options autoload = auto?

  • Sergio De Falco

    (@sgr33n)


    10 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi!

    I’ve noticed in my WordPress options table that some options have the autoload value set to auto. I couldn’t find any information about this in the Codex or online. I’d like to ask what this particular autoload value means.

    Thanks!

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Moderator threadi

    (@threadi)

    10 months, 2 weeks ago

    There is a section in the manual about this: https://developer.ww.wp.xz.cn/advanced-administration/performance/optimization/#autoloaded-options

    Thread Starter Sergio De Falco

    (@sgr33n)

    10 months, 1 week ago

    Hi @threadi, and thanks for your reply.

    I’m familiar with that page, but my question is specifically about the value ‘auto’ which I’m seeing in my wp_options table for the autoload column.

    The documentation you linked, as well as the Developer Reference for update_option(), clearly states that the $autoload parameter is a boolean, which is stored in the database as either true or false.

    Since I’m seeing ‘auto’, I’m wondering if this is perhaps a new, undocumented syntax or simply a non-standard value.

    My main technical question is how the WordPress core interprets it. I assume that during the wp_load_alloptions() process, any value other than the exact string ‘yes’ would cause the option not to be autoloaded, effectively treating it as ‘no’.

    Could you confirm if this assumption is correct? It would help me understand if this setting is a valid (though undocumented) option or simply an anomaly with no functional impact on autoloading.

    Thanks again for your time!

    Moderator threadi

    (@threadi)

    10 months, 1 week ago

    Technically speaking, this is not a Boolean value, as the column is not a Boolean column either. The WordPress core currently supports the following values for using an entry for autoload:

    ‘yes’, ‘on’, ‘auto-on’, ‘auto’

    These can be viewed here: https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress/blob/master/wp-includes/option.php#L3233

    yes and no are also considered deprecated since WordPress 6.7. These are still supported for historical reasons and for backward compatibility. New autoload entries are stored in the database with on or off as autoload value. See: https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress/blob/master/wp-includes/option.php#L397

    Thread Starter Sergio De Falco

    (@sgr33n)

    10 months, 1 week ago

    Hi @threadi,

    Thank you so much! This is an helpful and clear explanation. Pointing directly to the source code on GitHub was exactly what I needed to understand this recent change.

    Your answer also highlights an important point, the official Developer Reference page for update_option() appears to be out of sync with the core’s current behavior.

    https://developer.ww.wp.xz.cn/reference/functions/update_option/

    For the benefit of all the WordPress developers community I think it’s crucial that this page be updated, as of today (July 20, 2025), it still describes the $autoload parameter as a boolean value and legacy strings, while completely omitting the new ‘on’/’off’ standard and other valid values like ‘auto’.

    Thanks again for shedding light on this. It’s a very valuable clarification!

    Moderator threadi

    (@threadi)

    10 months, 1 week ago

    The boolean value in the function is correct, as stated in the documentation. Internally, however, WordPress works with on/off instead of boolean values because the column in the options table is a string column and not a boolean column. You are concerned with the values in this column, which is why I pointed out that they are strings.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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