5 Most important and useful functions of WordPress
The most significant functions of WordPress allow you to customize the look and feel of your website. You can include new fonts, remove scripts, and disable the "continue reading" option. Read this article to learn how to implement these adjustments. WordPress is the CMS of choice for bloggers and businesses alike because of its user-friendly interface. Customization options are a major reason for the popularity of the platform. This is one of the many reasons why so many websites on the internet are built using WordPress.In this article, we’ll dive into 5 most important and useful functions of WordPress that can greatly improve your site’s functionality.
Related topic you may enjoy: What is WordPress?A complete guide for beginners
What are the 5 Most Important and Useful Functions of WordPress?
WordPress is built using PHP, a powerful scripting language ideal for web development. PHP is especially effective for creating content management systems like WordPress because it can easily interact with databases, retrieve data, and present it to users in HTML format. This is what makes WordPress so flexible and functional, with its customizable tags and functions. Even beginner coders can modify PHP scripts to adjust various aspects of their WordPress sites, making it a highly adaptable platform. Knowing the 5 most important and useful functions of WordPress can greatly enhance your site’s design and performance. From adding custom fonts to improving mobile responsiveness, these features are simple to implement and effective in optimizing your website.
Exploring the Functions.php File in WordPress
By now, you should have an idea of the role of PHP in WordPress. Let's proceed to the functions.php file. This file is pre-configured in every WordPress theme and acts like a built-in plugin in your WordPress hosting. It gives you the power to add new features or even change the default settings in your theme.
Since functions.php is part of your theme, it means that all changes made here will affect your website's configuration. For instance, you can easily add Google Fonts to your theme or any other custom modifications using functions.php.
You get the ability to customize and extend your WordPress site in various ways by editing this file with PHP code.
Why Functions.php is Important?
The functions.php file allows you to:
- Add or remove features in your theme.
- Modify default behaviors like post metadata display.
- Integrate external services or tools, such as Google Fonts, custom scripts, or APIs.
- Customize how your website behaves based on user device (desktop vs. mobile).
In short, functions.php offers a flexible and powerful way to enhance and personalize your WordPress website.
How do WordPress functions work?
To customize your WordPress site using the functions.php file, you first need to locate it in your WordPress theme. However, not every change to your site needs to be made in functions.php.
If you’re looking to add new features or make simple adjustments, using a plugin is often the most effective and secure approach. Plugins allow you to add functionality without the risk of breaking your site or losing changes after a theme update.
Why Use Plugins Instead of Functions.php?
- Ease of Use: If you're not comfortable with coding, plugins are a great way to modify your site’s functionality.
- Security: Directly modifying the functions.php file can lead to issues, especially if you make a mistake. Errors in the file can lock you out of your site or create security vulnerabilities.
- Theme Updates: When your theme is updated, changes made to the functions.php file can be overwritten, meaning any customizations will be lost.
- Theme Switching: If you switch your WordPress theme, any customizations made to the functions.php file will be lost because the new theme will come with its own functions.php file.
The functions. php file is designed to act like a plugin, adding features and functionality to your website. It is especially useful when a plugin doesn’t exist for the feature you need or when a developer prefers to write less code compared to what a fully-featured plugin would require.
5 important functions of WordPress you should know
Now that you have a clearer understanding of WordPress functions, it's time to learn the power of PHP. Let’s explore some customizations you can achieve by using this coding language and editing the functions. php file.
1. Add Google Fonts to Your WordPress Site
Google Fonts offers an excellent option to customize your WebSite . It enables you to implement a range of fonts on your WordPress site, ensuring consistency with your company’s branding used in other promotional materials.
There are several plugins available to help you customize your website’s fonts, but you can also achieve this by editing the functions. php file of your theme.
To get started, visit the Google Fonts website and browse through the collection of fonts and weights that suit your website. Select your favorite and add them to your cart.
Next, click on the “Embed” tab and copy the href value. That address shows where your font is and the weights you selected when visiting Google Fonts.
Make sure you also take note of the CSS rules that apply to your font family. You will need to update them for the fonts to work on your website.
Now Add the following code to your theme's functions.php file:
function google_fonts() {
wp_enqueue_style( 'google-fonts', 'https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Open+Sans:ital,wght@0,400;0,700;1,400;1,700&display=swap', false ); }
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'google_fonts' );
Then, apply the font to your site’s CSS by adding the following:
2. Move script from header to footer
When you purchase a WordPress theme, it may come with pre-installed styles, scripts, and additional features that may not be necessary for your site.
These extra elements can slow down your website, which may negatively impact your SEO performance.
One way to improve this is by moving scripts from the header to the footer using a simple WordPress function. To do so, you just need to dequeue unnecessary JavaScripts from your parent theme.
Alternatively, you can achieve this with a plugin, but using a function is just as effective. Simply add the following code to your page template.
php
<?php
function my_site_dequeue_script() {
wp_dequeue_script('comment-reply'); // If you're using Disqus, etc.
wp_dequeue_script('jquery_ui'); // jQuery UI, no thanks!
wp_dequeue_script('fancybox'); // Nah, I use FooBox
wp_dequeue_script('wait_for_images');
wp_dequeue_script('jquery_easing');
wp_dequeue_script('swipe');
wp_dequeue_script('waypoints');
}add_action('wp_print_scripts', 'my_site_dequeue_script', 100);
function give_dequeue_plugin_css() {
wp_dequeue_style('additional-parent-style');
wp_deregister_style('additional-parent-style');
}add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'give_dequeue_plugin_css', 100);
?>
3. Remove the "Continue Reading" link from your WordPress blog posts
Many themes include the "Continue Reading" feature to prevent blog posts from overwhelming a page. However, there may be times when you prefer not to display it on your website.
To remove the "Continue Reading" link from your blog posts, use the following code in your functions.php file:
php
<?php
function remove_continue_reading_link() {
return ''; // Removes the Continue Reading link
}
add_filter('excerpt_more', 'remove_continue_reading_link');
?>
4. Get Complete Metadata from a WordPress Post with a Function
Sometimes, you may need to access the metadata of a specific post or page on your website. While plugins can help, retrieving metadata with a small modification in your theme is much easier and more efficient.
To pull metadata from your posts, simply add the following code to your theme, replacing post_id with the unique ID of the post:
php
<?php
$post_meta = get_post_meta(123, '_custom_meta_key', true); // Replace 123 with the actual post ID
echo $post_meta;
?>
5. Recognize When a Visitor Is Using a Mobile Device
Users visiting your website from a mobile device may encounter issues if the page loads as it would on a desktop computer.
To ensure that your website serves a mobile-friendly version, you can easily detect mobile devices with a simple code snippet in your functions. php file. Use the following code to check if the user is on a mobile device:
php
<?php
if (wp_is_mobile()) {
// Mobile-specific optimizations here
}
?>
Final Thoughts
The 5 most important and useful functions of WordPress we’ve covered here can improve your site's performance and user experience. Whether it's adding custom fonts, optimizing scripts, or providing mobile-friendly designs, these customizations can make a significant difference. Always test your changes and back up your site before making modifications.
