Passing variables through locate_template

Question

While I've typically used include or require on their own to save long term code maintenance I've started to use get_template_part and locate_template as using built in WordPress stuff is always best.

My question is are you supposed to be able to pass variables through to the results of either get_template_part or locate_template?

<?php
$var = get_option( 'my-custom-option' );

get_template_part( 'custom-template-part' );
?>

In the code above the $var would be printed inside the custom template but the variable doesn't seem to work. Am I missing something or is this expected behaviour?

I've found that they don't pass in the instance above or when using locate_template

<?php
locate_template( 'custom-template-part.php', true );
?>

Answer 1

Like MathSmath wrote, get_template() does not support the re-use of your variables.

But locate_template() infact does no inclusion at all. It just locates a file for inclusion.

So you can make use of include to have this working just like you expect it:

include(locate_template('custom-template-part.php'));

$var from your example can be used in the template part then.

A related question with a more technical explanation of the variable scope and get_template(): Form Submitting Error with get_template_part()

Answer 2

A neat solution found in the codex

So if you are looping thru custom posts, you can do this:

foreach ($custom_posts as $custom_post) {
    set_query_var( 'my_post', $custom_post );
    get_template_part( 'content', 'part' );
}

And in that template itself, you will automatically get a $my_post.

Answer 3

I've had trouble with this too (while trying to get a custom query to work with a template part). The short answer is: no, the template part doesn't automatically inherit custom vars the way a regular include does.

Both get_template_part() and locate_template() eventually use the load_template() function to actually load the file (using a require). This function globalizes the following vars:

$posts, $post, $wp_did_header, $wp_did_template_redirect, $wp_query, $wp_rewrite, $wpdb, $wp_version, $wp, $id, $comment, $user_ID

However, no other vars appear to be available from inside the template part. I guess since the actual require is wrapped in a function, the scope changes or something?

Anyhoo, I'd try globalizing any additional vars you need to pass, then calling up those globals from your template part.

Answer 4

Just my two cents for future references, a workaround at least in Wordpress 3.5 is to add the variable to $wp_query->query_vars.

I needed my global _vk_errors inside a template part and just did $wp_query->query_vars['_vk_errors'] = $_vk_errors; before calling get_template_part().

Answer 5

Wordpress 5.5+

The $args parameter was added to locate_template https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/locate_template/

Pass data

$data = [
  'foo' => 'Hello',
  'bar' => ', Wordpress 5.5',
];
locate_template('your-template.php', true, true, $data);

your-template.php

//handle passed arguments through $args
echo $args['foo'] . $args['bar']; // "Hello, Wordpress 5.5"
// or use extract($args);
extract($args);
echo $foo . $bar; // "Hello, Wordpress 5.5"

locate_template uses load_template, that since 5.5 can pass additional arguments to the template as well.

https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/load_template/

So do all the template functions that use locate_template:

get_header, get_footer, get_sidebar, get_template_part.

https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_header/ https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_footer/ https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_sidebar/ https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_template_part/

Answer 6

There is my simple function solving variable problem. It's doing same thing as Wordpress do in get_template_part() function. Just copy and paste to function.php

function getTemplatePart($slug = null, $name = null, array $params = array()) {
    global $posts, $post, $wp_did_header, $wp_query, $wp_rewrite, $wpdb, $wp_version, $wp, $id, $comment, $user_ID;

    do_action("get_template_part_{$slug}", $slug, $name);
    $templates = array();
    if (isset($name))
        $templates[] = "{$slug}-{$name}.php";

    $templates[] = "{$slug}.php";

    $_template_file = locate_template($templates, false, false);

    if (is_array($wp_query->query_vars)) {
        extract($wp_query->query_vars, EXTR_SKIP);
    }
    extract($params, EXTR_SKIP);

    require($_template_file);
}

Example of usage in template

$params = array(
    'utm_source' => 'footer'
);
while ($posts->have_posts()) {
    $posts->the_post(); 
    getTemplatePart('content', 'heighlight', $params);
}

In the content-heighlight.php is accessible variable with name $utm_source and value footer

Answer 7

You can just wrap the get_template_part, store a model object in a global var, and clear it later. Here is how we have been doing in our projects:

functions.php

$model = null; // this is a global variable 
function my_get_template_part($slug, $name = null, $templateModel = null) {
    global $model;
    $model = $templateModel; // set the global var to the provided model object
    get_template_part($slug,$name); 
    $model = null; // clear the global var
}

function get_model() {
    global $model;
    return $model;
}

Usage in the main template:

<?php my_get_template_part('template-parts/xxxx','xxx',array('test1'))?>

Accessing the provided model in the template-part :

<?php $model = get_model() ?>

This way, you don't have to copy & paste the original get_template_part function to your own function in case its implementation may change later by WP developers.