wppaste
WordPress

validate_theme_requirements( string $stylesheet ): true|WP_Error

Since
5.5.0, 5.8.0
Source
wp-includes/theme.php:962
Validates the theme requirements for WordPress version and PHP version.

Description

Uses the information from Requires at least and Requires PHP headers defined in the theme's style.css file.

Compatibility

WordPress
since 5.8.0
PHP
7.4–8.6-dev
  • 6.7.7
  • 6.8.8
  • 6.9.7
  • 7.0.4
  • 7.1.0

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

Parameters

$stylesheetstring
Directory name for the theme.

Return value

true|WP_Error
True if requirements are met, WP_Error on failure.

Performance profile

How much work a call to validate_theme_requirements() 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
Trivial

Touches nothing outside its own arguments.

Scaling
Constant

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

Instructions
39–57

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 98.

Plugin surface
1 hook

Third-party callbacks on 'validate_theme_requirements' 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 callbacksapply_filters()called directly

Further down the call graph this can also reach option, cache, 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 · 9 distinct outcomes

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

WhenInstructionsCalls it makes
!->get()39wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), apply_filters()
always43wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), apply_filters()
->get()47wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), apply_filters()
!->get()48–49wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), _x(), ->display(), sprintf()
!->get()48wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), _x(), ->display(), sprintf(), requires()
always52–53wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), _x(), ->display(), sprintf()
always52wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), _x(), ->display(), sprintf(), requires()
->get()56–57wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), _x(), ->display(), sprintf()
->get()56wp_get_theme(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), ->get(), is_wp_version_compatible(), is_php_version_compatible(), _x(), ->display(), sprintf(), requires()

Across PHP versions

PHPCompiledExecutedBranchesNotes
8.6-dev9639–5562 fewer instructions than PHP 8.5
8.59839–576
8.49839–576
8.39839–576
8.29839–576
8.19839–576
7.49839–576

An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.

Hooks and filters fired · 1

One hook fires while validate_theme_requirements() runs, in this order:

  1. apply_filters( validate_theme_requirements )filterline 1015 (+53 into the body)

    Filters the theme requirement validation response.

Uses · 6

Used by · 1

Source code

function validate_theme_requirements( $stylesheet ) {	$theme = wp_get_theme( $stylesheet ); 	$requirements = array(		'requires'     => ! empty( $theme->get( 'RequiresWP' ) ) ? $theme->get( 'RequiresWP' ) : '',		'requires_php' => ! empty( $theme->get( 'RequiresPHP' ) ) ? $theme->get( 'RequiresPHP' ) : '',	); 	$compatible_wp  = is_wp_version_compatible( $requirements['requires'] );	$compatible_php = is_php_version_compatible( $requirements['requires_php'] ); 	if ( ! $compatible_wp && ! $compatible_php ) {		return new WP_Error(			'theme_wp_php_incompatible',			sprintf(				/* translators: %s: Theme name. */				_x( '<strong>Error:</strong> Current WordPress and PHP versions do not meet minimum requirements for %s.', 'theme' ),				$theme->display( 'Name' )			)		);	} elseif ( ! $compatible_php ) {		return new WP_Error(			'theme_php_incompatible',			sprintf(				/* translators: %s: Theme name. */				_x( '<strong>Error:</strong> Current PHP version does not meet minimum requirements for %s.', 'theme' ),				$theme->display( 'Name' )			)		);	} elseif ( ! $compatible_wp ) {		return new WP_Error(			'theme_wp_incompatible',			sprintf(				/* translators: %s: Theme name. */				_x( '<strong>Error:</strong> Current WordPress version does not meet minimum requirements for %s.', 'theme' ),				$theme->display( 'Name' )			)		);	} 	/**	 * Filters the theme requirement validation response.	 *	 * If a theme fails due to a Core-provided validation (incompatible WP, PHP versions), this	 * filter will not fire. A WP_Error response will already be returned.	 *	 * This filter is intended to add additional validation steps by site administrators.	 *	 * @since 6.9.0	 *	 * @param bool|WP_Error $met_requirements True if the theme meets requirements, WP_Error if not.	 * @param string $stylesheet Directory name for the theme.	 */	return apply_filters( 'validate_theme_requirements', true, $stylesheet );}

Changelog

Introduced in 5.5.0. 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.

5.8.0
Removed support for using readme.txt as a fallback.from the docblock
5.5.0
Introduced.from the docblock

About this page

Parsed data
Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.1.0 tag, from src/wp-includes/theme.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.
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