delete_theme( string $stylesheet, string $redirect = '' ): bool|null|WP_Error

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$stylesheetstring

Stylesheet of the theme to delete.

$redirectstringoptional

Redirect to page when complete.Default: ''

Return value

bool|null|WP_Error

True on success, false if $stylesheet is empty, WP_Error on failure.
Null if filesystem credentials are required to proceed.

Performance profile

How much work a call to delete_theme() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Heavy

Reaches the database via ->delete().

Scaling

Scales with input

The body loops, so the work grows with what you pass in.

Instructions

6–100

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 220.

Plugin surface

2 hooks

Third-party callbacks on 'delete_theme', 'deleted_theme' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by

1

1 place in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• hookthird-party callbacksdo_action()called directly
• sqldatabase query->delete()called directly
• optionoption read or writeget_option()one call below delete_theme()
• cacheobject cachewp_cache_delete()one call below delete_theme()

Further down the call graph this can also reach serialize, transient and query. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 29 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost delete_theme() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

Hooks and filters fired · 2

2 hooks fire while delete_theme() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   do_action( delete_theme )actionline 82 (+61 into the body)

   Fires immediately before a theme deletion attempt.

2. 2
   do_action( deleted_theme )actionline 98 (+77 into the body)

   Fires immediately after a theme deletion attempt.

Uses · 13

• wp_nonce_url()Retrieves URL with nonce added to URL query.
• request_filesystem_credentials()Displays a form to the user to request for their FTP/SSH details in order to connect to the filesystem.
• WP_Filesystem()Initializes and connects the WordPress Filesystem Abstraction classes.
• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• is_wp_error()Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
• do_action()Calls the callback functions that have been added to an action hook.
• wp_get_theme()Gets a WP_Theme object for a theme.
• trailingslashit()Appends a trailing slash.
• wp_get_installed_translations()Gets installed translations.
• is_multisite()Determines whether Multisite is enabled.
• delete_site_transient()Deletes a site transient.
• WP_Error::__construct()Initializes the error.

Used by · 1

• wp_ajax_delete_theme()Handles deleting a theme via AJAX.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

21function delete_theme( $stylesheet, $redirect = '' ) {22	global $wp_filesystem;23 24	if ( empty( $stylesheet ) ) {25		return false;26	}27 28	if ( empty( $redirect ) ) {29		$redirect = wp_nonce_url( 'themes.php?action=delete&stylesheet=' . urlencode( $stylesheet ), 'delete-theme_' . $stylesheet );30	}31 32	ob_start();33	$credentials = request_filesystem_credentials( $redirect );34	$data        = ob_get_clean();35 36	if ( false === $credentials ) {37		if ( ! empty( $data ) ) {38			require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/admin-header.php';39			echo $data;40			require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/admin-footer.php';41			exit;42		}43		return;44	}45 46	if ( ! WP_Filesystem( $credentials ) ) {47		ob_start();48		// Failed to connect. Error and request again.49		request_filesystem_credentials( $redirect, '', true );50		$data = ob_get_clean();51 52		if ( ! empty( $data ) ) {53			require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/admin-header.php';54			echo $data;55			require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/admin-footer.php';56			exit;57		}58		return;59	}60 61	if ( ! is_object( $wp_filesystem ) ) {62		return new WP_Error( 'fs_unavailable', __( 'Could not access filesystem.' ) );63	}64 65	if ( is_wp_error( $wp_filesystem->errors ) && $wp_filesystem->errors->has_errors() ) {66		return new WP_Error( 'fs_error', __( 'Filesystem error.' ), $wp_filesystem->errors );67	}68 69	// Get the base theme folder.70	$themes_dir = $wp_filesystem->wp_themes_dir();71	if ( empty( $themes_dir ) ) {72		return new WP_Error( 'fs_no_themes_dir', __( 'Unable to locate WordPress theme directory.' ) );73	}74 75	/**76	 * Fires immediately before a theme deletion attempt.77	 *78	 * @since 5.8.079	 *80	 * @param string $stylesheet Stylesheet of the theme to delete.81	 */82	do_action( 'delete_theme', $stylesheet );83 84	$theme = wp_get_theme( $stylesheet );85 86	$themes_dir = trailingslashit( $themes_dir );87	$theme_dir  = trailingslashit( $themes_dir . $stylesheet );88	$deleted    = $wp_filesystem->delete( $theme_dir, true );89 90	/**91	 * Fires immediately after a theme deletion attempt.92	 *93	 * @since 5.8.094	 *95	 * @param string $stylesheet Stylesheet of the theme to delete.96	 * @param bool   $deleted    Whether the theme deletion was successful.97	 */98	do_action( 'deleted_theme', $stylesheet, $deleted );99 100	if ( ! $deleted ) {

Changelog

Introduced in 2.8.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.8.8 tag, from src/wp-admin/includes/theme.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

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