Question

I tried including my file in header.php or my theme’s index.php, but I cannot access the variables in the included file from let’s say my theme’s footer.php or even my theme’s page templates.

Here’s what I’m including:

<?php

// some parameters
$var_research = 5;
$var_researchtrans = 7;
$var_output = 9;
$var_edit_indi = 11;
$var_contact = 15;
$var_transition = 19;

?>

Now what I need is to be able to use the variables in footer.php, for example.

Hope someone out there has an answer. Thanks, y’all.

OK, here’s how I made it work:

In functions.php

<?php // functions.php

// ...

function my_var($va_var) {

    // some parameters
    $var_research = 5;
    $var_researchtrans = 7;
    $var_output = 9;
    $var_edit_indi = 11;
    $var_contact = 15;
    $var_transition = 19;
    $var_sometext = "text test";

    eval("\$return_var = $" . $va_var . ";");
    return $return_var;

}

?>

and in footer.php

<?php // footer.php

// ...

echo "blah blah " . my_var("var_sometext");

// ...

?>

It’s working, but did I do it right? is there a better/right way to do this? Thanks again, everyone.

Answer 1

The best place to include your own functions are in your theme’s functions.php file.

If you want to access a variable in multiple files, you can create a function in your functions.php and access that function anywhere within the theme.

In functions.php

function your_variable()
{
    $var = 'your variable';
    return $var;
}

And in your footer.php

echo your_variable();

For your updated query

function my_var($va_var) {

    $out = array();
    // some parameters
    $out['var_research'] = 5;
    $out['var_researchtrans'] = 7;
    $out['var_output'] = 9;
    $out['var_edit_indi'] = 11;
    $out['var_contact'] = 15;
    $out['var_transition'] = 19;
    $out['var_sometext'] = "text test";

    return $out[$va_var];

}