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: https://wpza.net/including-wordpress-functions-in-a-custom-php-file/ — WPZA, Jan 25 '19 at 21:44

score 153 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '13 at 03:00

153

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

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

answered Mar 09 '13 at 03:00

seanbreeden

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this is fine solution but that will load all wp site with all installed plugins and themes ... this violation of yagni principle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_aren't_gonna_need_it – HMagdy Mar 30 '14 at 09:46
2

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. – seanbreeden Mar 30 '14 at 12:00
so, if it isn't Yagni... what should it be? – Matteo Bononi 'peorthyr' Apr 07 '16 at 13:03
require_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']."/wp-load.php"); is easier than all the ../'s – Praesagus May 11 '16 at 17:07
10

Cleaner: `require_once(rtrim($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'], '/') . '/wp-load.php');` – Jack Sep 14 '16 at 15:32
3

`$_SERVER` may not be defined via cli, use `__DIR__ . '/path/to/wp-load,php';` – zanderwar Apr 25 '18 at 07:02
I'm not sure how old this post is, but for my installation on wordpress 4 and 5 it's only three `../` before the file. ie: `../../../wp-load.php` – Peter Cullen Dec 10 '18 at 23:52
Yea this was from me almost 6 years ago :) – seanbreeden Dec 12 '18 at 14:01

Salam El-Banna · Answer 2 · 2020-03-11T20:04:37.703

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 '20 at 20:04

answered May 23 '16 at 06:20

Salam El-Banna

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WordPress is not necessarily in the document root. – Gerald Schneider May 23 '16 at 07:28
Also you need to rtrim document_root for forward slashes – Jack Nov 25 '16 at 17:03

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 13 '19 at 17:43

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.

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 13 '19 at 17:43

3

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

This is better way to include a file in WordPress.

edited Apr 13 '19 at 17:43

Maxime

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answered Feb 05 '14 at 09:13

Syed Naeem Tariq

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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. – seanbreeden Mar 30 '14 at 12:00
1

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. ;) – Nick Res Jun 12 '15 at 16:26

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 14 '20 at 04:54

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');

  }

score 2 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 13 '19 at 17:44

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

How to include WordPress functions in custom .php file?

6 Answers6

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