In WordPress, an “action” and a “hook” are fundamental concepts related to extending and customizing the functionality of the platform. They are essential parts of the WordPress Plugin and Theme development system, allowing developers to add or modify code at specific points in the WordPress execution flow.
What is an Action
- An action in WordPress is an event or a specific point in the WordPress code where you can add custom PHP code or functions to be executed.
- Actions provide a way for developers to insert their own code into WordPress without modifying the core files. This promotes modularity and maintainability of code.
- Actions are typically used to perform tasks like adding content to a page, modifying database data, sending emails, or executing other custom functions.
- Actions are triggered by using the
do_action()function in WordPress core or by theme and plugin developers at specific points in the code.
Example of an action in WordPress:
// This is an example of an action hook.
do_action('my_custom_action');