How to use permalink_structure_changed action in WordPress

permalink_structure_changed action

Fires after the permalink structure is updated.

To use the permalink_structure_changed 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 weplugins_execute_on_permalink_structure_changed_event which takes 2 parameters and we registered using add_action. The first parameter permalink_structure_changed is the name of the hook, the second parameter weplugins_execute_on_permalink_structure_changed_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 permalink_structure_changed action.

Parameters

Below are the 2 parameters required to use this hook:

• $old_permalink_structure : (string) The previous permalink structure.
• $permalink_structure : (string) The new permalink structure.

Live Example

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

    function weplugins_execute_on_permalink_structure_changed_event($old_permalink_structure, $permalink_structure){
        // 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("permalink_structure_changed", "weplugins_execute_on_permalink_structure_changed_event", 10, 2);
    

Example 1: Logging Old and New Permalink Structure

In this example, we log the old and new permalink structures to a custom file for debugging purposes.

    function weplugins_log_permalink_structure($old_permalink_structure, $permalink_structure){
        error_log("Old Permalink: " . $old_permalink_structure . " | New Permalink: " . $permalink_structure);
    }
    add_action("permalink_structure_changed", "weplugins_log_permalink_structure", 10, 2);
    

Example 2: Displaying Admin Notice

This example demonstrates how to display an admin notice when the permalink structure is changed.

    function weplugins_admin_notice_permalink_change($old_permalink_structure, $permalink_structure){
        add_action('admin_notices', function() use ($old_permalink_structure, $permalink_structure) {
            echo '<div class="notice notice-success is-dismissible">
                    <p>Permalink structure updated from ' . $old_permalink_structure . ' to ' . $permalink_structure . '.</p>
                  </div>';
        });
    }
    add_action("permalink_structure_changed", "weplugins_admin_notice_permalink_change", 10, 2);
    

Example 3: Updating Custom Rewrite Rules

Here, we update custom rewrite rules whenever the permalink structure changes.

    function weplugins_update_custom_rewrite_rules($old_permalink_structure, $permalink_structure){
        // Custom rewrite rules update logic goes here
        flush_rewrite_rules();
    }
    add_action("permalink_structure_changed", "weplugins_update_custom_rewrite_rules", 10, 2);
    

To remove a hook callback, use the example below:

remove_action("permalink_structure_changed", "weplugins_execute_on_permalink_structure_changed_event", 10, 2);

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

Contact Us

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