Hooks and Filters

The wp-show-user-role-frontend snippet integrates with the WordPress Shortcode API to provide a simple, declarative way to display user metadata on the frontend.

Shortcode Reference

The primary public interface for this utility is the [user_role] shortcode.

[user_role]

Retrieves and displays the role slug of the currently logged-in user.

• Input: None.
• Output: A string representing the user's primary role (e.g., administrator, editor, author, subscriber).
• Default Behavior: Returns an empty string if the visitor is not logged in or if no role is assigned to the user.

Basic Usage: You can place the shortcode directly into any post, page, or widget area that supports shortcodes.

Welcome! Your current access level is: [user_role]

PHP Usage: To use this functionality directly within your theme template files (such as header.php or author.php), use the do_shortcode() function:

<?php echo do_shortcode( '[user_role]' ); ?>

WordPress Execution Hooks

The snippet utilizes standard WordPress hooks to ensure the shortcode is available throughout the site lifecycle.

Shortcode Registration

The function is registered via the add_shortcode() interface. This allows the WordPress parser to recognize the [user_role] tag when it processes the content of a post or page.

By default, when you include this snippet in your functions.php file, it becomes available during the Initialization (init) phase of the WordPress load order.

Contextual Execution

The snippet executes during the rendering of the post content. It performs a runtime check using the following WordPress internal states:

1. Authentication Check: It identifies the current visitor via wp_get_current_user().
2. Role Extraction: It accesses the roles property of the WP_User object.
3. Data Sanitization: The role is returned as a string, ensuring it is safe for display within HTML content.

Extending the Output

While the snippet does not provide custom action hooks by default, the output can be modified by wrapping the shortcode in a custom function or using standard WordPress filters.

Example: Translating or Formatting the Role If you need to change the output (e.g., from "administrator" to "Site Admin"), you can modify the app.php logic to include a custom filter:

// In app.php, you can apply a filter to the role string
return apply_filters( 'wsurf_user_role_output', $user_role );

You can then hook into this in your theme:

add_filter( 'wsurf_user_role_output', function( $role ) {
    return ucfirst( $role ); // Capitalizes the first letter
});