What you'll learn

Learn how to create your WordPress plugins and widgets
Once you have completed this training course, you will have learned how to create and distribute your own plugins using PHP and the WordPress API

Course content

9 sections • 49 lectures • 4h 4m total length

Important - Download These First - Working Files0:01
Introduction And Course Overview3:30
Explore how to extend WordPress with plugins by mastering the WordPress API, action and filter hooks, and creating custom post types, widgets, and templates.
About The Author1:01
Surveying The Existing Plugin Landscape4:34
Explore the WordPress plugin landscape by examining the official plugin directory, the beta testing area, and free-to-premium plugins, then engage communities at meetups and WordCamps to reuse existing solutions.
Creating A Theme VS A Plugin2:22

Setting Up A Local Web Server With MAMP4:37
Setting Up WordPress On MAMP3:43
Set up WordPress on MAMP by placing WordPress in the htdocs directory, configuring a local database via phpMyAdmin with utf-8 encoding, and running the WordPress installer at localhost/wordpress.
Setting Up A Local Web Server With DesktopServer5:48
Why And How To Use An IDE5:11
Setting Up The PhpStorm IDE For WordPress Development3:36
Optional: Configuring Xdebug And Connecting It To PhpStorm5:54
Configure xdebug with PhpStorm to debug WordPress locally, using Map Pro or Desktop Server, enable remote debugging, and use browser extensions to run and set breakpoints.
Finding And Using Online And Offline Documentation5:30
Explore online WordPress plugin documentation—from the Codex plugin API and action and filter references to developer.wordpress.org, plus offline tools like Dash and Velocity for quick access.
A Small Grab Bag Of Developer Tips6:56
Discover essential WordPress development tips using plugins like Query Monitor, WP Migrate DB, and WordPress Beta Tester; harness WP-CLI and WP Shell for efficient site management and troubleshooting.

Hooks, Actions, And Filters: A Developer's Interface With WordPress4:09
Learn how actions and filters—the hooks WordPress uses—let plugins modify responses, admin interfaces, and content. Discover how to add custom hooks, manage priorities, and extend WordPress safely without editing core.
Storing Data: Posts Or A Custom Database Table?4:28
Plugin Security: Authentication, Sanitizing, Escaping, And Nonces7:12

Make A Plan: The Data Model2:24
Register The Custom Post Type5:05
Create a WordPress plugin folder, register a custom post type named movie review using the init hook, and define labels, supports, and public visibility for readers.
Set Configuration Options For The Custom Post Type6:46
Add Activation And Deactivation Hooks4:56
Create Custom Fields Using Core WordPress3:57
Interface With Another Plugin For Better Custom Fields7:49
Integrate a third-party plugin, Meta Box, with your WordPress plugin to create and manage custom fields and meta boxes. Activate required plugins using the TGM Plugin Activation library.
Add A Taxonomy For Custom Categories6:07
Provide A Template For Themes6:44

Create A Widget For The Custom Posts5:02
Create a custom WordPress widget for movie reviews by extending WP_Widget and copying the recent posts widget. Initialize and register the widget in the plugin using widgets_init and register_widget.
Finish The Custom Widget8:43
Create An Options Page For Settings5:14
Register Settings And Sections5:59
Create The User Interface For The Custom Options6:57
Create a user interface for custom options in WordPress using the settings API, render rating input fields, store them as an array, and apply defaults.
Sanitize And Use The Options3:48
Add Your Own Hooks To Your Plugin6:35
Make Your Plugin Ready For Internationalization7:23
Prepare Your Plugin For Localization3:25

Expand The Possibilities Of WordPress With The REST API5:42
Use Transients To Cache Expensive Operations5:23
Explore how WordPress uses caching, focusing on the transients API to cache expensive data from third-party services, with a hands-on example of caching a slow API in a dashboard widget.
Implement The Transients API3:35
Implement the WordPress transients API to cache dashboard data, using get_transient and set_transient with expiration settings to speed up slow third-party requests and improve performance.
Create Custom Data Using The $wpdb Class8:37
React To Deactivation And Uninstallation Of Your Plugin8:29
Learn how to gracefully handle deactivation and uninstallation of a WordPress plugin, using deactivation and uninstall hooks to clean caches, rewrite rules, and database data while preserving data when needed.

Requirements

PC or MAC
Working files are included, allowing you to follow along with the author throughout the lessons

Description

In this Creating Plugins to Extend WordPress training course, expert author Joe Chellman will teach you how to create your own plugins using the WordPress API. This course is designed for users that already have a basic working knowledge of WordPress.

You will start by learning about the highlights of the WordPress API, then jump into creating your first plugin: a dashboard banner. From there, Joe will teach you how to create your second plugin, as well as how to further enhance your plugin, including how to create a widget for custom posts, register settings and sections, and prepare your plugin for localization. This video tutorial also covers additional plugin possibilities, such as using transients to cache expensive operations, implementing the transients API, and reacting to deactivation and uninstallation of your plugin. Finally, you will learn how to distribute your plugin, including how to publish independently on GitHub and submit to the WordPress plugin directory.

Once you have completed this computer based training course, you will have learned how to create and distribute your own plugins using PHP and the WordPress API. Working files are included, allowing you to follow along with the author throughout the lessons.

Who this course is for:

This course is designed for users that already have a basic working knowledge of WordPress
This course is geared towards WordPress users learning how to create WordPress plugins and widgets

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction5 lectures • 11min

Getting Ready8 lectures • 41min

Highlights Of The WordPress API3 lectures • 16min

Our First Plugin: A Dashboard Banner6 lectures • 30min

Our Second Plugin: Movie Reviews8 lectures • 44min

Further Enhancements For Our Plugin9 lectures • 53min

Additional Plugin Possibilities5 lectures • 32min

Distributing Your Plugin3 lectures • 14min

Conclusion2 lectures • 3min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: