Functions Reference

The public functions Benecaster provides for add-ons and themes. Each name links to its reference page with the signature, parameters and return value.

Access-tier

Function	Description
`benecaster_get_user_tier_for_show()`	Returns the active tier slug for a user’s subscription to a specific show.
`benecaster_user_can_access_episode()`	Returns whether a user can access a specific episode based on their active token tier and the episode’s tier availability datetimes.

Episode

Function	Description
`benecaster_add_episode_note()`	Adds a production note to an episode.
`benecaster_apply_default_credit()`	Public helper that applies the show’s default credit template to an episode.
`benecaster_get_episode_notes()`	The read counterpart to `benecaster_add_episode_note()`.
`benecaster_get_latest_episode_id()`	Returns the ID of a show’s latest episode, for building “newest episode” surfaces in theme code and add-ons without writing the query yourself.

Feed-token

Function	Description
`benecaster_follower_signup()`	Signs one email address up as a free follower of a show.
`benecaster_get_public_feed_url()`	Returns the canonical public (un-gated) feed URL for a show — the URL at `/podcast-feed/{slug}/` that anyone can access without a subscriber token.

Feeds

Function	Description
`benecaster_get_feed_url()`	Builds one subscriber’s private feed URL for one show, from a token you already hold.

Membership

Function	Description
`benecaster_bridge_supports_manual_membership()`	Returns whether the specified bridge supports programmatic manual subscriber creation — the operation behind the “Add subscriber manually” admin action.
`benecaster_count_paying_subscribers_site_wide()`	Counts paying subscribers across every show on the site, using the same definition of “paying” as benecaster_count_paying_subscribers() — a token type core doesn’t exempt (a deny list, not `token_type = 'subscriber'`) on a…
`benecaster_count_paying_subscribers()`	Counts paying subscribers for one show.
`benecaster_find_audience_user_ids()`	Resolves a broadcast audience slug to the WordPress user IDs it reaches — the public entry point for answering “who would this send go to?” without pulling anything out of the service container.
`benecaster_get_active_bridge_slug()`	Answers which membership system a show is connected to.
`benecaster_get_member_thanks_rows()`	Turns a list of user IDs into fully described Member Thanks rows.
`benecaster_get_subscriber_count()`	Returns how many active tokens a show has issued.
`benecaster_get_subscriber_data()`	Looks up a subscriber’s Benecaster state for one show, starting from their email address.
`benecaster_get_user_badges()`	Returns the badges a subscriber has earned, both the ones their tier grants automatically and any an admin gave them by hand, merged and ordered oldest first.
`benecaster_get_user_id_by_subscriber_email()`	Resolves an email address to a WordPress user ID, or `0`.
`benecaster_payment_test_mode_active()`	Whether payments in the requested scope are running against test credentials rather than live ones.
`benecaster_render_user_badges()`	Renders a subscriber’s badge chips as HTML, so a theme can show them anywhere without knowing how badges are stored or styled.
`benecaster_resolve_wall_display_name()`	Canonical function for resolving the name shown on community surfaces — the Supporter Wall, `[benecaster_member_thanks]`, and any add-on that needs to display a subscriber’s name consistently.
`benecaster_set_active_bridge()`	Connects a show to a membership system programmatically — the same value the bridge picker in Settings → Subscription writes, so the UI reflects it on next page load.
`benecaster_user_has_buyup()`	Checks whether a subscriber has bought a particular buy-up on a particular show.

Settings

Function	Description
`benecaster_register_addon()`	Registers an add-on’s boot-time bootstrap with core’s system-level entitlement gate, replacing the manual `any_show_addon_is_active()` check the Add-on Integration Pattern previously asked every add-on to write inline.

Show-episode-description

Function	Description
`benecaster_get_episode_description()`	Returns an episode’s description — the text that appears in podcast apps — for use in theme code, template overrides, and add-ons.
`benecaster_get_show_description()`	Returns a show’s description for use in theme code, template overrides, and add-ons.

Template

Function	Description
`benecaster_account_page_url()`	Returns the URL of the subscriber account page — where a listener goes to see their feed URL, reset a token, or manage their subscription.
`benecaster_activate_template()`	Activates a design template by slug — either a built-in (`default-light`, `default-dark`) or one installed from a zip by `benecaster_install_template()`.
`benecaster_get_active_template()`	Returns the manifest of the design template currently in force.
`benecaster_get_footer()`	The closing half of `benecaster_get_header()`, with the same three behaviours: the `footer` block template part on block themes, `get_footer()` on classic themes, and silence on themes that have no footer file.
`benecaster_get_header()`	Prints the site header in a way that works on both classic and block themes.
`benecaster_get_installed_templates()`	Returns every design template the site can activate, active or not — the two built-ins shipped with the plugin first, then anything installed from a zip.
`benecaster_get_template_part()`	Renders one of Benecaster’s template parts, resolving it through your child theme, then your parent theme, then any directory an add-on registered with `benecaster_register_template_directory()`, then the plugin’s own copy.
`benecaster_get_template_path()`	Returns the file `benecaster_get_template_part()` would load for a given part, checking child theme, then parent theme, then each registered add-on directory in registration order, then the plugin default.
`benecaster_install_template()`	Validates and installs a Benecaster design template from a zip file.
`benecaster_locate_template()`	Answers one question: has the theme overridden this template part?
`benecaster_register_template_directory()`	Registers a directory that Benecaster will look in when resolving template parts, so an add-on can ship its own parts and override core’s defaults.

Utilities

Function	Description
`benecaster_addon_is_active_for_any_show()`	The install-wide counterpart to benecaster_addon_is_active(), mirroring `benecaster_any_show_is_premium()`.
`benecaster_addon_is_active()`	Answers whether an add-on may be used on a particular show, resolving two questions in order: is it granted (does this show’s license entitle it?) and is it enabled (has the podcaster left it switched on for this show?).
`benecaster_get_field()`	Reads one custom field value off one object.
`benecaster_get_fields()`	Reads every value in a field group off one object, keyed the way you named the fields.
`benecaster_get_license_plan()`	Returns which plan the site is on.
`benecaster_get_live_referral_balance()`	The podcaster’s referral credit balance, fetched live from the licence server.
`benecaster_get_notify_referral_updates()`	Reads the podcaster’s answer to Email me when referral credits are earned or applied on the Refer a Friend page.
`benecaster_get_over_limit_show_ids()`	Returns the show IDs currently disabled because the site is over its plan’s show limit.
`benecaster_get_plan_label()`	Turns a plan slug into the name a podcaster would recognise.
`benecaster_get_referral_code()`	Returns the customer’s referral code from the locally cached `benecaster_license_referral_code` option.
`benecaster_get_referral_credit_cents()`	The credit figure Benecaster last stored from the daily validation run.
`benecaster_get_referral_link()`	Returns the podcaster’s own referral URL, ready to share.
`benecaster_get_sole_show_id()`	Returns the show ID on a single-show install, and nothing on a multi-show one.
`benecaster_is_premium()`	Returns whether a valid premium license is active for the given show.
`benecaster_mail()`	Sends an ad-hoc email carrying Benecaster’s sender identity — a drop-in for `wp_mail()` in add-on code.
`benecaster_register_field_cpt()`	Opens your own post type up to Benecaster’s field groups, so podcasters can attach custom fields to it the same way they do to episodes.
`benecaster_rest_permission_admin()`	Permission callback for an add-on REST route that requires a site admin.
`benecaster_send_email()`	Sends one Benecaster email to a WordPress user through the full dispatch pipeline.
`benecaster_update_field()`	Writes one custom field value onto one object.

See Also

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Last updated September 21, 2026