Run Code Only Once in WordPress

You may have a function or some code that you only want to run one time on your WordPress site. You may notice that functions hooked on to admin_init can be fired twice.

Here is quick way to run your code only once. This will guarantee that it runs one, and only one, time.

Mandatory step: Insert your code or function call starting on line 9.

Code block 1

/**
 * Run code only once
 */
function my_run_only_once() {

    if ( get_option( 'my_run_only_once_01' ) != 'completed' ) {
 
        // PLACE YOUR CODE BELOW THIS LINE
         
 
 		
 
 
 
        update_option( 'my_run_only_once_01', 'completed' );
    }
}
add_action( 'admin_init', 'my_run_only_once' );

This also works if you change the hook on line 18 from admin_init to any hook you need.

Yes, this adds an option to your WordPress database. This is not a big deal for a one time thing. If you ever remove the above code, then you can afterward delete the option like this:

delete_option( 'my_run_only_once_01' );

If you want to run your code again, then delete the option with that line. You would do this if, for example, you change the code that you inserted into line 9. Or you replace the code on line 9 with some other code that you also want to run only once.

Beware though, if you leave this delete_option line on your server, then it will keep on deleting the option and so make your code from Code Block 1 run on every load. Again, don’t delete the option until you’ve removed the whole Code Block 1.

What I do to avoid this issue, if I need to run something again, is that instead of deleting the option, I rename the option. You can rename the option by changing my_run_only_once_01 on lines 6 and 15 to my_run_only_once_02. Later, if you need to run something else just once, you can change it to my_run_only_once_03.

Don’t delete those options until after you’ve removed the entire code snippet from Code Block 1.