When I include files in wordpress I noticed that include works fine without get_template_directory(). Include even works fine without parenteses.
include( get_template_directory() . '/includes/front/enqueue.php' );
works fine as well as
include '/includes/front/enqueue.php';
Could anyone please explain, should I use get_template_directory() when inlcude files in wordpress? And is it ok to not use parentheses after include?
get_template_directory() can be filtered. This can be useful when a plugin wants to interact with your theme, for example when you want to write custom plugins to extend the theme without changing it.
For example:
add_filter( 'template_directory', function( $template_dir, $template, $theme_root ) {
if ( some_condition( $theme_root ) ) {
return plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) . 'template';
}
});
include is an expression, not a function, so omitting parentheses is fine.
Also note that plugin_dir_path() has a trailing slash while get_template_directory() doesn't.
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