How to use before_delete_post action in WordPress

before_delete_post action

To use the `before_delete_post` action, first you have to register it using `add_action`. You can write this code into the `functions.php` of your activated theme or in a custom WordPress Plugin.

We at WePlugins always prefer to create a custom WordPress Plugin while using hooks so nothing breaks when you update your WordPress Theme in the future.

In the below live example, we have defined a function `execute_on_before_delete_post_event` which takes 2 parameters and we registered using `add_action`. The first parameter `before_delete_post` is the name of the hook, The second parameter `execute_on_before_delete_post_event` is the name of the function which needs to be called, the third parameter is the priority of calling the hook if the same hook is used multiple times, and the last parameter is the number of arguments (if any) to be passed in the registered function.

Sometimes, you have to remove a registered hook so you can use `remove_action` to remove the `before_delete_post` action.

Parameters

Below are the 2 parameters required to use this hook.

• $postid : (int) Post ID.
• $post : (WP_Post) Post object.

Live Example

Example 1: Hook into before_delete_post

Here’s how you can use the `before_delete_post` hook to execute some custom code when a post is deleted.

add_action( 'before_delete_post', 'weplugins_my_func', 99, 2 );
function weplugins_my_func( $postid, $post ) {
    if ( 'weplugins_my_custom_post_type' !== $post->post_type ) {
        return;
    }
    // My custom stuff for deleting my custom post type here
}

Example 2: Custom functionality on post delete

Below is an example of how you can use this hook to execute custom functionality when a post is deleted in WordPress.

function weplugins_execute_on_before_delete_post_event($postid, $post){
    //You can write code here to be executed when this action occurs in WordPress. Use the parameters received in the function arguments & implement the required additional custom functionality according to your website requirements.
}
// add the action
add_action( "before_delete_post", "weplugins_execute_on_before_delete_post_event" , 10, 2);

Example 3: Removing a hook callback

To remove a hook callback, use the example below.

remove_action( "before_delete_post", "weplugins_execute_on_before_delete_post_event", 10, 2 );

Please make sure to provide the same callback function name, priority, and number of arguments while removing the hook callback.