Processing ajax call to php to insert into mysql database

When doing AJAX call in WordPress, you should always post to admin-ajax.php file. Here’s how you do that.

In your plugin or functions.php:

function process_my_ajax_call() {
    // Do your processing here (save to database etc.)
    // All WP API functions are available for you here
}
// This will allow not logged in users to use the functionality
add_action( 'wp_admin_my_action_no_priv', 'process_my_ajax_call' );
// This will allow only logged in users to use the functionality
add_action( 'wp_admin_my_action', 'process_my_ajax_call' );

You’ll also have to pass the correct URL to the admin-ajax.php file to your JavaScript and wp_localize_script function is great just for that:

function localize_my_scripts() {
    $localizations = array(
        'ajaxUrl' => admin_url( 'admin-ajax.php' ),
    );

    wp_localize_script( 'my-script-handle', 'myVars', $localizations );
}
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'localize_my_scripts' );

Now in your JavaScript:

$.ajax({
    url: myVars.ajaxUrl, // Notice the AJAX URL here!
    type: 'post',
    data: 'username=test&action=my_action', // Notice the action name here! This is the basis on which WP calls your process_my_ajax_call() function.
    cache: false,
    success: function ( response ) {
        // Parse ajax response here
        // Do something with the response
    },
    error: function ( response ) {
        // Handle error response here
    };
});

This is, of course, just a huge summary of how to make AJAX calls in WordPress. You will still need to verify nonces, create a proper AJAX response using WP_Ajax_Response class and then enqueue the wp-ajax-response script on frontend to process WP’s response. If you want to learn more, there’s a comprehensive guide to AJAX in WordPress written by Ronald Huereca and it’s available for free!

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