How to use pre_delete_post filter in WordPress

So, you’re working with the pre_delete_post filter in WordPress? Awesome! This hook is super handy when you need to control whether a post deletion should occur. Let’s dive into it with some live examples and see how you can use it effectively.

pre_delete_post filter

Filters whether a post deletion should take place.

To use the pre_delete_post filter, first, you have to register it using add_filter. You can place this code in 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 examples, we have defined a function weplugins_modify_pre_delete_post_defaults which takes 3 parameters and we registered it using add_filter. The first parameter pre_delete_post is the name of the hook, the second parameter weplugins_modify_pre_delete_post_defaults is the name of the function that 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 might need to remove a registered hook, so you can use remove_filter to remove the pre_delete_post filter.

Parameters

Below are the 3 parameters required to use this hook.

• $delete: (WP_Post|false|null) Whether to go forward with deletion. @TODO description
• $post: (WP_Post) Post object.
• $force_delete: (bool) Whether to bypass the Trash.

Live Example 1

Below is an example of how you can use this hook to modify the deletion process:

function weplugins_modify_pre_delete_post_defaults($delete, $post, $force_delete) { 
    // Update the $delete variable based on your requirements
    return $delete; 
}
// Add the filter
add_filter( "pre_delete_post", "weplugins_modify_pre_delete_post_defaults", 10, 3 );

Live Example 2

Now, let’s look at how you can conditionally prevent a post from being deleted:

function weplugins_prevent_specific_post_deletion($delete, $post, $force_delete) { 
    if ($post->ID == 123) { 
        // Prevent deletion of post with ID 123
        return false; 
    }
    return $delete; 
}
// Add the filter
add_filter( "pre_delete_post", "weplugins_prevent_specific_post_deletion", 10, 3 );

Live Example 3

To remove a hook callback, use the example below:

function weplugins_modify_pre_delete_post_defaults($delete, $post, $force_delete) { 
    // Your code here
    return $delete; 
}
// Add the filter
add_filter( "pre_delete_post", "weplugins_modify_pre_delete_post_defaults", 10, 3 );

// Remove the filter
remove_filter( "pre_delete_post", "weplugins_modify_pre_delete_post_defaults", 10, 3 );

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 run into issues using this hook, feel free to Contact Us. Our team at WePlugins is always ready to assist you!