How to include WordPress functions in custom .php file?

Question

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

For Gutenberg users: wpza.net/including-wordpress-functions-in-a-custom-php-file — WPZA
– WPZA, Commented Jan 25, 2019 at 21:44

seanbreeden · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-09 03:00:01Z

158

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

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

answered Mar 9, 2013 at 3:00

seanbreeden

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8 Comments

HMagdy Over a year ago

this is fine solution but that will load all wp site with all installed plugins and themes ... this violation of yagni principle en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_aren't_gonna_need_it

seanbreeden Over a year ago

This may be true if he was loading a file INSIDE of Wordpress but if you read the original question he was asking how to load it from an external php file.

Matteo Bononi 'peorthyr' Over a year ago

so, if it isn't Yagni... what should it be?

Jack Over a year ago

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

zanderwar Over a year ago

$_SERVER may not be defined via cli, use __DIR__ . '/path/to/wp-load,php';

|

Salam El-Banna · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-11 20:04:37Z

32

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');

edited Mar 11, 2020 at 20:04

answered May 23, 2016 at 6:20

Salam El-Banna

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2 Comments

Gerald Schneider Over a year ago

WordPress is not necessarily in the document root.

Jack Over a year ago

Also you need to rtrim document_root for forward slashes

Maxime · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-13 17:43:27Z

4

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.

edited Apr 13, 2019 at 17:43

Maxime

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answered Aug 22, 2017 at 9:10

VST

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Comments

Maidul · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-14 04:54:54Z

4

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');

  }

answered Apr 14, 2020 at 4:54

Maidul

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Comments

Maxime · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-13 17:43:41Z

3

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

This is better way to include a file in WordPress.

edited Apr 13, 2019 at 17:43

Maxime

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answered Feb 5, 2014 at 9:13

Syed Naeem Tariq

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2 Comments

seanbreeden Over a year ago

He wasn't asking how to include a file in Wordpress. He wanted to load Wordpress from an external PHP file. Your solution would not work.

Nick Res Over a year ago

He's aware of that I'm sure. He's adding to the discussion. Now I'm going to use this method + wp-load.php. ;)

Maxime · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-13 17:44:03Z

2

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

edited Apr 13, 2019 at 17:44

Maxime

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answered Nov 13, 2018 at 16:29

Aman Dhanda

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Comments

Arthur Shlain · Accepted Answer · 2023-11-20 11:24:52Z

0

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');

answered Nov 20, 2023 at 11:24

Arthur Shlain

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Comments

squarecandy · Accepted Answer · 2024-04-04 19:01:33Z

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/

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