Template directory in plugin

Question

I have a custom dashboard plugin with one of the sections containing useful links. One of them should directly point to the documentation that comes with a template. This documentation is in the theme directory. Now I've tried different ways to get the path using for example:

<?php get_theme_root_uri(); ?>/mytheme/documentation/index.html

or

<?php get_template_directory_uri() ?>/documentation/index.html

but it outputs a URL to the homepage (http://127.0.0.1/documentation/index.html) instead of full path to this file. Any advice?

Answer 1

I suppose, you want it to be like that:

<?php echo get_stylesheet_directory_uri(); ?>/documentation/index.html

Answer 2

As per the codex, get_template_directory_uri() returns the url, rather than path. You want get_template_directory() (codex) or get_stylesheet_directory() (codex).

There is a subtle but important difference between get_template_directory() and get_stylesheet_directory(). As per the (codex):

In the case a child theme is being used, the absolute path to the parent theme directory will be returned [by get_template_directory()]. Use get_stylesheet_directory() to get the absolute path to the child theme directory.