Using WordPress ‘activate_sitewide_plugin()’ PHP function

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The activate_sitewide_plugin() WordPress PHP function is a deprecated function used for activating a network-only plugin. It’s recommended to use activate_plugin() instead.

Usage

Let’s say you have a network-only plugin ‘my_plugin/my_plugin.php’ and you want to activate it:

activate_sitewide_plugin( 'my_plugin/my_plugin.php' );

Note: This function doesn’t return any value.

Parameters

  • No parameters are accepted by this function.

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: activate_sitewide_plugin()
This function is deprecated in favor of activate_plugin(). There’s no specific version number when it was implemented or deprecated. The source code can be found in the WordPress core files.

Examples

Activating a Network-Only Plugin

If you have a network-only plugin you wish to activate, you can use activate_sitewide_plugin():

// Define the plugin file
$plugin_file = 'my_plugin/my_plugin.php';

// Activate the plugin
activate_sitewide_plugin( $plugin_file );

This will activate the ‘my_plugin’ across the entire network.

Activating Multiple Network-Only Plugins

You can also use this function in a loop to activate multiple network-only plugins:

// Define the plugin files
$plugin_files = array( 'my_plugin1/my_plugin1.php', 'my_plugin2/my_plugin2.php' );

// Loop through each plugin and activate it
foreach ( $plugin_files as $plugin_file ) {
    activate_sitewide_plugin( $plugin_file );
}

This will activate ‘my_plugin1’ and ‘my_plugin2’ across the entire network.

Activating a Plugin Only If It’s Not Already Active

Before using activate_sitewide_plugin(), you may want to check if the plugin is already active:

// Define the plugin file
$plugin_file = 'my_plugin/my_plugin.php';

// Check if the plugin is active
if ( ! is_plugin_active( $plugin_file ) ) {
    // If the plugin is not active, activate it
    activate_sitewide_plugin( $plugin_file );
}

This will activate ‘my_plugin’ only if it’s not already active.

Activating a Plugin and Handling Errors

When activating a plugin, it’s a good idea to handle potential errors:

// Define the plugin file
$plugin_file = 'my_plugin/my_plugin.php';

// Try to activate the plugin
$result = activate_sitewide_plugin( $plugin_file );

// Check if there was an error
if ( is_wp_error( $result ) ) {
    // Handle the error
    echo 'Error activating plugin: ' . $result->get_error_message();
}

This will attempt to activate ‘my_plugin’, and output an error message if there’s a problem.

Using activate_plugin() Instead of activate_sitewide_plugin()

As activate_sitewide_plugin() is deprecated, it’s better to use activate_plugin() instead:

// Define the plugin file
$plugin_file = 'my_plugin/my_plugin.php';

// Activate the plugin
activate_plugin( $plugin_file, '', true );

This will activate ‘my_plugin’ across the entire network, using the activate_plugin() function. The third parameter being ‘true’ indicates that the plugin should be activated network-wide.