How to use exit_on_http_head filter in WordPress

exit_on_http_head filter

Provides a significant performance bump by exiting before the page content loads for ‘HEAD’ requests. See #14348.

To use exit_on_http_head filter, first you have to register it using add_filter. You can write this code into 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_exit_on_http_head_defaults which takes 1 parameter and we registered using add_filter. The first parameter exit_on_http_head is the name of the hook, the second parameter weplugins_modify_exit_on_http_head_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.

Sometime, you have to remove a registered hook, so you can use remove_filter to remove exit_on_http_head filter.

Parameters

Below the 1 parameter is required to use this hook.

• $exit : (bool) Whether to exit without generating any content for ‘HEAD’ requests. Default true.

Live Example 1

Basic example of using the hook to conditionally modify $exit.

            function weplugins_modify_exit_on_http_head_defaults($exit) { 
                // Update the $exit variable according to your website requirements and return this variable. You can modify the $exit variable conditionally too if you want.
                return $exit; 
            }
            // add the filter
            add_filter( "exit_on_http_head", "weplugins_modify_exit_on_http_head_defaults", 10, 1 );
        

Live Example 2

Remove a hook callback using remove_filter.

            remove_filter( "exit_on_http_head", "weplugins_modify_exit_on_http_head_defaults", 10, 1 );
        

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

Live Example 3

Example of conditionally exiting for specific user roles.

            function weplugins_modify_exit_on_http_head_for_admins($exit) {
                if (current_user_can('administrator')) {
                    return false; // Don't exit for admin users
                }
                return $exit;
            }
            add_filter('exit_on_http_head', 'weplugins_modify_exit_on_http_head_for_admins', 10, 1);
        

Contact Us

If you need customization or have any trouble using this hook, please Contact Us.