theme path in javascript file

I need to include the path to my theme file within a javascript file. How would I go about this? I have already tried:

var templateUrl = "<?php get_stylesheet_directory_uri(); ?>";

function LightboxOptions() {
  this.fileLoadingImage = "'"+templateUrl+"/img/loading.gif'";
  this.fileCloseImage = "'"+templateUrl+"/img/close.png'";
  this.resizeDuration = 700;
  this.fadeDuration = 500;
  this.labelImage = "Image";
  this.labelOf = "of";
}

This does not give me the path, but just inserts <?php get_stylesheet_directory_uri(); ?> instead of the actual path. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Related posts

Leave a Reply

6 comments

  1. What you’re looking for is wp_localize_script function.

    You use it like this when enqueing script

    wp_register_script( 'my-script', 'myscript_url' );
    wp_enqueue_script( 'my-script' );
    $translation_array = array( 'templateUrl' => get_stylesheet_directory_uri() );
    //after wp_enqueue_script
    wp_localize_script( 'my-script', 'object_name', $translation_array );
    

    In your style.js, there is going to be:

    var templateUrl = object_name.templateUrl;
    ...
    
  2. These are the following two ways to add theme path in javascript file.

    1) You can use wp_localize_script() suggested by wordpress in your functions.php file. This will create a Javascript Object in the header, which will be available to your scripts at runtime.

    Example :

    wp_register_script('custom-js',get_stylesheet_directory_uri().'/js/custom.js',array(),NULL,true);
    wp_enqueue_script('custom-js');
    
    $wnm_custom = array( 'stylesheet_directory_uri' => get_stylesheet_directory_uri() );
    wp_localize_script( 'custom-js', 'directory_uri', $wnm_custom );
    

    and can use in your js file as following :

    alert(directory_uri.stylesheet_directory_uri); 
    

    2) You can create a Javascript snippet that saves the template directory uri in a variable, and use it later as following:
    Add this code in header.php file before the js file in which you want to use this path.
    Example:

    <script type="text/javascript">
    var stylesheet_directory_uri = "<?php echo get_stylesheet_directory_uri(); ?>";
    </script>
    

    and can use in your js file as following :

    alert(stylesheet_directory_uri);
    
  3. You can localize your javascript files, wich gives you the opportunity to generate a javascript array filled with PHP defined values (such as localisation or directories).

    If you load your javascript file trough wp_enqueue_script or wp_register_script its easy to set up like follows:

    function localize_vars() {
        return array(
            'stylesheet_directory' => get_stylesheet_directory_uri()
        );
    }
    
    wp_enqueue_script( 'my_script', plugins_url( 'my_plugin/my_script.js' ), array( 'jquery' ) );
    wp_localize_script( 'my_script', 'my_unique_name', localize_vars() );
    

    And in your javascript files, you can call these variables by:

    my_unique_name.stylesheet_directory
    
  4. I started using this convenient little method to get the WordPress theme directory and store it as a global JavaScript variable (all from within a javascript file):

    function getThemeDir() {
        var scripts = document.getElementsByTagName('script'),
            index = scripts.length - 1,
            myScript = scripts[index];
    
        return myScript.src.replace(/themes/(.*?)/(.*)/g, 'themes/$1');
    }
    themeDir = getThemeDir();
    

    This will only work if the following conditions are met:

        1. This snippet is executed via an external JavaScript file – like this:

    <script src="/wp-content/themes/themename/assets/app.js"></script>
    

        2. The js file resides within your site’s theme directory (or subdirectory).

  5. This is how I did it.

    Place the javascript file and images in theme-folder/assets

    And edit the following files.

    In functions.php

    /* for javascript (only when using child theme) */
    wp_enqueue_script('my-script', get_template_directory_uri() . '-child/assets/test.js');
    wp_localize_script('my-script', 'myScript', array(
        'theme_directory' => get_template_directory_uri() 
    ));
    

    In your javascript file

    var url = myScript.theme_directory + '-child/assets/';
    
  6. If the javascript file is loaded from the admin dashboard, you can use this javascript function get the root of your WordPress installation.

    function getHomeUrl() {
      var href = window.location.href;
      var index = href.indexOf('/wp-admin');
      var homeUrl = href.substring(0, index);
      return homeUrl;
    }
    

    Then just contact the path to your theme like below.

    var myThemePath = getHomeUrl() + '/wp-content/themes/myTheme';