update_option( string $option, mixed $value, bool|null $autoload = null ): bool

User Contributed Notes

1. Skip to note 14 content

   bellasys 9 years ago

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   According to the WordPress Codex (and my experiences developing with WP) note an important subtlety in the return value here:
   “True if option value has changed, false if not or if update failed.

   It is also recommended on some forums to check for the existence of an option via code:

   if ( ! get_option('my_option') ) ...

   But I don’t find this works when the option exists and I have set my_option to bool FALSE!

   To handle all checking of existence of options, I exploit the update_option subtlety:

   if (FALSE === get_option('my_option') && FALSE === update_option('my_option',FALSE)) add_option('my_option',$default_value);

   The second check yields FALSE when setting the option with the value of FALSE produces no change…therefore if the value truly didn’t exist, it will be added with (in my case) the desired $default_value.

   I know this seems extreme, but to the best of my knowledge this is the only way I’ve been able to preserve bool FALSE on my plugin options, and to assert valid actions based on the actual presence of my custom options.

   • Might i’m late, but i hope this helpful to someone needed. – According to the WordPress Codex : get_option has $default_value param. will returned when option does not exist. So we can use $default_value as check our code can smaller & faster. if(get_option('otp_name','SOME_UNIQUE_VALUE') === 'SOME_UNIQUE_VALUE'){ add_option('otp_name','init_value'); } no update_option call required.

     tansautn 5 years ago
2. Skip to note 15 content

   Christoph 7 years ago

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   Since get_option in line 271 returns false if the option doesn’t yet exist, it is not possible to use update_option to create a new option with the boolean value false, because update_option would wrongly assume (line 307) that the option does exists but is unchanged. One workaround is to use as values integers 1 and 0 instead of booleans.
3. Skip to note 16 content

   Anonymous User 5 years ago

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   Update option only once on the first time installed
   The code below will let user change options even after new option set.

   function my_switch_theme() {
   	update_option( 'thumbnail_size_w', 320 );
   	update_option( 'thumbnail_size_h', 180 );
   }
   
   add_action('switch_theme', 'my_switch_theme');

   If we use after_setup_theme, it will block the options and prevent users change it.
4. Skip to note 17 content

   Codex 9 years ago

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   Usage

   <?php update_option( $option, $new_value, $autoload ); ?>
5. Skip to note 18 content

   Tassawer Hussain 4 years ago

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   update_option will return false if new value is same as old one.

   $opt_name  = ( ! empty($_POST['opt_name']  ) ) ? $_POST['opt_name']  : 'wpdocs';
   $opt_value = ( ! empty($_POST['opt_value'] ) ) ? $_POST['opt_value'] : ' ';
   		
   $existing_val = get_option( $opt_name );
   
   if ( false !== $existing_val ) {
   	// option exist
   	if ( $existing_val === $opt_value ) {
   		echo "new value is same as old.";
   	} else {
   		echo "new value is different.";
   		update_option( $opt_name, $opt_value );
   	}
   } else {
   	// option not exist
   	add_option( $opt_name, $opt_value );
   }
6. Skip to note 19 content

   Codex 9 years ago

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   Example: Updating Core Options
   Set the default comment status to ‘closed’:

   <?php update_option( 'default_comment_status', 'closed' ); ?>

   This option is usually set in from the Settings > Discussion administration panel. See the Option Reference for a full list of options used by WordPress Core.

   Note: Use get_option() to confirm an option value.

   <?php echo get_option( 'default_comment_status' ); ?>
7. Skip to note 20 content

   Codex 9 years ago

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   Example: Updating Custom Options
   You can also create your own custom options. This example updates the option 'my_custom_option' with the value 255:

   <?php update_option( 'my_custom_option', 255 ); ?>

   This will automatically add the option if it does not exist (and set the option’s value).

   If you don’t want your custom option to auto-load when WordPress starts up, use add_option(). This example updates the option if it already exists; if it does not exist it uses add_option() to set $autoload to 'no'.

   <?php
   $option_name = 'my_custom_color_option' ;
   $new_value = 'red';
   
   if ( get_option( $option_name ) !== false ) {
   
       // The option already exists, so update it.
       update_option( $option_name, $new_value );
   
   } else {
   
       // The option hasn't been created yet, so add it with $autoload set to 'no'.
       $deprecated = null;
       $autoload = 'no';
       add_option( $option_name, $new_value, $deprecated, $autoload );
   }
   ?>
8. Skip to note 21 content

   Codex 9 years ago

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   Note
   Option values retrieved via WordPress functions are cached. If you modify an options outside of the Options API, then try to update a cached option, the update will fail and return false. Use the following method to clear the options cache before trying to get or update the options on the same request:

   <?php wp_cache_delete ( 'alloptions', 'options' ); ?>
9. Skip to note 22 content

   Codex 9 years ago

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   Use wp_load_alloptions() to print a list of all options:

   <?php 
   $alloptions  = wp_load_alloptions();
   var_dump( $alloptions );
   ?>
10. Skip to note 23 content

    mp518 7 years ago

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    Update Option Stored in Multi-Dimensional Array

    update multi-dimensional array and retrieve the entire array.

    //store in one variable
    $multidimensional_options = array(
      'inner_array'=>array(
           'foo' => 'bar',
           'hello' => 'world',
       ),
    );
     
    //Update entire array
    update_option('my_multi_options', $multidimensional_options);
     
    //Get entire array
    $my_multi_options = get_option('my_multi_options');
11. Skip to note 24 content

    pinoceniccola 4 years ago

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    Note
    Please avoid to pass null as $value, for a false-y value just use 0, false or even an empty string. A null value may lead to potential bugs and side effects.

    See this ticket for details.
12. Skip to note 25 content

    Andrija Naglic 4 years ago

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    Saving a boolean true will have the option value of (string) “1”.
    Saving a boolean false will have the option value of empty (string) “”;

    $value = true;
    update_option( 'some_option', $value );

    Getting a boolean value will return:
    a) the string “1” if the saved boolean was true
    b) the empty string “” if the saved boolean was false
    c) boolean false if the option doesn’t exist

    $get_value = get_option( 'some_option', true );

    To check if something was turned on, and it should be turned on by default (we don’t care if the option already exists):

    $check = ! empty( $get_value );

    To check if something was turned on, but only if the option exists:

    $check = ( '1' === $get_value );
13. Skip to note 26 content

    Parth Dodiya 4 months ago

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    As This function is designed to work with or without a logged-in user. Sometimes we have to check user capabilities.
    Let’s assume, our option should only be saved by admin user than code would be,

    global $current_user;
    
    $option_key   = 'option_key';
    $option_value = ( ! empty( $_POST['option_value_0'] ) && ! empty( $_POST['option_value_1'] ) ) ? array( $_POST['option_value_0'], $_POST['option_value_1'] ) : '';
    
    if ( current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) {
    	update_option( $option_key, $option_value );
    }

    Also, No need to serialize() the value, because function does itself.