CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpwordpressinclude
Sziro
Sziro

Reputation: 1303

How to include WordPress functions in custom .php file?

How can I include WordPress functions in a custom .php file?

In detail: I have a directory under my theme (Constructor) named reports. These contain .php files that generate reports from data from the site with DOMPDF for downloading. For these I would like to use functions that the WordPress engine provides, for example get_the_author_meta( 'user_firstname', $user_id ). If I use these i get (naturally) the following error:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function get_the_author_meta() in ROOT/public_html/wp-content/themes/constructor/reports/testreport.php on line 15

I was lead to believe that I need to include wp-blog-header.php . I use require_once("../../../../wp-blog-header.php"); . With this I get the following 404 error:

No webpage was found for the web address: ROOT/wp-content/themes/constructor/reports/testreport.php

(The require points to the correct path. If I fiddle with it, I get Warning: require_once(../../../wp-blog-header.php): failed to open stream... So the path must be correct.)

Is there something I overlook? Why can't I include this wp file? What is the correct method to include the wp functions?

Thanks for the help, Sziro

Upvotes: 85

Views: 139578

Answers (8)

squarecandy
squarecandy

Reputation: 5107

I know this is not a direct answer to the question, but a few alternative approaches to consider that would avoid running a php file directly within WordPress completely:

1 - WP CLI

If you're needing this to run some kind of command line automation, try using WP CLI, which will load WordPress for you automatically and then let you run the php code in your file. You don't need to include wp-load.php at all when you use this method - it's already loaded for you.

wp eval-file '~/public_html/wp-content/themes/constructor/reports/testreport.php'

2 - Within Theme/Plugin Context

Ask yourself if you could possibly accomplish the task within a normal theme/plugin context. One possibility for doing something like generate a report would be to use AJAX.

wp_ajax_{$action} reference

3 - Using a scheduled task

If you want to run some php at a regular interval or at one specific time, consider using the WP Cron system. This would let you create a function within your theme or plugin and run it later at a scheduled time. Your function will run naturally in the WordPress context and won't need any special includes of wp-load.php.

https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/cron/scheduling-wp-cron-events/ https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_schedule_single_event/

Upvotes: 0

Arthur Shlain
Arthur Shlain

Reputation: 1099

Use chdir PHP function to change working directory.

It's need to prevent possible issues like Class not found exceptions.

$root = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];

chdir($root);

require_once($root . '/wp-load.php');

Upvotes: 0

Maidul
Maidul

Reputation: 418

I use this method to load WordPress environment outside WordPress.

  if (file_exists($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/wp-load.php')) {

      /** Loads the WordPress Environment and Template */
      require_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/wp-load.php');

  }

Upvotes: 3

Salam El-Banna
Salam El-Banna

Reputation: 3870

To use wp functions in custom .php files, you must include wp-load.php in your file. You can do so by adding the following line:

require_once(PATH_TO.'/wp-load.php');

If WordPress is in the document root add instead:

require_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/wp-load.php');

Upvotes: 32

Aman Dhanda
Aman Dhanda

Reputation: 438

External files can easily access the WordPress functions. You just need to include the file wp-load.php in your external file. The wp-load.php file is located in root of your WordPress installation. Example: Suppose your file is test.php located at root directory of WordPress installation.

<?php
require_once('wp-load.php');
// Your custom code
?>

Source: How to access WordPress functions in external file

Upvotes: 2

Syed Naeem Tariq
Syed Naeem Tariq

Reputation: 117

require_once(dirname(__FILE__) . '/options.php');

This is better way to include a file in WordPress.

Upvotes: 3

VST
VST

Reputation: 131

Well if someone has newer PHP versions installed (ver >= 5.5.x) then they can also try the below code in the root script in WordPress website directory itself:

<?php
define("WP_ROOT", __DIR__);
define("DS", DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
require_once WP_ROOT . DS . "wp-load.php";

Or

<?php
define("WP_ROOT", __DIR__);
define("DS", DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR);
require_once WP_ROOT . DS . "wp-blog-header.php";

I guess this is a more direct and clean approach and doesn't involve manually adding slashes and changing diretories by ...

Hope this helps someone.

Upvotes: 4

seanbreeden
seanbreeden

Reputation: 6097

You're on the right track. Try this instead:

require_once("../../../../wp-load.php");

Upvotes: 157

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