When it comes to working with the_content, it’s straightforward.
- Set up a filter that’s hooked into the_content,
- define a function that accepts the incoming post content,
- make your changes,
- return the modified content.
And most of the time, this is all that’s needed. But there are times in which you may want to do more advanced things.
For example, perhaps you’ll want to include content from an external template. Or maybe you’ll want to add attributes to images that you find in the post.