# Using Ray with WordPress

[WordPress](https://wordpress.org/) is an open-source content management system built with PHP, powering a large portion of the web. Use Ray to debug your WordPress theme and plugin development.

[spatie/wordpress-ray](https://github.com/spatie/wordpress-ray)

## Installation

### Global installation

The easiest ways is the global installation. This will make the `ray()` function available in any WordPress (and PHP file on your system).

Issue these commands to install [the global-ray package](https://github.com/spatie/global-ray):

```
composer global require spatie/global-ray
global-ray install
```

You can now use the `ray()` function and all of its [framework agnostic capabilities](/content/docs/php/vanilla-php/usage/index.html). In each WordPress app you can also use these functions:

- `dump($variable)`: dump any kind of variable to the CLI.
- `dd($variable)`: dump any kind of variable to the CLI and terminate the script.

To use [the WordPress specific capabilities of Ray](/content/docs/php/wordpress/index.html), you should install `wordpress-ray` into the WordPress app.

### Manually cloning the repo

Inside the `wp-contents/plugins` directory run this command

```
git clone git@github.com:spatie/wordpress-ray
```

### Installing via the WordPress admin interface

Ray is also registered as [a plugin on WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/plugins/spatie-ray/). In the admin section of WordPress, go to "Plugins" > "Add New", and search for "Spatie Ray".

Install and activate the plugin.

### Must use plugins

By default WordPress loads your plugins in the following order:

- Checks for any must-use plugins directory (default = /wp-content/mu-plugins).
- Then, if you're running a multisite installation, it checks for plugins that are network-activated and loads those.
- Then it checks for all other active plugins by looking at the active_plugins entry of the wp_options database table, and loops through those. The plugins will be listed alphabetically.

If you wish to debug your plugins within the Ray app it is recommended that you install the plugin into your `/wp-content/mu-plugins` directory. Further details on Must Use Plugins can be [found here](https://wordpress.org/support/article/must-use-plugins/):

To install, inside the `wp-content/mu-plugins` directory run this command:

```
git clone git@github.com:spatie/wordpress-ray
```

Next, from the just created `wordpress-ray` directory, run this command:

```
composer install -o --no-dev
```

You'll then need to create `ray-loader.php` within `/wp-content/mu-plugins` and include the following code:

```
require WPMU_PLUGIN_DIR.'/wordpress-ray/wp-ray.php';
```

## Configuration

### Setting the environment variable

When developing locally you should have `WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE` set as `local` in your `wp-config.php` otherwise Ray won't work.

```
define( 'WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE', 'local' );
```

### Production environments

By default, Ray is disabled in production environments. If you want to use Ray in a production environment, you must explicitly enable it with `ray()->enable()`.

For more information about using the `enable()` function, see the [framework agnostic docs](/content/docs/php/vanilla-php/usage#enabling--disabling-ray/index.html).

## Usage

This section covers the WordPress-specific methods available in Ray. [All generic PHP methods](/content/docs/php/vanilla-php/usage/index.html) are also available in WordPress.

### Showing queries

You can display all queries that are executed by calling `showQueries` (or `queries`).

```
ray()->showQueries();
// somewhere else in your WordPress app
global $wpdb;
$result = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT * FROM wp_usermeta WHERE meta_key = 'points' AND user_id = '1'");
```

To stop showing queries, call `stopShowingQueries()`

### Displaying mails

To show all mails sent in Ray call `showMails()`.

```
ray()->showMails();
// somewhere else in your WordPress app
wp_mail('to@email.com', 'my subject', 'the content');
```

To stop showing mails, call `stopShowingMails()`.

### Displaying WordPress errors

To display all WordPress errors, call `showWordPressErrors()`

```
ray()->showWordPressErrors();
```

To stop showing errors, call `stopShowingWordPressErrors()`.

### Displaying WordPress hooks

To display all WordPress hooks, call `showHooks()`

```
ray()->showHooks();
```

To stop showing hooks, call `stopShowingHooks()`.

> ## What's next?
> Now that Ray is installed in your WordPress project, see what you can use it for.
> - [Learn how to use Ray with PHP](/content/docs/php/vanilla-php/usage/index.html)
> - [View all available methods](/content/docs/php/vanilla-php/reference/index.html)

Repository: [spatie/wordpress-ray](https://github.com/spatie/wordpress-ray)

## Debug without breaking your flow

Ray keeps all your debug output neatly organized in a dedicated desktop app.

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## Thanks for trying out Ray!

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