Using WordPress ‘get_temp_dir()’ PHP function

The get_temp_dir() WordPress PHP function determines a writable directory for temporary files.

Usage

$temp_dir = get_temp_dir();
echo 'Temporary Directory: ' . $temp_dir;

Output: Temporary Directory: /path/to/temp/dir/

Parameters

  • None

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: get_temp_dir()

Examples

Create a temporary file in the temp directory

This example creates a temporary file in the writable temp directory.

$temp_dir = get_temp_dir();
$temp_file = tempnam($temp_dir, 'my_prefix_');
// Create a file with a unique name and 'my_prefix_' prefix in the temp directory

Save uploaded file to temp directory

This example saves an uploaded file to the writable temp directory.

$temp_dir = get_temp_dir();
$uploaded_file = $_FILES['uploaded_file']['tmp_name'];
$destination = $temp_dir . '/uploaded_file.txt';
move_uploaded_file($uploaded_file, $destination);
// Move the uploaded file to the temp directory

Create a temp directory for image processing

This example creates a temporary directory for storing processed images.

$temp_dir = get_temp_dir();
$images_temp_dir = $temp_dir . '/image_processing';
if (!file_exists($images_temp_dir)) {
    mkdir($images_temp_dir, 0777, true);
}
// Create a new directory 'image_processing' inside the temp directory

Cache data in a temp file

This example caches data in a temporary file in the writable temp directory.

$temp_dir = get_temp_dir();
$data = 'Sample data to be cached';
$cache_file = $temp_dir . '/cache.txt';
file_put_contents($cache_file, $data);
// Save the data to a cache file in the temp directory

Clear temp files older than a day

This example deletes temporary files older than a day from the temp directory.

$temp_dir = get_temp_dir();
$files = glob($temp_dir . '/*');
$now = time();
foreach ($files as $file) {
    if (is_file($file) && $now - filemtime($file) >= 86400) {
        unlink($file);
    }
}
// Delete files older than a day from the temp directory