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WordPress Tip: Obscure get_option Parameter

May 4th, 2009

Any WordPress Plugin developer worth their salt knows about the get_option function, which allows options to be retrieved from the database. What I recently discovered is that this function accepts a second parameter, indicating a default value to be returned if the option doesn’t exist in the database.

Here’s a simple example of the “old” and “new” ways of retrieving options from the database:

old:

$option = get_option( 'Option Name' );
if( false === $option ) {
$option = 'My real option value.';
}

new:

$option = get_option('option_name', 'default');

As you can see, this simplifies option retrieval and makes your code just a little easier to read.

EDIT: Thanks Nick Ohrn for pointing out a bug in the first code snippet. I’ve updated it so nobody is confused.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 6:47 pm and is filed under WordPress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “WordPress Tip: Obscure get_option Parameter”

  1. Nick Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    There’s a bug in your first example :) What if the value of your option is 0 or an empty string.

    $option = get_option( 'Option Name' );
    if( false === $option ) {
    $option = 'My real option value.';
    }

    I do agree, though, that the improved get_option available with WP 2.7 makes things simpler. No more checking for false.

  2. Peter Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Very cool Will, I hate writing extra code for situations where the option isn’t set yet. I had no idea about this.

  3. Will Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 9:03 pm

    @Nick Good call! This makes the optional parameter even better :)

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