What is the correct way to use WordPress functions outside WordPress files?

There’s little difference between the files. When you view a WordPress page, the first file called is index.php. And it is, essentially, your “Method 1:”

define('WP_USE_THEMES', true);

/** Loads the WordPress Environment and Template */
require ('./wp-blog-header.php');

The blog header file (that queues up the rest of WordPress) loads wp-load.php directly and fires up WordPress itself. Here’s most of wp-blog-header.php:

if ( !isset($wp_did_header) ) {

    $wp_did_header = true;

    require_once( dirname(__FILE__) . '/wp-load.php' );

    wp();

    require_once( ABSPATH . WPINC . '/template-loader.php' );

}

So the difference between your two methods is … what’s loaded.

Method 1 is exactly what WordPress does to load itself (with the exception of turning themes off). So if you need all of WordPress and want to fire all of the default hooks/actions, go with that route.

Method 2 is just a further step down the line. It loads all of WordPress, but doesn’t call wp() or invoke the template loader (used by themes). Method 2 will be a little lighter-weight, but should give you the same functionality.

Related Posts:

  1. Initialize WordPress environment to use in a real cron script
  2. Create a post variable processing page
  3. external wordpress pages using wp-blog-header
  4. Looking for a better way to handle an ajax script that pulls in post data on click
  5. wp_enqueue_style with style.php and WordPress functions
  6. there’s a way to include a minimal WP for check only the current user, its roles (caps?) and then release/free it?
  7. Call to undefined function issue
  8. wp-load Without Loading the plugins
  9. Accessing the database from a plugin outside of action hooks
  10. Call to undefined function wp() in wp-blog-header.php
  11. getting logged in user info (wp-load.php) from parent directory
  12. Programmatically inserting post through URL – when including wp-load.php, it’s redirecting to wp-admin/install.php
  13. Load wordpress content in other domain
  14. Proper way to use WordPress function with AJAX PHP file
  15. How to add a custom filter (by coding) before access one wordpress page ? And where to call the custom filter?
  16. WordPress custom php script to match standard page layout
  17. How to call WordPress PHP file using external js file
  18. Allow the execution of an external PHP script for logged users
  19. To call hook on a php external file
  20. how to use header function in wp-load.php file [closed]
  21. Use ajax response in PHP function
  22. WordPress PHP version requirements
  23. Passing PHP Variables to JS using Localize Script
  24. Exclude pages with certain template from wp_list_pages
  25. Is Auto Post recognition a WordPress feature? How to turn it off?
  26. Generating a random number on every post and saving it in database
  27. Include a specific post to the query_posts and remove it if it is already in the returned list
  28. API response to be stored locally
  29. Warning: Use of undefined constant HTTP_USER_AGENT – assumed ‘HTTP_USER_AGENT’ (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP)
  30. How to convert objects into arrays
  31. Huge debug.log because of “undefined offset in media.php”
  32. Part of title duplicating but not sure how to remove from code – help?
  33. Create a hierarchical taxonomy list in WordPress
  34. Randomly Assign an Image’s Alt Text Based on Data From Post
  35. How can I Add a variable PHP in the Menu Nav
  36. Pull the content out of a page
  37. Adding an Avatar to the Top Nav Bar
  38. How to add seperate classes to no-search-result and found-search-result pages on wordrpess search – is_search()
  39. Edit incorrect password message WordPress
  40. A non-numeric value encountered in /wp-includes/functions.php on line 68
  41. XAMPP-VM Mac OS Mojave wordpress debugging using XDebug
  42. Ajax load more button for comments wordpress
  43. WordPress & Fastcgi proper setup?
  44. Update user profile information from functions.php
  45. Checkbox doesn’t stay checked, conten
  46. If tag equals then show else show
  47. How do I Import / Upload Files with jQuery AJAX?
  48. Variable not staying set
  49. How to fix this warning:call_user_func_array() expects exactly 2 parameters, 1 given in D:\wamp\www\…….\wp-includes\class-wp-hook.php on line 286
  50. How to set the WordPress logo programmatically with PHP
  51. Function won’t run onclick using Ajax
  52. Creating a blog on my companies new website using WordPress but I have sidebar issues
  53. List all blogs, but exclude the main site
  54. How to specify the path for require_once in a child theme?
  55. How to pass a variable to get_template_part that’s updated every time the template part is called?
  56. $_SESSION variable not saving on page refresh or new page
  57. Form search query – displaying ACF “Post Object” field as results
  58. How do I create a secondary version of the_content
  59. Extract links from content
  60. get_page_template_slug returns incorrect path
  61. Sorting dynamic select/dropdown for Contact Form 7 of Modern Tribe Events posts
  62. url_to_postid returns 0
  63. How do i add slugs to a URL, but still redirecting to the same page
  64. Noindex subscriber author page
  65. implementing a jQuery “click to expand” link in WordPress [closed]
  66. Fatal error: Cannot redeclare comment_theme()
  67. php script in elementor
  68. WP-Bakery – Add custom colors to buttons with template colors
  69. WordPress redirect to a subpage – how to create a template for subpage?
  70. How to show 1 random post result without using an array?
  71. Commenting requires wordpress login, wordpress discussion and post comments tick boxes are checked
  72. My top header looks different on single pages but is fine on the home page
  73. Using php code inside style tag
  74. How to pass values from one function to the other using an array variable
  75. can I extend the WP_Query class to deal with ‘duplicate’ posts created by joining to wp_posts?
  76. How to change the content width using php?
  77. Enqueue sripts and styles only if function is called
  78. Add widget area from visual editor
  79. Site title not showing. Please help me
  80. Email always ends up in spam
  81. How to link featured images in single.php for only non-logged-in users?
  82. Echo Option Value Based On WordPress User Role
  83. WordPress Redirect / Add_Rewrite_Rule – Non Index.php Page
  84. Target a specific container to style on WordPress storefront theme
  85. Search the post using get_search_form()
  86. Adding custom PHP to existing loop in Genesis
  87. index.php navigation
  88. How can I move the posted-on date above the post and below the entry-header?
  89. Formatting Shortcode to Display in Visual Mode
  90. wp_nav_menu doesn’t work in a duplicate server
  91. ‘posts_per_page’ in costum page type
  92. WordPress upload images not displaying
  93. How to get category pages to look like a certain archive page?
  94. how to exclude admin page from add_rewrite_rule in wordpress
  95. How to use ‘depth’?
  96. MySQL Engine vs. Charset
  97. How to define template directory in this widget code
  98. Query Concatenation
  99. Link a lightbox thumbnail to a post instead of opening the lightbox
  100. AJAX WP_Query’s order and orderby parameters not working

Leave a Comment