Rank Math offers built-in breadcrumb settings via the WordPress dashboard under Rank Math SEO → General Settings → Breadcrumbs. These settings allow you to enable, style, and position breadcrumbs across your site.
However, if you need to go beyond the UI options and customize breadcrumbs programmatically, you can use a variety of code snippets. Below are examples to help you extend and control breadcrumb behavior in Rank Math.
All the images in the post are taken from Rank Math website.
1. Remove Breadcrumbs from the Homepage
The following code displays breadcrumbs on all pages except the homepage. Add it to your theme’s template file where breadcrumbs should appear.
/**
* Display breadcrumbs on all pages except homepage
*/
if ( function_exists('rank_math_the_breadcrumbs') && !is_home() ) {
rank_math_the_breadcrumbs();
}
2. Add a Blog Page to Your Breadcrumbs
If you’ve assigned a static page as your blog, enable the “Show Blog Page” option under Rank Math SEO → General Settings → Breadcrumbs.
If the option is not available (for example, if no static blog page is set), use the following filter to insert a custom “Blog” link into your breadcrumbs. Replace https://yourdomain.com/blog with the correct URL.
/**
* Filter to add a 'Blog' page to Rank Math Breadcrumbs.
*/
add_filter( 'rank_math/frontend/breadcrumb/items', function( $crumbs, $class ) {
if ( is_home() || is_front_page() ) {
return $crumbs;
}
$blog = ['Blog', 'https://yourdomain.com/blog'];
if (count($crumbs) < 3) {
array_splice( $crumbs, 0, 0, array($blog) );
} else {
array_splice( $crumbs, 1, 0, array($blog) );
}
return $crumbs;
}, 10, 2);3. Shorten the Post Title in Breadcrumbs
This filter limits the number of characters displayed for the post title in breadcrumbs. You can change the $max_char_limit to suit your design.
/**
* Filter to shorten the post title of Rank Math Breadcrumbs.
*/
add_filter( 'rank_math/frontend/breadcrumb/items', function( $crumbs, $class ) {
$title = get_the_title();
$max_char_limit = 19;
if ( strlen($title) > $max_char_limit ) {
$short_title = substr($title, 0, $max_char_limit) . '...';
array_splice($crumbs, count($crumbs) - 1, 1);
$crumbs[][0] = $short_title;
}
return $crumbs;
}, 10, 2);4. Display Tags in Breadcrumbs
To show tags in your breadcrumbs, go to Rank Math SEO → Titles & Meta → Posts and set the Primary Taxonomy to “Categories”. Then add the following filter to insert tags before the post title:
/**
* Filter to display tags in Rank Math Breadcrumbs.
*/
add_filter( 'rank_math/frontend/breadcrumb/items', function( $crumbs, $class ) {
$tags = get_the_tags();
if ( $tags ) {
foreach ( $tags as $tag ) {
$crumb = [ $tag->name, get_tag_link( $tag->term_id ) ];
array_splice( $crumbs, 2, 0, array($crumb) );
}
}
return $crumbs;
}, 10, 2);5. Remove Categories from Breadcrumbs on Posts
To remove category links from breadcrumbs on single posts, use the snippet below. This does not affect archive or taxonomy pages.
/**
* Filter to remove categories from Rank Math Breadcrumbs on single posts.
*/
add_filter( 'rank_math/frontend/breadcrumb/items', function( $crumbs, $class ) {
if ( is_singular('post') ) {
unset( $crumbs[1] );
$crumbs = array_values($crumbs);
}
return $crumbs;
}, 10, 2);This filter will not remove the breadcrumbs on your archive pages. You can refer to this guide to remove categories from breadcrumb trails on archive pages.
Conclusion
With just a few filters, you can take full control over how breadcrumbs appear on your site. Whether you’re simplifying titles, customizing structure, or injecting content dynamically — these code snippets give you complete flexibility.
If you run into any issues or need help adapting these to your specific theme, feel free to reach out or check the Rank Math knowledge base for more examples.
