Does wp_localize_script call a Javascript Function or Simply Pass PHP Parameters to It

1 comment

1. wp_localize_script takes an array of data (in PHP) spits out a javascript. It’s a way for you to add dynamic data for a specific script to the front end without having to hook into wp_head or wp_footer and echo it out yourself. More over, wp_localize_script outputs your data right above the script you enqueued. Hooking into wp_head or wp_footer won’t do that.

   wp_localize_script does not call javascript functions. It’s a way to do exactly what you want: pass dynamic data from the server side (PHP) to the client side (javascript).

   An Example

   Your theme needs to take a piece of post meta data and make it accessible to a javascript function.

   So you’d hook into wp_enqueue_scripts and do the following…

   <?php
   add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'wpse34008_enqueue' );
   function wpse34008_enqueue()
   {
       // if we're not on a singular page, bail
       if( ! is_singular() ) return;
   
       global $post;
       if( empty( $post ) ) $post = get_queried_object();
   
       // enqueue your script...
       wp_enqueue_script( 'wpse34008-script', 'http://example.com/path/to/script.js' );
   
       wp_localize_script(
           'wpse34008-script',
           'wpse34008',
           array(
               'meta' => get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_wpse34008_meta', true )
           )
       );
   }
   

   Then somewhere the enqueued script.js file, you can get the post meta like this…

   // somewhere in the js file
   someFunction( wpse34008.meta );
   

   Make sense?

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