restore_current_blog() vs switch_to_blog()

After every instance of switch_to_blog() you should call restore_current_blog() to restore the current (actually, previous) blog.

But if you’re looping through two or more blogs and calling switch_to_blog() on each, is there any reason not to use an additional switch_to_blog() at the end of the loop to switch to the original blog rather than calling restore_current_blog() at each pass.

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E.g.

Why not:

 $original_blog_id = get_current_blog_id();
 foreach( $blog_ids as $blog_id ){
    switch_to_blog( $blog_id );
    //Do stuff
 }
 switch_to_blog( $original_blog_id );

instead of:

 foreach( $blog_ids as $blog_id ){
    switch_to_blog( $blog_id );
    //Do stuff
    restore_current_blog_id();
 }

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3 comments

  1. After every instance of switch_to_blog() you need to call restore_current_blog() otherwise WP will think it is in a “switched” mode and can potentially return incorrect data.

    If you view the source code for both functions you will see those functions push/pop data into a global called $GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack']. If you do not call restore_current_blog() after every switch_to_blog(), $GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'] will be non-empty. If $GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'] is non-empty WP thinks it is in a switched mode, even if you switched back to the original blog using switch_to_blog(). The switched mode function is ms_is_switched() and it affects wp_upload_dir(). If wp_upload_dir() thinks it is in a switched mode, it can return data that is incorrect. wp_upload_dir() builds URLs for the site, so it is a very critical function.

    This is the correct use:

     foreach( $blog_ids as $blog_id ){
        switch_to_blog( $blog_id );
        //Do stuff
        restore_current_blog();
     }
    
  2. If you want to run over multiple blogs there is no need to restore the previous blog each time. The only thing that grows is $GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'] – an array with blog IDs, nothing to worry about.

    But keep in mind, restore_current_blog() will not work ( ! ! ! ) anymore after the second switch, because it uses the previous blog – which is not the first blog then. So store the first blog ID, and call …

    switch_to_blog( $first_blog_id ); 
    unset ( $GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'] );
    $GLOBALS['switched'] = false; 
    

    … instead of restore_current_blog() when you are done. The global variables must be reset, or you will run into the issues mentioned by @user42826.

    The performance impact is huge. I’ve run some tests on a local installation with 12 sites:

    $sites = wp_get_sites();
    
    print '<pre>' . count( $sites ) . " sitesn";
    
    timer_start();
    
    print 'With restore_current_blog():    ';
    
    foreach ( $sites as $site ) {
        switch_to_blog( $site[ 'blog_id' ] );
        restore_current_blog();
    }
    
    timer_stop( 1, 9 );
    
    print "nWithout restore_current_blog(): ";
    
    timer_start();
    
    $current_site = get_current_blog_id();
    
    foreach ( $sites as $site ) {
        switch_to_blog( $site[ 'blog_id' ] );
    }
    
    switch_to_blog( $current_site );
    $GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'] = array();
    $GLOBALS['switched']           = FALSE;
    
    timer_stop( 1, 9 );
    
    print '</pre>';
    

    Result:

    12 sites
    With restore_current_blog():    0.010648012
    Without restore_current_blog(): 0.005203962
    

    Using restore_current_blog() after each switch doubles the time that is needed just for switching.

  3. Thanks to @toscho answer. This request in queue of WP – see updates here. Till that is fixed in WP, if anyone desperately wants to use standard restore_current_blog(), then here is another method (please correct if I am wrong):

    make your function, i.e.

    function restore_original_blog_X(){
    
        if(!empty(($GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'][0])){
            $GLOBALS['blog_id']= $GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'][0];
            $GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'] = array($GLOBALS['_wp_switched_stack'][0]);
            restore_current_blog();
        }
    
    }
    

    and execute only once when you finish your multiple switches.
    (more: wp-includes/ms-blogs.php )