How to use clean_url filter in WordPress

clean_url filter

Filters a string cleaned and escaped for output as a URL.

To use the clean_url filter, first you have to register it using add_filter. 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 weplugins_modify_clean_url_defaults which takes 3 parameters and we registered it using add_filter. The first parameter clean_url is the name of the hook, the second parameter weplugins_modify_clean_url_defaults 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_filter to remove the clean_url filter.

Parameters

Below are the 3 parameters required to use this hook.

• $good_protocol_url : (string) The cleaned URL to be returned.
• $original_url : (string) The URL prior to cleaning.
• $_context : (string) If ‘display’, replace ampersands and single quotes only.

Live Example 1: Basic Usage

Below is an example of how you can use this hook.

    function weplugins_modify_clean_url_defaults($good_protocol_url, $original_url, $_context) { 
        // Update the $good_protocol_url variable according to your website requirements and return this variable. You can modify the $good_protocol_url variable conditionally too if you want.
        return $good_protocol_url; 
    }
    // add the filter
    add_filter( "clean_url", "weplugins_modify_clean_url_defaults", 10, 3 );
    

Live Example 2: Conditional URL Modification

Here’s how to modify the URL conditionally based on certain criteria.

    function weplugins_conditional_clean_url($good_protocol_url, $original_url, $_context) {
        if (strpos($original_url, 'example.com') !== false) {
            $good_protocol_url = str_replace('example.com', 'mywebsite.com', $good_protocol_url);
        }
        return $good_protocol_url;
    }
    // add the filter
    add_filter( "clean_url", "weplugins_conditional_clean_url", 10, 3 );
    

Live Example 3: Removing the Hook Callback

To remove a hook callback, use the example below.

    remove_filter( "clean_url", "weplugins_modify_clean_url_defaults", 10, 3 );
    

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

Contact Us

If you’re having any trouble using this hook, please contact our WordPress Development Team and we’d be happy to assist you.