WordPress Plugin Development -> Deep dive discovery!

Explore WordPress plugin technology and how plugins extend core functionality for site admins, while learning live site setup, hosting, and file transfer.

Explore the WordPress plugin structure and the plugins folder, learn how to create a custom plugin folder, and configure the header with name, description, author, and version.

Explore how the WordPress loop renders content between header, footer, and sidebar, and how to hook into it with actions and filters. Use hook name, function, and parameters to customize.

Explore WordPress plugin shortcodes as macros that let end users or site admins display dynamic content on posts or pages, such as a member_list shortcode.

Explore WordPress plugin admin access, metadata handling, and widget development. Learn to attach name-value metadata to posts, access it via the open interface, and create admin pages.

Explore how to create custom tables, taxonomies, and post types in WordPress, leveraging the underlying database and functions like register activation to manage data with clarity and flexibility.

Explore MySQL, an open-source relational database within the LAMP stack, and learn core SQL operations—select, insert, update, and delete—on tables like member_list using phpMyAdmin.

Learn how to identify a WordPress MySQL database name by inspecting wp-config.php on a remote site, noting the database name, prefix, and user, then open it on a local server.

Open phpMyAdmin in the hosting control panel, view databases, create a simple test table with an id primary key and several fields, then insert data and export the database.

Set up a bootstrap prototype by copying the basic template, linking the latest bootstrap CDN and javascript, and saving as an HTML file to verify bootstrap runs in the browser.

Create a shortcode prototype to render a member list as an html table with name, email, and phone columns, styled with bootstrap classes, paving the way for an admin interface.

Explore an admin prototype for a WordPress plugin, replicating a shortcode result with a member list, an action column, and edit buttons using Bootstrap components and icons.

Develop a member list detail prototype using a bootstrap template and a panel form, with fields for name, phone, and email, plus update, cancel, and delete actions, for WordPress plugin.

Start from scratch to build a member list plugin skeleton for WordPress, create the plugin file with headers and constants, and activate it in a local development environment.

Define constants for the plugin, establish a clean file structure with includes, and create a shortcode handler to process the shortcode.

Create a WordPress plugin shortcode that handles a form and displays a member list in a neat table by querying the database with WPDB and rendering name, phone, and email.

Test the WordPress plugin shortcode on the server, fix syntax errors and missing semicolons, and upload files to verify the [member list] shortcode works.

Learn how to add a new admin menu item and sub menu in a WordPress plugin, build menu pages with appropriate capabilities, and integrate dash icons for navigation.

Explore how WordPress plugin admin handles forms, submissions, and controlled data flow, including empty string action parameters, a custom switch function, and linking display and handle functions.

Connect the member list to the admin menu to display member list with edit buttons and a new member button. Reuse the shortcode-like PHP function number_list_list to render the page.

Learn to display the actionable list of members in a WordPress plugin admin, converting prototype functionality into real form actions, buttons, and Bootstrap styling.

Hook bootstrap CSS into the WordPress admin to render member list buttons, by creating a simple function, adding the bootstrap CDN code, and fixing syntax errors for the admin interface.

Master the WordPress plugin admin switch function to handle form actions and post-action flows, routing insert, delete, and update cases and displaying the member list.

Program the WordPress plugin admin display page to edit a single member by fetching the member by ID, populating the edit form, and wiring update, cancel, and delete actions.

Fix edit form post handling by making the cancel action post instead of get, hide get parameters, and post the member ID to enable delete, cancel, and update operations.

Implement the delete button in the edit form by reading the post id, constructing and executing a delete statement, testing on the admin page, and confirming the deletion.

Implement the edit form update action by gathering id, name, email, and extra, then use the update function with the table name and where clause to apply changes.

Implement the new member insert page and connect the add new menu item in the WordPress plugin admin, reusing the list function, adding permission checks, and handling post actions.

Copy an existing insert page, rename it for a new member, and remove database handling. Upload to the plugin and verify the insert button creates the member.

Copy and adapt the existing insert function, using the switch-based update as a basis to handle adding a new member in the WordPress plugin, removing the id.

Finish the WordPress plugin course and consider leaving a star review. Engage in discussions and live Q&A to shape new lectures or courses.