Semalt: WordPress Plugin Development

WordPress CMS has a worldwide coverage of the application of different websites. WordPress gives startups and bloggers a reliable platform to set up and host their sites. They have robust methods and knowhow to make legitimate software for carrying out their activities. For WordPress, users can create websites and customize their themes through a variety of ways. In SEO, one of the most important ways of improving the functionality or your theme is through plugins.

Plugins are small PHP file snippets which contain aspects of code altering your theme features. In this SEO guideline, we will tackle different aspects of plugin development. You will know what the need for plugins as well as what plugins to build is. Anyone can create a WordPress plugin with basic PHP knowledge. It involves knowledge of the WordPress file structure as well as its administration panel.

Andrew Dyhan, a leading expert of Semalt, provides here some compelling issues in this regard.

The reasons people develop plugins

Plugins enhance the way our themes operate. You can quickly add an extra feature to your theme through the use of plugins. Plugins contain codes which perform tasks without altering the main code of your website. These PHP files are placed in the WordPress file structure. This change has many opportunities for people who may need to introduce new features to their website.

Just like popular CMS, WordPress has many advanced features which make most available plugins either close or far between. As a website developer, there is need to have flexibility in your back-end control. Also, PHP developers charge a lot of money to perform simple tasks such as plugin development. You can learn how to develop a WordPress plugin and save a fortune. Furthermore, the API is easy to use and learn.

Knowledge of the sidebar widgets, as well as other WordPress aspects, is essential for a developer. It is easy to know how systems work for the ease of diagnosis of problems.

Creating a WordPress plugin

WordPress plugins are pure PHP files. To create one, you need to create its folder in the plugins directory and add a blank PHP file. The folder name has to be the same to the file name. This should work to your theme on the functions.php file. The changes may be lost if you change the theme.

From here, you need to choose a theme header. The header contains special information about your plugin. This information may include the name, description, author or even version. Below is an example of a complete header;

<?php

Plugin Name: Your Plugin

Plugin URI: http://www.yourpluginurl.com/

Version: Current Version

Author: Name please

Description: What does your plugin do...

This is a complete plugin which you can turn on or off in the admin pale. However, this plugin cannot perform any task. You may need to add more code and functions to make it perform the functions you need. For instance, you can make it perform a task by adding a function:

add_action('save_post', 'notify');

When you complete the plugin, remember to upload and install it. This is the only way the changes can take effect.