How to Write a Wordpress Plugin

How to Write a Wordpress Plugin Series

How to Write a Wordpress Plugin, written by Ronald Huereca is an extensive, twelve entry series on the process of creating your own Wordpress plugin. Every step is covered, from “Seven Steps for Writing a Wordpress Plugin” all the way down to adding ajax to your plugin and releasing it. This is an excellent article series for anyone interested in the process behind creating your very first Wordpress plugin. With code examples to help assist you, you will be on your way to future releases of your own plugins for the Wordpress community.

Table of Contents: How to Write a Wordpress Plugin

  1. How to Write a WordPress Plugin - Introduction
  2. Seven Reasons to Write a WordPress Plugin
  3. How to Get Ideas for Wordpress Plugins
  4. Structure of a Wordpress Plugin
  5. WordPress Plugin Actions
  6. WordPress Plugin Filters
  7. Constructing a WordPress Plugin Admin Panel
  8. Constructing a WordPress Plugin User’s Panel
  9. WordPress Plugins and Database Interaction
  10. Using JavaScript and CSS with your WordPress Plugin
  11. Using AJAX with your WordPress Plugin
  12. Releasing and Promoting Your WordPress Plugin

New: Download the Series

We have now made it even easier for you to learn what it takes to write a Wordpress Plugin. You can download the full length PDF which includes all code samples and images - just like the live versions of the articles!

Download the PDF Now

Linking to this series

As this is the new home to the series, please direct your permalinks and direct links to this page, so readers can navigate their way through the entire series.

Supporting the series

If you found this series helpful, we’d love to know. Please let us know what you thought in the comments. You can also digg this article series to expose it to more potential readers.

  • Post Time June 29, 2007 at 10:09 am (permalink)

    Hello,
    Incredible and detailed information. Everything about a wordpress plugin. Sometimes I found great posts like this one. I wonder how much time you invested. Thanks for sharing the content, and Congrats.

  • Post Time June 30, 2007 at 11:01 am (permalink)

    I like this series a lot, but I’d like to know how to add my own custom template tags. I’ve written the function, but if I add the function within the custom plugin class, it isn’t available for use in the loop. If I take it out of the plugin class, it can’t use the $pluginOptions database.

    Help appreciated, this is an awesome series, and I think the web could use some more detailed information regarding writing WP plugins.

  • Post Time July 1, 2007 at 7:55 am (permalink)

    Got it. For anybody wondering, I placed the function outside the class iconoPlugins, and used :
    $settings = $icono_plugin->getAdminOptions(); after declaring the $icono_plugin variable as global.

  • Comment Author aj
    Post Time July 1, 2007 at 8:28 am (permalink)

    Thanks for sharing Mukund!

  • Post Time July 1, 2007 at 8:12 pm (permalink)

    Mukund,

    Didn’t see your comment (was on vacation for a week). Glad you figured it out and thanks for the kind words.

  • Post Time July 16, 2007 at 2:33 am (permalink)

    Wow! Thanks so much for this incredible resource for WP plugin developers and more thanks even for providing the series in one PDF which can be downloaded. I have developed two WP plugins for CPanel available at my website BUT I intend to develop others using your techniques. I hope it will be simpler and also more easier THOUGH I haven’t yet grasped OOP.

    Could you also provide a single download collection of all the code which have been used in the series? On my side, I have already downloaded all the codes BUT I guess it will help new readers who haven’t downloaded the code as yet to find it in a central place.

    Thanks again for your efforts to come up with this.

  • Post Time August 25, 2007 at 8:07 pm (permalink)

    You totally rock!
    I can’t wait to apply the info you’ve given to save my plugin that currently kills everything!

  • Post Time December 16, 2007 at 5:05 pm (permalink)

    Fantastic, I’ve just downloaded the guide and am ready to take a good read. Thanks in advance, this is fantastic!

  • Comment Author rmf
    Post Time December 24, 2007 at 9:06 pm (permalink)

    Hey, thanks for the tutorial. Just used it to make my first WordPress plugin. Sweet! Glad I took the time to look this over!

  • Comment Author rastadidi
    Post Time January 16, 2008 at 11:44 am (permalink)

    thanks a lot for this tutorial, it helps me a lot for my work. it’s simple and clear enough even for a non-english person !
    tu jous mn gars !!!!!!!! :D

  • Post Time February 10, 2008 at 6:10 pm (permalink)

    That’s a real treasure! Thanks a lot!

  • Post Time May 12, 2008 at 2:37 pm (permalink)

    Great series of articles! Thanks!

  • Comment Author milon
    Post Time May 16, 2008 at 5:17 am (permalink)

    Great tutorial to start.I have developed a simple plugin by reading your excellent document. I have activated my newly created plugin form login to wap-admin. But now how can i check it’s functionality. How can I be sure that my plugin works correctly? Mean how i use this plugin.I am new in this if any one can please help me to go forward. I am eagerly waiting for your help.My mail add: toget_try[at]yahoo[dot]com

  • Note: If you are commenting here for the first time, your comment will be sent into a moderation queue before being published. Please use your email address in order to identify yourself for your future comments. Clean XHTML: Use standards ready code tags in your comments. For example, cite a comment or phrase from an article with < blockquote > tags.

    About this author

    LoginRonald is frequently found laying his thoughts out in strong, straight-forward articles on various web related topics. He is the author of the popular WordPress plugin Ajax Edit Comments, and writes for WeblogToolsCollection and the Reader Appreciation Project. See more posts by Ronald Huereca, or visit Ronald Huereca's homepage.

    Subscribe

    SubscribeFirst time here, or frequent flyer. Whatever the case may be, we highly recommend subscribing to our feeds so you can get the latest updates without visiting the site. It's just a thought - don't say we didn't tell you so.

    Sponsors

    PSD to HTML, PSD to XHTML Service by PSD2HTML.com. You Design - We XHTML / CSS.

    Related Content

    Close
    E-mail It