title: var_dump inside wordpress functions.php
body: <p><strong>what I want to do:</strong> my contact form 7 is very simple. I have a input field and a submit button. I want to manipulate the data from the textfield instead of (or maybe before, but for now just say, instead of) sending an email. let's say I want to add 1 to the number entered and display it on the screen.
  my cf7:</p>
  
  <pre><code>[number* textfield]
  [submit "Senden"]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><strong>my functions.php:</strong> at the end of my <code>functions.php</code>, i have the following code.</p>
  
  <pre><code>add_action("wpcf7_before_send_mail", "wpcf7_datamanipulate");  
  function wpcf7_datamanipulate($cf7) {
      $wpcf = WPCF7_ContactForm::get_current();
      if (true) 
          $wpcf-&gt;skip_mail = true; 
      return $wpcf;
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>this works quite well for skipping the mail. perfekt. Now I want to <code>var_dump</code> or <code>print_r</code> the content of <code>$wpcf</code> so I know where the number is stored I entered earlier.</p>
  
  <pre><code>var_dump($wpcf);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>doesn't seem to work in the <code>functions.php</code> - nor does a simple <code>echo</code>.</p>
  
  <p>I also tried to kill the script right after <code>var_dump()</code> with <code>die()</code>, but the content of <code>$wpcf</code> isn't working. </p>
  
  <p>what can I use to display the data I need to work with in my function?</p>
  
  <p>thanks a lot!</p>