Written by Admin on 2025-05-06

How to Programmatically Download a File to WordPress From a Link

Downloading files manually can be time-consuming, especially if you have multiple files to download. In WordPress, there is an easier way to download files programmatically using a link.

Here are the steps:

1. Use the wp_remote_get function

WordPress has a built-in function called wp_remote_get that allows you to retrieve the contents of a URL. This function returns an array that contains the HTTP headers and the body of the response.

To use this function, you need to pass the URL of the file as the parameter. Here is an example:

$response = wp_remote_get( 'https://example.com/myfile.zip' );

This code will retrieve the contents of https://example.com/myfile.zip.

2. Check if the response is successful

The wp_remote_get function will return a response even if the URL is not valid. To make sure that the response is successful, you need to check the status code.

Here is an example code:

if ( wp_remote_retrieve_response_code( $response ) === 200 ) { // The response is successful $file_content = wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response ); } else { // The response is not successful $file_content = false; }

In the above code, we are checking if the response code is equal to 200, which means that the request was successful.

If the response is successful, we can retrieve the contents of the file using the wp_remote_retrieve_body function.

3. Create a file in WordPress

Now that we have the contents of the file, we can create a file in WordPress using the wp_upload_bits function.

Here is an example:

$file = wp_upload_bits( 'myfile.zip', null, $file_content );

This code will create a file called myfile.zip in the default uploads directory of WordPress.

4. Check if the file was created successfully

The wp_upload_bits function returns an array that contains the file path and the URL of the file. To check if the file was created successfully, we can check if the error key of the array is empty.

Here is an example:

if ( empty( $file['error'] ) ) { // The file was created successfully $file_path = $file['file']; $file_url = $file['url']; } else { // The file was not created }

In the above code, we are checking if the error key of the $file array is empty. If it is empty, it means that the file was created successfully. We can then retrieve the file path and URL from the $file array.

That's it! You have now programmatically downloaded a file to WordPress from a link.

Final Note:

This tutorial is primarily suitable for beginners who are hoping to get an overview of programmatically downloading a file to WordPress using a link. These steps are relatively easy to execute and do not necessitate intensive technical knowledge. However, a developer can utilize this as a head start and use it as a reference material for a more advanced project.