Title: WP_Customize_Widgets::customize_controls_init
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: May 20, 2026

---

# WP_Customize_Widgets::customize_controls_init()

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#description)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#hooks)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Ensures all widgets get loaded into the Customizer.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

Note: these actions are also fired in [wp_ajax_update_widget()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_ajax_update_widget/).

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    public function customize_controls_init() {
    	/** This action is documented in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php */
    	do_action( 'load-widgets.php' ); // phpcs:ignore WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidHookName.UseUnderscores

    	/** This action is documented in wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php */
    	do_action( 'widgets.php' ); // phpcs:ignore WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidHookName.UseUnderscores

    	/** This action is documented in wp-admin/widgets-form.php */
    	do_action( 'sidebar_admin_setup' );
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/class-wp-customize-widgets.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/7.0/src/wp-includes/class-wp-customize-widgets.php#L334)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/7.0/src/wp-includes/class-wp-customize-widgets.php#L334-L343)

## 󠀁[Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#hooks)󠁿

 [do_action( ‘load-widgets.php’ )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/load-widgets-php/)

Fires early when editing the widgets displayed in sidebars.

 [do_action( ‘sidebar_admin_setup’ )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/sidebar_admin_setup/)

Fires early before the Widgets administration screen loads, after scripts are enqueued.

 [do_action( ‘widgets.php’ )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/widgets-php/)

Fires early when editing the widgets displayed in sidebars.

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [do_action()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/do_action/)`wp-includes/plugin.php` |

Calls the callback functions that have been added to an action hook.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_customize_widgets/customize_controls_init/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [3.9.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/3.9.0/) | Introduced. |

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