When it comes to including multiple files inside a plugin, the plugin_dir_path
function becomes super helpful.
It’s popular for WordPress developers to use the plugin_dir_path
function for including PHP files into each other.
Get plugin directory path using plugin_dir_path
function
The plugin_dir_path
function in WordPress is available if you need a complete path to your plugin’s directory.
plugin_dir_path
function syntax
The function syntax is pretty easy:
plugin_dir_path($file)
$file
parameter’s value must be a string.
I saw lots of developers using the dirname(__FILE__)
value for $file
in the main file of their plugins.
Keep reading, We’ll try the most common usage of plugin_dir_path
function in an example:
plugin_dir_path
function usage example
Using this code inside your custom plugin is really useful.
To make it possible for us to use our main plugin directory in a variable everywhere, we can define
it using PHP:
define('MY_CUSTOM_PLUGIN_DIR', plugin_dir_path(dirname( __FILE__ )));
Keep in mind that this code works in the main file of a plugin.
For future usage of defining MY_CUSTOM_PLUGIN_DIR
, I have an example for you:
$cssUrl = MY_CUSTOM_PLUGIN_DIR . '/css/plugin-style.css';
You can use the defined variable everywhere you want inside your plugin.
If you are not familiar with the process of creating a WordPress plugin, you better read my tutorial:
How to create a Hello World plugin for WordPress in 3 Steps
To deep more into it, you can read plugin_dir_path function code reference on the WordPress official website for developers.
written by Mehdi Nazari about in WordPress WordPress Plugins