wp_register_script() │ WP 2.1.0

Registers a script file to later enqueue it using the function wp_enqueue_script().

You need to register a script separately in cases where you do not know in advance whether you will use it on the page or not, but you are sure that it will be useful on some pages. So, to avoid specifying all registration parameters for each page where the script will be needed, you can register it in one place and then simply enqueue it by its identifier where needed.

When writing a plugin or theme, it is recommended to enqueue scripts through this function or its equivalent wp_enqueue_script().

No Hooks.

Returns

true|false. 3 returns true/false. Previously returned nothing.

Usage

wp_register_script( $handle, $src, $deps, $ver, $in_footer );

$handle(string) (required)

The name of the script. Must be unique, as it will be used for calling later in the wp_enqueue_script() function.

$src(string) (required)

URL, path to the script, for example, http://example.com/wp-content/themes/my-theme/my-theme-script.js. Never write the URL directly if it is located in engine files or a plugin, use special path functions: plugins_url() for plugins and get_template_directory_uri() for themes. Remote scripts should be specified without a protocol, like this: //otherdomain.com/js/their-script.js.

$deps(array)

An array of names of all registered scripts that this one depends on. The scripts specified here will be loaded before the current one. Specify false if there are no dependent scripts.
Default: array()

$ver(string|false|null)

The version of the script that will be added to the end of the file path as an argument (?ver=1.1). This parameter is needed to ensure that the correct version of the script is loaded by users, bypassing the cache.

• When false WordPress will add the current WP version at the end.
• When null, no version will be added.

Default: false

$args(array)

Parameters for enqueuing the script. Two parameters are supported:

Before WP 6.3 this parameter was called $in_footer and accepted true/false.
Starting from version 6.3, the parameter began to accept an array of data, and the previous parameter $in_footer was moved to the array element in_footer:

[
	'in_footer' => true,
	'strategy'  => 'async',
	]

For more details about this change read here.

Default: []

• in_footer(bool) - Default: false. Whether to output the script in the footer. By default, scripts are placed in the head section. If this parameter is true, the script will be output at the end of the body tag.

  If due to dependencies on other scripts it is not possible to enqueue the current script in the footer, the value of this variable will be ignored and the script will be enqueued in the head.

  The function wp_footer() should be called in the theme before the closing </body> tag.

  Behaves the same as the previous (before WP 6.3) implementation of the $in_footer parameter.

• strategy(string) - Default: ''. Indicates how (by what strategy) the script should be loaded. Two values are available: defer and async for deferred and asynchronous scripts, respectively.

  By default, blocking behavior is used, which maintains backward compatibility with WP versions below 6.3.

  Use wp_register_script_module() to register the script as a module.

Examples

add_action( 'init', 'register_remote_scripts' );
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'add_remote_scripts' );

function register_remote_scripts(){

	wp_register_script( 'someScript-js', 'https://domain.com/someScript.js' , '', '', true );
}

function add_remote_scripts(){

	wp_enqueue_script( 'someScript-js' );
}

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'add_remote_scripts' );

function add_remote_scripts(){

	wp_enqueue_script( 'someScript-js', 'https://domain.com/someScript.js' , '', '', true );
}

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_enqueue_scripts' );

function my_enqueue_scripts(){

	wp_register_script( 'first', get_template_directory_uri() . 'js/first.js' );

	wp_enqueue_script( 'second', get_template_directory_uri() . 'js/second.js', array( 'first' ) );
}

add_action( 'init', 'register_myscripts' );
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'add_myscripts' );

//register the script
function register_myscripts(){

	$url = get_template_directory_uri() .'/myscript.js';

	wp_register_script( 'myfirstscript', $url, [ 'jquery', 'jquery-ui' ], 'v2.0', true );
}

// connect the scripts (queue the output to html)
function add_myscripts() {

	wp_enqueue_script( 'myfirstscript' );
}

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_scripts_method' );

function my_scripts_method() {

	$script_url = plugins_url( '/js/newscript.js', __FILE__ );

	wp_enqueue_script( 'custom-script', $script_url, ['jquery'], '1.0', true );
}

wp_register_script(
	'my_script',
	'https://example.com/path/to/my_script.js',
	[],
	'1.0',
	[
		'strategy' => 'defer'
	]
);

wp_register_script(
	'my_script',
	'https://example.com/path/to/my_script.js',
	[],
	'1.0',
	[
		'in_footer' => true,
		'strategy'  => 'async',
	]
);

Add Your Own Example

Scripts registered by WordPress