get_option( string $option, mixed $default_value = false ): mixed

Description

array(3) {
 [0] => bool(false)
 [1] => string(3) "str"
 [2] => NULL
}

Compatibility

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

Parameters

$optionstring

Name of the option to retrieve. Expected to not be SQL-escaped.

$default_valuemixedoptional

Default value to return if the option does not exist.Default: false

Return value

mixed

Value of the option. A value of any type may be returned, including scalar (string, boolean, float, integer), null, array, object.
Scalar and null values will be returned as strings as long as they originate from a database stored option value. If there is no option in the database, boolean false is returned.

Code examples

Every example is editable and runs in a real WordPress booted in your browser by WordPress Playground. Press Run, then edit the code: clicking away re-runs it. Nothing is sent anywhere until you do.

$settings = get_option( 'myplugin_settings', array() );
$color    = $settings['accent_color'] ?? '#0055aa';

printf(
	'<div class="promo" style="--accent: %s">%s</div>',
	esc_attr( $color ),
	esc_html__( 'Sale on now', 'myplugin' )
);

$site_name = get_option( 'blogname' );
$per_page  = (int) get_option( 'posts_per_page' );

printf(
	'<p>%s shows %d posts per page.</p>',
	esc_html( $site_name ),
	$per_page
);

Performance profile

How much work a call to get_option() 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 ->get_row().

Scaling

Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions

8–107

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 190.

Plugin surface

4 hooks

Third-party callbacks on 'pre_option_{$option}', 'pre_option', 'default_option_{$option}' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by

50

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

What it touches

• optionoption read or writeget_option()this function does it
• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()called directly
• cacheobject cachewp_cache_get()called directly
• serializeserialisationmaybe_unserialize()called directly
• sqldatabase query->get_row()called directly

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

What one call costs · 50 distinct outcomes

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

Hooks and filters fired · 6

6 hooks fire while get_option() runs, in this order:

1. 1
   apply_filters( pre_option_{$option} )filterline 132 (+54 into the body)

   Filters the value of an existing option before it is retrieved.

2. 2
   apply_filters( pre_option )filterline 150 (+72 into the body)

   Filters the value of any existing option before it is retrieved.

3. 3
   apply_filters( default_option_{$option} )filterline 199 (+121 into the body)

   Filters the default value for an option.

4. 4
   apply_filters( default_option_{$option} )filterline 217 (+139 into the body)

   Filters the default value for an option.

5. 5
   apply_filters( default_option_{$option} )filterline 230 (+152 into the body)

   Filters the default value for an option.

6. 6
   apply_filters( option_{$option} )filterline 256 (+178 into the body)

   Filters the value of an existing option.

Uses · 11

• wp_installing()Checks or sets whether WordPress is in "installation" mode.
• _deprecated_argument()Marks a function argument as deprecated and inform when it has been used.
• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• get_option()Retrieves an option value based on an option name.
• apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
• wp_load_alloptions()Loads and caches all autoloaded options, if available or all options.
• wp_cache_get()Retrieves the cache contents from the cache by key and group.
• wp_cache_set()Saves the data to the cache.
• wp_cache_add()Adds data to the cache, if the cache key doesn't already exist.
• untrailingslashit()Removes trailing forward slashes and backslashes if they exist.
• maybe_unserialize()Unserializes data only if it was serialized.

Used by · 50

• Custom_Background::handle_upload()Handles an Image upload for the background image.
• Custom_Background::wp_set_background_image()
• Featured_Content::get_setting()Gets featured content settings.
• Featured_Content::get_sticky_posts()Returns an array with IDs of posts marked as sticky.
• Featured_Content::pre_get_posts()Excludes featured posts from the home page blog query.
• IXR_Server::output()
• Plugin_Upgrader::bulk_upgrade()Upgrades several plugins at once.
• Plugin_Upgrader::upgrade()Upgrades a plugin.
• Theme_Installer_Skin::after()Performs an action following a single theme install.
• Theme_Upgrader::bulk_upgrade()Upgrades several themes at once.
• Theme_Upgrader::upgrade()Upgrades a theme.
• TwentyTwenty_Walker_Page::start_el()Outputs the beginning of the current element in the tree.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

78function get_option( $option, $default_value = false ) {79	global $wpdb;80 81	if ( is_scalar( $option ) ) {82		$option = trim( $option );83	}84 85	if ( empty( $option ) ) {86		return false;87	}88 89	/*90	 * Until a proper _deprecated_option() function can be introduced,91	 * redirect requests to deprecated keys to the new, correct ones.92	 */93	$deprecated_keys = array(94		'blacklist_keys'    => 'disallowed_keys',95		'comment_whitelist' => 'comment_previously_approved',96	);97 98	if ( isset( $deprecated_keys[ $option ] ) && ! wp_installing() ) {99		_deprecated_argument(100			__FUNCTION__,101			'5.5.0',102			sprintf(103				/* translators: 1: Deprecated option key, 2: New option key. */104				__( 'The "%1$s" option key has been renamed to "%2$s".' ),105				$option,106				$deprecated_keys[ $option ]107			)108		);109		return get_option( $deprecated_keys[ $option ], $default_value );110	}111 112	/**113	 * Filters the value of an existing option before it is retrieved.114	 *115	 * The dynamic portion of the hook name, `$option`, refers to the option name.116	 *117	 * Returning a value other than false from the filter will short-circuit retrieval118	 * and return that value instead.119	 *120	 * @since 1.5.0121	 * @since 4.4.0 The `$option` parameter was added.122	 * @since 4.9.0 The `$default_value` parameter was added.123	 *124	 * @param mixed  $pre_option    The value to return instead of the option value. This differs from125	 *                              `$default_value`, which is used as the fallback value in the event126	 *                              the option doesn't exist elsewhere in get_option().127	 *                              Default false (to skip past the short-circuit).128	 * @param string $option        Option name.129	 * @param mixed  $default_value The fallback value to return if the option does not exist.130	 *                              Default false.131	 */132	$pre = apply_filters( "pre_option_{$option}", false, $option, $default_value );133 134	/**135	 * Filters the value of any existing option before it is retrieved.136	 *137	 * Returning a value other than false from the filter will short-circuit retrieval138	 * and return that value instead.139	 *140	 * @since 6.1.0141	 *142	 * @param mixed  $pre_option    The value to return instead of the option value. This differs from143	 *                              `$default_value`, which is used as the fallback value in the event144	 *                              the option doesn't exist elsewhere in get_option().145	 *                              Default false (to skip past the short-circuit).146	 * @param string $option        Name of the option.147	 * @param mixed  $default_value The fallback value to return if the option does not exist.148	 *                              Default false.149	 */150	$pre = apply_filters( 'pre_option', $pre, $option, $default_value );151 152	if ( false !== $pre ) {153		return $pre;154	}155 156	if ( defined( 'WP_SETUP_CONFIG' ) ) {157		return false;

Changelog

Introduced in 1.5.0. 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 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/option.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

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