Questions tagged [plugin-development]
WordPress Plugins allow easy modification, customization, and enhancement to a WordPress blog. Instead of changing the core programming of WordPress, you can add functionality with WordPress Plugins.
573
questions
99
votes
7
answers
18k
views
Where to put my code: plugin or functions.php?
Is there an easy to understand scheme to decide what kind of code belongs to a plugin or the theme’s functions.php?
There are many cases and many debates about that topic, mostly because there are ...
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36
votes
4
answers
10k
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Where do I put the code snippets I found here or somewhere else on the web?
Many posts here or somewhere else contain code, but they do not say where to put it.
Example:
I have found this post: How do I turn off 301 redirecting posts (not canonical)?
I'm a newbie with PHP. ...
- 361
59
votes
1
answer
22k
views
A tool to analyze rewrite rules? [closed]
Is there a good tool to analyze my rewrite rules? I always get confused with the regexes and the parameter replacements.
I have created something myself and will post it here so others can use it, ...
- 30.4k
51
votes
1
answer
9k
views
What's the preferred method of writing AJAX-enabled plugins?
I'm wondering what the preferred method is for dealing with AJAX calls. Should one use the same plugin php file to process the POST or a separate one? Which is cleaner or safer?
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108
votes
2
answers
60k
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Uninstall, Activate, Deactivate a plugin: typical features & how-to
I'm making a WordPress plugin. What are typical things I should include in the uninstall feature?
For example, should I delete any tables I created in the install function?
Do I clean up my option ...
- 2,439
40
votes
1
answer
25k
views
Settings API with arrays example
I'm using the Wrox WordPress plugin development book as a primary reference for getting started with a new plugin and I understand all settings can be saved as 1 array but the book does't give an ...
- 702
75
votes
18
answers
7k
views
WPSE Plugin Repository: The plugins that came out of WP-Answers
Link your WPSE-Plugins
If you answered a question and made a plugin out of your code, than this is your place to share it.
The Idea:
An old comment from @MikeSchinkel during the beta phase where he ...
138
votes
36
answers
18k
views
Objective Best Practices for Plugin Development? [closed]
Starting a community wiki to collect up objective best practices for plugin development. This question was inspired by @EAMann's comments on wp-hackers.
The idea is to collaborate on what objective ...
61
votes
4
answers
36k
views
Difference Between Filter and Action Hooks?
I have been looking at the plugin API a bit more in depth recently and I was wondering what real differences there were between action and filter hooks. They both are events that receive data as a ...
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108
votes
5
answers
74k
views
Best way to initiate a class in a WP plugin?
I've created a plugin, and of course being me, I wanted to go with a nice OO approach. Now what I've been doing is to create this class and then just below create an instance of this class:
class ...
- 1,193
20
votes
2
answers
22k
views
Custom pages with plugin
I'm developing some plugin where I would like to enable custom pages. In my case some custom page would contain a form like contact form (not literally). When user will fill out this form and send it, ...
- 205
8
votes
1
answer
15k
views
Export data as CSV in back end with proper HTTP headers
I wrote a plugin that displays all products in a woocommerce store in admin settings option, now I want to add a link to download the products as CSV file.
The problem is, when I click the link I get ...
- 183
67
votes
2
answers
113k
views
How can I add an image upload field directly to a custom write panel?
I've added a new page under "Pages" in the wordpress admin, and added several custom fields. I'd also like to be able to add an upload image field to the page editor - is there some way to do this via ...
- 893
16
votes
6
answers
12k
views
How to include jQuery and JavaScript files correctly?
I'm doing it right now with the following code:
function uw_load_scripts() {
// De-register the built in jQuery
wp_deregister_script('jquery');
// Register the CDN version
...
- 1,343
11
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Symbolic Links on dev box with plugins and stylesheets
I'm using mac os x 10.6 with xampp.
http://wp3.1/ is the url to where I have WordPress installed.
The physical path is /Users/myUserName/Sites/wp3.1/
I do not install plugins or themes in the "...
- 2,692
4
votes
1
answer
11k
views
How to Rewrite Wordpress URL for a Plugin
I am trying to build a Wordpress plugin here with a custom user admin area. What I would like to do is when the user adds /edit at the end of the page, it should open a page from my plugin. So for ...
- 1,088
75
votes
27
answers
12k
views
Software for WordPress Theme and Plugin Development? [closed]
What software do you use for your WordPress related needs?
Please state your OS.
On windows XP I use:
filezilla (FTP)
notepad++ (for reading of PHP / CSS files)
firebug (a firefox extension to ...
24
votes
1
answer
6k
views
What is the advantage of using wp_mail?
What is the advantage of using wp_mail() over mail(). Codex says they're similar, but they seem to be very similar.
- 3,022
15
votes
4
answers
6k
views
Update widget form after drag-and-drop (WP save bug)
I've posted a bug-report about this a few months ago (on WordPress trac (Widget Instance Form Update Bug)) and I thought I'd try writing about it here too. Maybe someone has a better solution to this ...
- 13.6k
52
votes
6
answers
9k
views
framework for plugin/theme options panel? [closed]
I found that the longest part of a plugin or theme development is creating the options panel, at least in my case.
So i like to know what's your take on that.
Do you use a ready made framework or ...
- 67.5k
22
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How to create an API for my plugin?
I have been developing plugins for WordPress, most plugins I have developed use two or three classes, hence not as huge as Buddypress or WooCommerce.
I am planning to develop two open source plugins ...
- 1,390
6
votes
1
answer
12k
views
Any examples of adding custom fields to the category editor?
I think I'm pretty close to cracking this nut :)
I'm trying to add a set of custom fields to the Category editor. Since I'm not dealing with post meta, I believe I'll be writing my custom category ...
- 5,666
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
What's the difference between hooks, filters and actions? [duplicate]
It seems like the terms hooks, filters and actions are used interchangeably. What's the difference between them? What do they do? How do I use them?
- 14.1k
80
votes
9
answers
181k
views
How to include PHP files in plugins the correct way
My problem is when on the main plugin file I include a PHP file something like this:
include(WP_PLUGIN_URL . '/wordpress-group-buying/ipn/paypal-ipn.php');
// or
include_once(WP_PLUGIN_URL . '/...
- 67.5k
30
votes
5
answers
86k
views
How to add a javascript snippet to the footer that requires jQuery
I know I can add a script file to the footer of wordpress that requires jquery using this code:
<?php
function my_scripts_method() {
// register your script location, dependencies and version
...
- 604
27
votes
5
answers
28k
views
How do I add CSS options to my plugin without using inline styles?
I recently released a plugin, WP Coda Slider, that uses shortcodes to add a jQuery slider to any post or page. I am adding an options page in the next version and I would like to include some CSS ...
- 20.6k
21
votes
3
answers
19k
views
Add custom TinyMCE 4 Button, Usable since WordPress 3.9-beta1
How is it possible to add a custom button to the visual editor TinyMCE, Version 4?
Currently I found this q&a with a little bit hints to the topic, but not a solution or a how to. But I can't ...
- 17k
14
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Strategy On Building Plugin Using Eclipse
Anyone who has experience in building wordpress plugin using eclipse PDT?
My situation is:
I need to build plugin that extend another plugin (look at it as premium version from another plugin)
I ...
- 1,461
10
votes
3
answers
14k
views
How Do I Use jQuery UI In My Plugin
It's a sad day in the world when I Google something and it returns nothing. I am trying to use the default datepicker (or ANY datepicker at this point) and am unable to because of my lack of ...
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83
votes
3
answers
28k
views
Autoloading & Namespaces in WordPress Plugins & Themes: Can it Work?
Has anyone used autoloading and/or PHP namespaces within a plugin or theme?
Thoughts on using them? Any harm? Pitfalls?
Note: namespaces are PHP 5.3+ only. Assume, for this question, that you know ...
- 21.3k
56
votes
5
answers
82k
views
How can you check if you are in a particular page in the WP Admin section? For example how can I check if I am in the Users > Your Profile page?
I'm building a plugin and I want to add bits of javascript in the admin head but only for certain admin pages. I don't mean pages as in a WordPress page that you create yourself but rather existing ...
- 1,555
30
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Enhance Media Manager for Gallery
I would like to enhance the Media Editor, after WordPress 3.5, on the gallery view.
I want to add a new select field on the right side and send the selected values to the gallery shortcode.
I think, ...
- 17k
29
votes
4
answers
55k
views
How do I create a custom role capability?
I wish to create a custom capability for accessing the interface of my plugin.
Should the plugin manage adding this capability to all the administrator accounts on activation?
If so: Does WordPress ...
- 2,290
18
votes
9
answers
12k
views
check if Gutenberg is currently in use
How can I check if the editor that is currently being used is Gutenberg in a WordPress plugin?
I need this because Gutenberg lacks post_submitbox_misc_actions, so I need a fallback which will only be ...
- 419
17
votes
4
answers
12k
views
Should Plugin Folders Include a Blank index.php File?
WordPress itself, in the wp-content folder, includes an empty PHP file which looks like this.
<?php
// Silence is golden.
?>
Should plugins include an empty file like this as well to stop ...
- 21.3k
17
votes
3
answers
21k
views
Pass PHP variable to javascript
Is there any possibility to pass some PHP variables in javascript so I can use them later?
Only in single.php.
I heard about wp_enqueue_scripts but with that it is neccesary to declare a path to a JS ...
15
votes
1
answer
29k
views
Where is the best place to use add_filter
Should I use the function add_filter In my plugin's init action hook or just the in the main plugin script?
Since sometimes I found people is using filter all over the place and if I put in the init ...
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10
votes
2
answers
8k
views
Redesigning Custom Post Type "Add New" page
I've been browsing all over google for a solution to this. I'm writing a custom post types plugin for work to log-in visitors that we get. I initially wrote a mock-up without custom post types, then I ...
- 1,536
9
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Get List of Registered Meta Boxes and Removing Them
Is there a function for getting a list of registered Meta Boxes and removing them? I see there is a method for adding, and removing.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/remove_meta_box
...
- 6,742
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How to create a flexible abstraction for WP_Query?
My question is about php but it involves wordpress as i am creating a plugin. The case is that i have 5 questions, each question have 6 choices and one choice to choose from each. Now the person would ...
- 484
6
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How can I add columns to the post edit listing to show my custom post data?
When you click on "Posts" or "Pages", you get a paged listing of your posts or pages with the following columns:
Title | Author | Categories | Tags | Date
I have a plugin which gives an SEO score ...
- 5,666
5
votes
3
answers
21k
views
Mapping multiple URLs to same page
I just came across this page with almost similar requirements as mine
Multiple endpoints to same page
i have to achieve same functionality but i also want to pass some parameters to the page where ...
- 529
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How to use a Must-Use plugin to hide a regular one and to hide itself?
When solving this issue ( Change admin language based on user (in single-site) ), I did a function so that the plugin would auto-hide from all users except one (me:).
The flaw is that it only auto-...
- 22k
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
Trying to avoid including wp-load.php
I am working a plugin where I am trying to connect an HR system with WordPress. There is an XML API on the HR system so I have written the plugin to take the data and put it into a WordPress database ...
- 159
125
votes
7
answers
106k
views
add_menu_page() with different name for first submenu item
The add_menu_page documentation says to pass the menu title as the second parameter:
add_menu_page('Page Title', 'Menu Title', ...);
When adding more pages later via add_submenu_page, the main page ...
- 1,533
45
votes
1
answer
11k
views
Should I use custom post types or a custom database tables for plugin development?
I'm fairly new to writing wordpress plugins, but I've jumped in the deep end already and I want to make sure I'm doing it "right" on my upcoming big project.
I'm going to be heavily extending ...
- 2,515
36
votes
5
answers
29k
views
What's the difference between term_id and term_taxonomy_id
The title says it all. At the moment in my custom taxonomies I'm getting the terms using the term id and taxonomy name.
Thought this question would've been asked before but can't find it anywhere! So ...
- 665
32
votes
5
answers
28k
views
Post meta vs separate database tables
When developing plugins that requires data storage, what's the pros and cons of using one method or another ?
The explanation given in the codex is not detailed:
Before jumping in with a whole new
...
- 423
32
votes
3
answers
21k
views
Why does WordPress use outdated jQuery v1.12.4?
While checking the source code, I saw that WordPress uses jQuery v1.12.4. Why does WordPress use this outdated version of jQuery?
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20
votes
5
answers
30k
views
"Error: Options Page Not Found" on Settings Page Submission for an OOP Plugin
I am developing a plugin using Tom McFarlin's Boilerplate repository as a template, which utilizes OOP practices. I've been trying to figure out exactly why I'm unable to correctly submit my settings. ...
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