p_tag( $content = null ){

        if( null === $content )
            return $content;

        return str_replace( '<p>', '<p style="color:red">', $content );

    }

Update

If you want to use a filter just for a specialjob instead of a global filtering, add the filter just in the place where you need it and than remove it again.

First define your filter-callback:

function insert_inline_style( $content = null ){ ... }

Place this function anywhere you want. Rule of thumb: if you want to reuse the callback, place it in an central file like functions.php. If the callback is just for a (very) special job, place it in the same file which do the job.

Now we have to add the filter, so the output of the_content will be filtered:

<?php
// add the filter
    add_filter( 'the_content', 'insert_inline_style', 10, 1 );

// output the post content
    the_content();

// remove the filter if it is not longer needed
    remove_filter( 'the_content', 'insert_inline_style' );

So you don't have to fiddle around with get_the_content() and can easily reuse the callback if needed.

Answer 4

I might be late for this one, but use this :

ob_start();
the_content();
$content = ob_get_clean();

Then call $content wherever you want.

Basically, the_content is kept in memory (another time dimension) and no data is fetch until ob_get_clean() is called. This said, the_content() keeps the format as get_the_content() does not. This is why many answers would try to filter get_the_content(), which is quite troublesome.