Get the current screen object

Return

Source

function get_current_screen() {
	global $current_screen;

	if ( ! isset( $current_screen ) ) {
		return null;
	}

	return $current_screen;
}

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Changelog

User Contributed Notes

1. Skip to note 11 content

   PAGE               $SCREEN_ID           FILE
   -----------------  -------------------  -----------------------
   Media Library      upload               upload.php
   Comments           edit-comments        edit-comments.php
   Tags               edit-post_tag        edit-tags.php
   Plugins            plugins              plugins.php
   Links              link-manager         link-manager.php
   Users              users                users.php
   Posts              edit-post            edit.php
   Pages              edit-page            edit.php
   Edit Site: Themes  site-themes-network  network/site-themes.php
   Themes             themes-network       network/themes
   Users              users-network        network/users
   Edit Site: Users   site-users-network   network/site-users
   Sites              sites-network        network/sites

   • If you want to set the screen to the front page do this:

     set_current_screen( 'front' );

     This could be useful in unit tests

2. Skip to note 12 content

   Be aware the this function doesn’t always exist, something that @ravanh had sort of eluded to. It isn’t loaded and available until after admin_init has fired. It is advisable to check whether the function exists when using it within any hooks in the even those hooks fire before that function is actually loaded and available to use.

       /**
        * Check whether the get_current_screen function exists
        * because it is loaded only after 'admin_init' hook.
        */
       if ( function_exists( 'get_current_screen' ) ) {
           $current_screen = get_current_screen();
           // Do your thing.
       }

3. Skip to note 13 content

   Another Example:

   <?php
   
   add_action( 'current_screen', 'wpdocs_this_screen' );
   
   /**
    * Run code on the admin widgets page
    */
   function wpdocs_this_screen() {
       $currentScreen = get_current_screen();
       if( $currentScreen->id === "widgets" ) {
           // Run some code, only on the admin widgets page
       }
   }
   
   ?>

4. Skip to note 14 content

   I was trying to find out the name of the admin dashboard.
   You can find out the current screen name by dumping it:

   $my_current_screen = get_current_screen();
   var_dump( $my_current_screen->base );

   Using this, I found the dashboard screen is just called ‘dashboard’ 🤯, so I could then redirect to a different page like this:

   /**
    * Redirect specific admin page
    */
   add_action( 'current_screen', 'wpdocs_custom_redirect_admin_dashboard' );
   
   function wpdocs_custom_redirect_admin_dashboard() {
       if ( is_admin() ) {
           $my_current_screen = get_current_screen();
   
           if ( isset( $my_current_screen->base ) && 'dashboard' === $my_current_screen->base ) {
               wp_redirect( admin_url().'?page=custom_dashboard' );
               exit();
           }
       }
   }

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   The fields returned are:

   id (string) The unique ID of the screen
   action (string) Any action associated with the screen. ‘add’ for *-new.php screens. Empty otherwise.
   base (string) The base type of the screen. For example, for a page ‘post-new.php’ the base is ‘post’.
   parent_base (string) The base menu parent. This is derived from $parent_file by removing the query string and any .php extension. For example, parent_file values of ‘edit.php?post_type=page’ and ‘edit.php?post_type=post’ have a parent_base of ‘edit’
   parent_file (string) The parent_file for the screen per the admin menu system. Some parent_file values are ‘edit.php?post_type=page’, ‘edit.php’, and ‘options-general.php’
   post_type (string) The post type associated with the screen, if any. For example, the ‘edit.php?post_type=page’ screen has a post type of ‘page’
   taxonomy (string) The taxonomy associated with the screen, if any. For example, the ‘edit-tags.php?taxonomy=category’ screen has a taxonomy of ‘category’

   Returned object:

   WP_Screen Object
   (
       [action] => 
       [base] => post
       [id] => post
       [is_network] => 
       [is_user] => 
       [parent_base] => edit
       [parent_file] => edit.php
       [post_type] => post
       [taxonomy] => 
       ...
       (private fields)
   )

6. Skip to note 16 content

   Be aware that at the global $current_screen gets set relatively late, right after the admin_init has run. This is done with function set_current_screen() in template files like admin-header.php and admin.php or when processing admin ajax requests.

   Calling set_current_screen() yourself earlier will not help. Although get_current_screen() does not return null anymore, the current screen object will not be populated with the correct properties, like get_current_screen()->$id, to work with.

   Use get_current_screen() at the current_screen hook or later.

7. Skip to note 17 content

   Note that this function only works in admin!

8. Skip to note 18 content

   This can be useful for conditionally executing code depending on which admin screen is currently being viewed.

   // Hook into the admin_head action to run your code in the admin area
   add_action( 'admin_head', 'wpdocs_admin_code' );
   
   function wpdocs_admin_code() {
       // Get the current screen object
       $current_screen = get_current_screen();
   
       // Check if the current screen is the dashboard
       if ( 'dashboard' === $current_screen->id ) {
           // Execute your code for the dashboard screen
           echo 'alert( "You are on the dashboard!" );';
       }
   
       // Check if the current screen is a post editing screen
       if ( 'post' === $current_screen->base ) {
           // Execute your code for the post editing screen
           echo 'alert( "You are editing a post!" );';
       }
   
       // Check for other screen IDs or bases as needed
       // For example, to check if it's a page editing screen:
       if ( 'page' === $current_screen->id ) {
           // Execute your code for the page editing screen
           echo 'alert( "You are editing a page!" );';
       }
   
       // More conditions can be added as needed
   }

9. Skip to note 19 content

   Default Usage
   This example shows how you would add contextual help to an admin page you’ve created with the add_options_page() function. Here, we assume that your admin page has a slug of my_admin_page and exists under the Options tab.

   The get_current_screen() function is used in this example.

   <?php 
   add_action('admin_menu', 'wpdocs_admin_add_page');
   
   /**
    * Add an admin page
    */
   function wpdocs_admin_add_page() {
   	global $wpdocs_admin_page;
   	$wpdocs_admin_page = add_options_page(__('Wpdocs Admin Page', 'wpdocs_textdomain'),
   		__('Wpdocs Admin Page', 'wpdocs_textdomain'),
   		'manage_options', 'wpdocs_textdomain', 'wpdocs_admin_page');
   
   	// Adds my_help_tab when my_admin_page loads
   	add_action('load-'.$wpdocs_admin_page, 'wpdocs_admin_add_help_tab');
   }
   
   /**
    * Add a contextual help tab to the Wpdocs Admin Page
    */
   function wpdocs_admin_add_help_tab () {
       global $wpdocs_admin_page;
       $screen = get_current_screen();
   
       /*
        * Check if current screen is Wpdocs Admin Page
        * Don't add help tab if it's not
        */
       if ( $screen->id != $wpdocs_admin_page )
           return;
   
       // Add my_help_tab if current screen is My Admin Page
       $screen->add_help_tab( array(
           'id' => 'wpdocs_help_tab',
           'title' => __('Wpdocs Help Tab'),
           'content' => '<p>'
   		. __( 'Descriptive content that will show in Wpdocs Help Tab body goes here.', 'wpdocs_textdomain' )
   		. '</p>',
       ) );
   }
   ?>

10. Skip to note 20 content

    This function is useful to figure out which screen you’re on in the Dashboard,

    add_action('trashed_post', 'trash_wpcrm_contact');
    function trash_wpcrm_contact($post_id){
        $screen = get_current_screen();
        if('wpcrm-contact' != $screen->post_type){ //this is not our custom post, so let's exit
          return;
        }
        ....
    }

    Another useful attribute of the WP_Screen object returned by this function is the $screen->base attribute which is set to 'post' for any custom post edit screen, and is set to 'edit' for the custom post admin table page, which is very handy when loading custom css/scripts for additional function on those pages.