Title: Adding custom php code Last modified: August 20, 2016 --- # Adding custom php code * [jeffrydell](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffrydell/) * (@jeffrydell) * [14 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-custom-php-code/) * I’m looking for a simple answer to a simply issue – hopefully conforming to WordPress Best Practices (if at all possible). * I don’t want to WRITE a plugin or a widget. If I need to USE one, that’s fine, but I don’t want to get in to new syntax if I can at all possibly avoid doing so. * My desire is to be able to include my forms and form processing in to pages in the simplest way possible, while keeping all my custom code in a separate directory on the site. So my WP install and the site home is [http://domain.com/wordpress](http://domain.com/wordpress), which means that home is [http://domain.com/wordpress/index.php](http://domain.com/wordpress/index.php). I have all my custom stuff in [http://domain.com/wordpress/my-includes](http://domain.com/wordpress/my-includes) * I have been using Exec-PHP plugin in the past and it worked fine for this as long as I was including a file in the site root ([http://domain.com/myFile.php](http://domain.com/myFile.php)), but now I’m having trouble properly referencing the file (Don’t know how to get to it … do I use /my-includes/file.html, ../my-includes/file.html, my-includes/ file.html … what? It seems that everything I try comes up with a php warning and fatal error that the file is not being found. * The one exception is when I use site_url() . /my-includes/file.html When I try to reference the file in that manner, I get an error that http:// is not allowed. * So what IS the right way to do what I want to do? Can I include custom html or php without a plugin? Is there a better plugin? Help! * Thanks! * Jeff Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total) * [racer x](https://wordpress.org/support/users/racer-x-1/) * (@racer-x-1) * [14 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-custom-php-code/#post-2407022) * > but I don’t want to get in to new syntax if I can at all possibly avoid doing > so. * There really is no new “syntax” for a plugin. It’s all php and WordPress hooks, filters, etc. * When including files it is sometimes best to use the full path which is why site_url()./ my-includes/file.html was able to access the file in question. You wouldn’t put a plugin file there anyway. You’d put it in your Plugins folder. * Anyway, you don’t really need a plugin that executes php in the content area to process forms. You can simply have the form action go to the file that actually processes the form. After processing, you can direct the user back to a regular page. (Like a thank you page, etc.) * Or create a [custom page template](http://codex.wordpress.org/Pages) file that has the php directly in the file itself. Not in the wordpress edit screen. * It is not advisable to have php allowed directly in edit screens anyway and that plugin has not been updated since 2009. You should only use plugins that are up to date. * Lastly, I am not a fan of plugins in general, though, if they are well received by the WP community, I try them out. There are MANY that are not only great, but almost silly “not” to use. For i.e. Contact form 7 is so easy to use I almost always use it for any site that wants a contact form. Take advantage of what the community has to offer! * Best of luck! * Thread Starter [jeffrydell](https://wordpress.org/support/users/jeffrydell/) * (@jeffrydell) * [14 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-custom-php-code/#post-2407033) * > When including files it is sometimes best to use the full path which is why > site_url() . /my-includes/file.html was able to access the file in question. * I was using php to include my form: * ```