get_plugins( string $plugin_folder =  ): array[]

Checks the plugins directory and retrieve all plugin files with plugin data.

Description

WordPress only supports plugin files in the base plugins directory (wp-content/plugins) and in one directory above the plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/my-plugin). The file it looks for has the plugin data and must be found in those two locations. It is recommended to keep your plugin files in their own directories.

The file with the plugin data is the file that will be included and therefore needs to have the main execution for the plugin. This does not mean everything must be contained in the file and it is recommended that the file be split for maintainability. Keep everything in one file for extreme optimization purposes.

Parameters

$plugin_folderstringoptional
Relative path to single plugin folder.

Default:''

Return

array[] Array of arrays of plugin data, keyed by plugin file name. See get_plugin_data() .

More Information

If you have `PHP Fatal error: Call to undefined function get_plugins()` then you must include the file ‘wp-admin/includes/plugin.php‘ like in example.

Results are cached on the first run of the function, therefore it is recommended to call the function at least after the ‘after_setup_theme‘ action so that plugins and themes have the ability to filter the results.

Source

function get_plugins( $plugin_folder = '' ) {

	$cache_plugins = wp_cache_get( 'plugins', 'plugins' );
	if ( ! $cache_plugins ) {
		$cache_plugins = array();
	}

	if ( isset( $cache_plugins[ $plugin_folder ] ) ) {
		return $cache_plugins[ $plugin_folder ];
	}

	$wp_plugins  = array();
	$plugin_root = WP_PLUGIN_DIR;
	if ( ! empty( $plugin_folder ) ) {
		$plugin_root .= $plugin_folder;
	}

	// Files in wp-content/plugins directory.
	$plugins_dir  = @opendir( $plugin_root );
	$plugin_files = array();

	if ( $plugins_dir ) {
		while ( ( $file = readdir( $plugins_dir ) ) !== false ) {
			if ( str_starts_with( $file, '.' ) ) {
				continue;
			}

			if ( is_dir( $plugin_root . '/' . $file ) ) {
				$plugins_subdir = @opendir( $plugin_root . '/' . $file );

				if ( $plugins_subdir ) {
					while ( ( $subfile = readdir( $plugins_subdir ) ) !== false ) {
						if ( str_starts_with( $subfile, '.' ) ) {
							continue;
						}

						if ( str_ends_with( $subfile, '.php' ) ) {
							$plugin_files[] = "$file/$subfile";
						}
					}

					closedir( $plugins_subdir );
				}
			} else {
				if ( str_ends_with( $file, '.php' ) ) {
					$plugin_files[] = $file;
				}
			}
		}

		closedir( $plugins_dir );
	}

	if ( empty( $plugin_files ) ) {
		return $wp_plugins;
	}

	foreach ( $plugin_files as $plugin_file ) {
		if ( ! is_readable( "$plugin_root/$plugin_file" ) ) {
			continue;
		}

		// Do not apply markup/translate as it will be cached.
		$plugin_data = get_plugin_data( "$plugin_root/$plugin_file", false, false );

		if ( empty( $plugin_data['Name'] ) ) {
			continue;
		}

		$wp_plugins[ plugin_basename( $plugin_file ) ] = $plugin_data;
	}

	uasort( $wp_plugins, '_sort_uname_callback' );

	$cache_plugins[ $plugin_folder ] = $wp_plugins;
	wp_cache_set( 'plugins', $cache_plugins, 'plugins' );

	return $wp_plugins;
}

Changelog

VersionDescription
1.5.0Introduced.

User Contributed Notes

  1. Skip to note 3 content

    Get All Plugins

    The following code snippet returns all plugins installed on your site (not just activated ones).

    <?php 
    
    // Check if get_plugins() function exists. This is required on the front end of the
    // site, since it is in a file that is normally only loaded in the admin.
    if ( ! function_exists( 'get_plugins' ) ) {
    	require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/plugin.php';
    }
    
    $all_plugins = get_plugins();
    
    // Save the data to the error log so you can see what the array format is like.
    error_log( print_r( $all_plugins, true ) );

    Example output:

    Array
    (
        [hello-dolly/hello.php] => Array
            (
                [Name] => Hello Dolly
                [PluginURI] => https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/hello-dolly/
                [Version] => 1.6
                [Description] => This is not just a plugin, it symbolizes the hope and enthusiasm of an entire generation summed up in two words sung most famously by Louis Armstrong: Hello, Dolly. When activated you will randomly see a lyric from <cite>Hello, Dolly</cite> in the upper right of your admin screen on every page.
                [Author] => Matt Mullenweg
                [AuthorURI] => http://ma.tt/
                [TextDomain] => 
                [DomainPath] => 
                [Network] => 
                [Title] => Hello Dolly
                [AuthorName] => Matt Mullenweg
    
    )

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