Title: Plugin – Custom settings won’t save
Last modified: June 2, 2017

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# Plugin – Custom settings won’t save

 *  Resolved [danieltj](https://wordpress.org/support/users/danieltj/)
 * (@danieltj)
 * [9 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-custom-settings-wont-save/)
 * Hi,
 * I’m trying to make a plugin which has settings on a custom page within the WordPress
   admin area but it’s not working at all.
 * I have a new page located at `admin.php?page=CustomPlugin`.
 * Then, in a function I have the following:
 *     ```
       add_option('abc_plugin', '0');
       register_setting('abc_plugin_group', 'abc_plugin');
       ```
   
 * Which is working because it’s adding the settings to the database which is fine.
   However when I go to my page, I edit the fields and save but non of the options
   are being updated.
 * I’ve got the following functions in my template:
 *     ```
       <form method="post" name="core-settings">
       <?php settings_fields('abc_plugin_group');
       do_settings_sections('abc_plugin_group'); ?>
   
       [...]
   
       <?php submit_button(); ?>
   
       </form>
       ```
   
 * What am I doing wrong here?
 * Do I need to use `add_settings_section()` and `add_settings_field()` because 
   I’ve checked other plugins and they don’t seem to use these functions because
   they’re on special, custom plugin pages.
 * Please help!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [9 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-custom-settings-wont-save/#post-9196278)
 * Yes, you do need to add settings sections and fields, especially if you want 
   do_settings_sections() to output your fields on your settings screen. If you 
   don’t want to use sections, you can just add the fields and call do_settings_fields().
   I don’t use the Settings API myself very much, so I may be misremembering. I 
   think register_setting() is intended for adding individual settings to existing
   admin screens, like Settings > General for example. It’s the fields and sections
   you want to use for your own admin screens.
 * Be sure you make API function calls from within a callback hooked to ‘admin_init’.
   If you haven’t seen it yet, review the Settings API in the [Plugin Handbook](https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/settings/settings-api/).
 * You are not going to want to use this line without a conditional: `add_option('
   abc_plugin', '0');` As it is, this will reset the value stored to 0 on every 
   request. Even if properly saved when you click “Submit”, on the very next request
   that line will reset it back to 0 again. It’s reasonable to want to assign an
   initial value, that is best done from your plugin activation hook. Or at least
   first try getting the value and only set it to 0 if nothing is returned.
 *  Thread Starter [danieltj](https://wordpress.org/support/users/danieltj/)
 * (@danieltj)
 * [9 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-custom-settings-wont-save/#post-9197060)
 * Thanks for your reply! It turns out there were two things wrong which I needed
   to fix. The first was that I needed to use the settings field and section functions
   but I also needed to add `action="options.php"` to the form tag to make sure 
   the data was passed on correctly even though my plugin pages are on `admin.php`.
 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [9 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-custom-settings-wont-save/#post-9200089)
 * You’re welcome. Good catch on options.php! I’m afraid I didn’t even look at that
   aspect. Teamwork FTW!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

The topic ‘Plugin – Custom settings won’t save’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [functions](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/functions/)

 * In: [Developing with WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/wp-advanced/)
 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * Last activity: [9 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-custom-settings-wont-save/#post-9200089)
 * Status: resolved

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