media_handle_sideload( string[] $file_array, int $post_id = 0, string $desc = null, array $post_data = array() ): int|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

$file_arraystring[]

Array that represents a $_FILES upload array.

$post_idintoptional

The post ID the media is associated with.Default: 0

$descstringoptional

Description of the side-loaded file. Default null.Default: null

$post_dataarrayoptional

Post data to override. Default empty array.Default: array()

Return value

int|WP_Error

The ID of the attachment or a WP_Error on failure.

Performance profile

How much work a call to media_handle_sideload() 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_post().

Scaling

Constant

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

Instructions

29–116

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 127.

Plugin surface

None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by

3

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

What it touches

• querycontent queryget_post()called directly
• optionoption read or writeget_option()one call below media_handle_sideload()
• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()one call below media_handle_sideload()

Further down the call graph this can also reach cache, serialize 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 · 27 distinct outcomes

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

Uses · 13

• get_post()Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.
• current_time()Retrieves the current time based on specified type.
• wp_handle_sideload()Wrapper for _wp_handle_upload().
• wp_basename()i18n-friendly version of basename().
• wp_read_image_metadata()Gets extended image metadata, exif or iptc as available.
• sanitize_title()Sanitizes a string into a slug, which can be used in URLs or HTML attributes.
• wp_insert_attachment()Inserts an attachment.
• update_post_meta()Updates a post meta field based on the given post ID.
• sanitize_text_field()Sanitizes a string from user input or from the database.
• is_wp_error()Checks whether the given variable is a WordPress Error.
• wp_update_attachment_metadata()Updates metadata for an attachment.
• wp_generate_attachment_metadata()Generates attachment meta data and create image sub-sizes for images.

Used by · 3

• WP_Customize_Manager::import_theme_starter_content()Imports theme starter content into the customized state.
• WP_REST_Attachments_Controller::create_item_from_url()Sideloads an external image from a URL into the media library.
• media_sideload_image()Downloads an image from the specified URL, saves it as an attachment, and optionally attaches it to a post.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

465function media_handle_sideload( $file_array, $post_id = 0, $desc = null, $post_data = array() ) {466	$overrides = array( 'test_form' => false );467 468	if ( isset( $post_data['post_date'] ) && substr( $post_data['post_date'], 0, 4 ) > 0 ) {469		$time = $post_data['post_date'];470	} else {471		$post = get_post( $post_id );472		if ( $post && substr( $post->post_date, 0, 4 ) > 0 ) {473			$time = $post->post_date;474		} else {475			$time = current_time( 'mysql' );476		}477	}478 479	$file = wp_handle_sideload( $file_array, $overrides, $time );480 481	if ( isset( $file['error'] ) ) {482		return new WP_Error( 'upload_error', $file['error'] );483	}484 485	$url     = $file['url'];486	$type    = $file['type'];487	$file    = $file['file'];488	$title   = preg_replace( '/\.[^.]+$/', '', wp_basename( $file ) );489	$content = '';490	$alt     = '';491 492	// Use image exif/iptc data for title and caption defaults if possible.493	$image_meta = wp_read_image_metadata( $file );494 495	if ( $image_meta ) {496		if ( trim( $image_meta['title'] ) && ! is_numeric( sanitize_title( $image_meta['title'] ) ) ) {497			$title = $image_meta['title'];498		}499 500		if ( trim( $image_meta['caption'] ) ) {501			$content = $image_meta['caption'];502		}503		if ( trim( $image_meta['alt'] ) ) {504			$alt = $image_meta['alt'];505		}506	}507 508	if ( isset( $desc ) ) {509		$title = $desc;510	}511 512	// Construct the attachment array.513	$attachment = array_merge(514		array(515			'post_mime_type' => $type,516			'guid'           => $url,517			'post_parent'    => $post_id,518			'post_title'     => $title,519			'post_content'   => $content,520		),521		$post_data522	);523 524	// This should never be set as it would then overwrite an existing attachment.525	unset( $attachment['ID'] );526 527	// Save the attachment metadata.528	$attachment_id = wp_insert_attachment( $attachment, $file, $post_id, true );529 530	if ( trim( $alt ) ) {531		update_post_meta( $attachment_id, '_wp_attachment_image_alt', sanitize_text_field( $alt ) );532	}533 534	if ( ! is_wp_error( $attachment_id ) ) {535		wp_update_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, wp_generate_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, $file ) );536	}537 538	return $attachment_id;539}

Changelog

Introduced in 2.6.0. 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-admin/includes/media.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

Corrections

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