PHP memory limits for the site #

define( 'WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '128M' ); define( 'WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M' ); // Increase admin-side memory limit.

Database #

define( 'WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true ); // Allow WordPress to automatically repair your database. define( 'DO_NOT_UPGRADE_GLOBAL_TABLES', true ); // Don't make database upgrades on global tables (like users)

Explicitly setting url #

define( 'WP_HOME', 'http://domain.com' ); define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'http://domain.com' );

Set url to… whatever… #

define( 'WP_HOME', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] ); define( 'WP_SITEURL', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] );

Set default theme #

define( 'WP_DEFAULT_THEME', 'twentytwentyone' );

Prevent New Themes From Being Added When WP Updates #

define( 'CORE_UPGRADE_SKIP_NEW_BUNDLED', true );

This one’s confusing because the the source code comments say it must be set to FALSE:

See source here: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/5.3/src/wp-admin/includes/update-core.php#L810

Temporary for causing a site to relocate. Remove after login #

define( 'RELOCATE', true );

Allow WordPress to update files #

define( 'FS_METHOD', 'direct' ); define( 'FS_CHMOD_DIR', ( 0755 & ~ umask() ) ); // change permissions of directories define( 'FS_CHMOD_FILE', ( 0644 & ~ umask() ) ); // change permissions of files

Set the directory files should be downloaded to before they’re moved #

This is usually set in the PHP conf define( 'WP_TEMP_DIR', '/Applications/MAMP/tmp/php/' ); // this one is for default MAMP setup

Content, plugin, and template paths #

define( 'WP_CONTENT_URL', get_option( 'siteurl' ) . '/wp-content' ); // Full URL to wp-content define( 'WP_CONTENT_DIR', ABSPATH . 'wp-content' ); // No trailing slash, full paths only to wp-content define( 'WP_PLUGIN_DIR', WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/plugins' ); // Full path, no trailing slash. define( 'WP_PLUGIN_URL', WP_CONTENT_URL . '/plugins' ); // Full URL, no trailing slash. define( 'PLUGINDIR', 'wp-content/plugins' ); // Relative to ABSPATH. For back compatibility. define( 'WPMU_PLUGIN_DIR', WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/mu-plugins' ); // Full path, no trailing slash. define( 'WPMU_PLUGIN_URL', WP_CONTENT_URL . '/mu-plugins' ); // Full URL, no trailing slash. define( 'MUPLUGINDIR', 'wp-content/mu-plugins' ); // Relative to ABSPATH. For back compatibility. define( 'TEMPLATEPATH', get_template_directory() ); define( 'STYLESHEETPATH', get_stylesheet_directory() );

Set post revisions to something feasible #

define( 'WP_POST_REVISIONS', 15 );

Autosave interval of post revisions in seconds #

define( 'AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL', 160 ); // Seconds

Very helpful if you’re getting cookie errors during login define( 'COOKIE_DOMAIN', '.domain.com' ); // Domain and all subdomains define( 'COOKIE_DOMAIN', 'domain.com' ); // only root domain define( 'COOKIE_DOMAIN', 'www.domain.com' ); // only subdomain

define( 'COOKIEPATH', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/' ); // You should set this explicitly. define( 'SITECOOKIEPATH', $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/' ); // You should set this explicitly. define( 'ADMIN_COOKIE_PATH', SITECOOKIEPATH . 'wp-admin' ); define( 'PLUGINS_COOKIE_PATH', preg_replace( '|https?://[^/]+|i', '', WP_PLUGIN_URL ) );

define( 'USER_COOKIE', 'wordpressuser_' . COOKIEHASH ); define( 'PASS_COOKIE', 'wordpresspass_' . COOKIEHASH ); define( 'AUTH_COOKIE', 'wordpress_' . COOKIEHASH ); define( 'SECURE_AUTH_COOKIE', 'wordpress_sec_' . COOKIEHASH ); define( 'LOGGED_IN_COOKIE', 'wordpress_logged_in_' . COOKIEHASH ); define( 'RECOVERY_MODE_COOKIE', 'wordpress_rec_' . COOKIEHASH );

WordPress debug on and off #

define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', true ); define( 'WP_LOCAL_DEV', true ); // Magic switch for local dev

Script and style debug #

define( 'CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false ); // Causes WordPress scripts to be included separately define( 'SCRIPT_DEBUG', true ); // Uses unminified scripts define( 'SAVEQUERIES', true ); // Requires analyzing the global $wpdb object. define( 'COMPRESS_SCRIPTS', true ); define( 'COMPRESS_CSS', true ); define( 'ENFORCE_GZIP', true );

Disable WP cron in favor of server cron #

define( 'DISABLE_WP_CRON', true ); define( 'ALTERNATE_WP_CRON', true ); // alternate method of firing cron in the background when initiated by end users. define( 'WP_CRON_LOCK_TIMEOUT', MINUTE_IN_SECONDS ); // limit cron runs to a certain interval.

SSL #

define( 'FORCE_SSL_LOGIN', true ); // Only secure the registration/login process define( 'FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true ); // Force SSL for the whole WordPress admin

The “timthumb” fix #

define( 'WP_HTTP_BLOCK_EXTERNAL', true ); define( 'WP_ACCESSIBLE_HOSTS', 'api.wordpress.org,*.github.com' ); // Only allow particular hosts in

Modifying files #

define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true ); // Kill the WordPress file editor define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true ); // Don't allow users to update core, plugins, or themes define( 'IMAGE_EDIT_OVERWRITE', true ); // Allow editing images to replace the originals

Changing WordPress updates #

define( 'AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', true ); // Disable all WordPress auto-updates define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false ); // Only disable core updates define( 'WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', 'minor' ); // Only enable minor core updates

Change languages #

define( 'WPLANG', 'de_DE' ); define( 'WP_LANG_DIR', dirname(__FILE__) . 'wordpress/languages' );

Trash #

define( 'EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS', 30 ); // Number of days to wait before emptying the trash define( 'MEDIA_TRASH', false ); // Whether to allow media items to use the trash functionality.

Dev tools #

define( 'SHORTINIT', false ); // Disable most of WordPress. Useful for fast responses for custom integrations. define( 'WP_USE_THEMES', true ); // Override if you love WordPress, but hate themes. @credit: https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/12919/what-is-the-constant-wp-use-themes-for

Recovery mode and fatal error handling #

define( 'WP_SANDBOX_SCRAPING', true ); // Turn off WSOD Protection (and don't send email notification) define( 'WP_START_TIMESTAMP', microtime( true ) ); // Modify the WordPress start time. define( 'RECOVERY_MODE_EMAIL', '[[email protected]](/web/20240304154809/https://wpclouddeploy.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection)' ); // Set a recovery mode email.

Fancy stuff #

We found these by scouring Google to find more constants.

User & Meta Tables #

define( 'CUSTOM_USER_TABLE', $table_prefix.'my_users' ); define( 'CUSTOM_USER_META_TABLE', $table_prefix.'my_usermeta' );

Official Docs for these: Custom User & Meta Tables

Official WP Docs #

Here is a link to the official WordPress WP-CONFIG documentation

Credit for most of this list goes to Mike Garrett: https://gist.github.com/MikeNGarrett/e20d77ca8ba4ae62adf5

More Topics In Tips, Techniques & Education. #