How to use dynamic_sidebar_before action in WordPress

The dynamic_sidebar_before action is a handy hook in WordPress. It’s fired before the dynamic sidebar is rendered, both on the front end and back end, including the Inactive Widgets sidebar on the Widgets screen. To use this hook, you first need to register it using add_action. You can add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or a custom WordPress plugin. At WePlugins, we always recommend creating a custom plugin to ensure your changes aren’t lost during theme updates.

In the examples below, we’ve defined a function weplugins_execute_on_dynamic_sidebar_before_event which takes two parameters. This function is then registered using add_action. Sometimes, you may need to remove a registered hook, which you can do using remove_action.

Parameters

Here are the two parameters required to use this hook:

• $index: (int|string) Index, name, or ID of the dynamic sidebar.
• $has_widgets: (bool) Whether the sidebar is populated with widgets. Default true.

Live Example 1: Basic Usage

This example demonstrates how to use the dynamic_sidebar_before hook.

        function weplugins_execute_on_dynamic_sidebar_before_event($index, $has_widgets) {
            // Your code here
        }
        add_action('dynamic_sidebar_before', 'weplugins_execute_on_dynamic_sidebar_before_event', 10, 2);
        

Live Example 2: Adding Custom Functionality

In this example, we add custom functionality before the dynamic sidebar is rendered.

        function weplugins_custom_sidebar_functionality($index, $has_widgets) {
            if ($has_widgets) {
                echo "<p>Sidebar $index is populated with widgets.</p>";
            } else {
                echo "<p>Sidebar $index is empty.</p>";
            }
        }
        add_action('dynamic_sidebar_before', 'weplugins_custom_sidebar_functionality', 10, 2);
        

Live Example 3: Removing the Hook

To remove a hook callback, use the example below.

        remove_action('dynamic_sidebar_before', 'weplugins_execute_on_dynamic_sidebar_before_event', 10, 2);
        

Please ensure you provide the same callback function name, priority, and number of arguments while removing the hook callback.

Contact Us

If you need any customization or are having trouble using this hook, feel free to contact us at WePlugins. We’re always here to help!