Template file location for get_option() [closed]

Question

Using the get_option() function to retrieve custom theme options seems to only work when placing

$options = get_option('plugin_options');

within index.php , yet all my references for using the settings api seem to place it above the doctype within header.php yet this fails.

It simple doesn't echo anything.

If placed above doctype within header.php print_r works and can access the array. It seems $options is only accessible within the template file it's defined.

Answer 1

global $options;
// do something with $options

PHP is only aware of the globals defined in the same file normally, you can make it aware of the others by declaring a global variable. This is why you see things like global $wpdb;