Creating Plugins to Extend WordPress

Course Curriculum

Chapter 1: Introduction

Lecture 1: Important – Download These First – Working Files

Lecture 2: Introduction And Course Overview

Lecture 3: About The Author

Lecture 4: Surveying The Existing Plugin Landscape

Lecture 5: Creating A Theme VS A Plugin

Chapter 2: Getting Ready

Lecture 1: Setting Up A Local Web Server With MAMP

Lecture 2: Setting Up WordPress On MAMP

Lecture 3: Setting Up A Local Web Server With DesktopServer

Lecture 4: Why And How To Use An IDE

Lecture 5: Setting Up The PhpStorm IDE For WordPress Development

Lecture 6: Optional: Configuring Xdebug And Connecting It To PhpStorm

Lecture 7: Finding And Using Online And Offline Documentation

Lecture 8: A Small Grab Bag Of Developer Tips

Chapter 3: Highlights Of The WordPress API

Lecture 1: Hooks, Actions, And Filters: A Developer's Interface With WordPress

Lecture 2: Storing Data: Posts Or A Custom Database Table?

Lecture 3: Plugin Security: Authentication, Sanitizing, Escaping, And Nonces

Chapter 4: Our First Plugin: A Dashboard Banner

Lecture 1: Make A Plan And Mock It Up

Lecture 2: Create The Plugin Shell

Lecture 3: Find The Right Hooks

Lecture 4: Implementing The Hook We Found

Lecture 5: Refactoring The Plugin As A Class

Lecture 6: Adding CSS And/Or Javascript

Chapter 5: Our Second Plugin: Movie Reviews

Lecture 1: Make A Plan: The Data Model

Lecture 2: Register The Custom Post Type

Lecture 3: Set Configuration Options For The Custom Post Type

Lecture 4: Add Activation And Deactivation Hooks

Lecture 5: Create Custom Fields Using Core WordPress

Lecture 6: Interface With Another Plugin For Better Custom Fields

Lecture 7: Add A Taxonomy For Custom Categories

Lecture 8: Provide A Template For Themes

Chapter 6: Further Enhancements For Our Plugin

Lecture 1: Create A Widget For The Custom Posts

Lecture 2: Finish The Custom Widget

Lecture 3: Create An Options Page For Settings

Lecture 4: Register Settings And Sections

Lecture 5: Create The User Interface For The Custom Options

Lecture 6: Sanitize And Use The Options

Lecture 7: Add Your Own Hooks To Your Plugin

Lecture 8: Make Your Plugin Ready For Internationalization

Lecture 9: Prepare Your Plugin For Localization

Chapter 7: Additional Plugin Possibilities

Lecture 1: Expand The Possibilities Of WordPress With The REST API

Lecture 2: Use Transients To Cache Expensive Operations

Lecture 3: Implement The Transients API

Lecture 4: Create Custom Data Using The $wpdb Class

Lecture 5: React To Deactivation And Uninstallation Of Your Plugin

Chapter 8: Distributing Your Plugin

Lecture 1: Submitting To The WordPress.org Plugin Directory

Lecture 2: Publishing Independently On Github

Lecture 3: Ideas For Commercializing Your Plugin

Chapter 9: Conclusion

Lecture 1: Additional Resources And How To Contribute

Lecture 2: Wrap Up