the_author() Function

The_author() function shows the name of the author of the given post. The_author() function is the same function called get_the_author(). The_author will echo the authors name but will not return the authors name back.

the_author_link() Function

The_author_link() is used to display the authors link or authors name. Therefore if the author has a home page complete and set up, echo the HTML link or echo the authors name to retrieve the link or name. It will return as a string HTML link if the URL does exist.

Differences and/or Similarities

The_author() function is only able to retrieve the authors name and the_author_link will create a link to the authors home page that is set up already. Both are used to return data about the author and/or in the_author_link() case a link back to the authors page.

Summary

Both the_author() and the_author_link() function are both important for developers when writing code as being able to link to the authors page or to their name is important when using WordPress to refer to the current blogs author.