Semalt: WordPress Plugin Creation Practice
A WordPress plugin is the PHP script that alters your site in no time. It changes the overall look of a blog, and these changes could be anything from simple tweaks in the headers to the drastic makeovers. It's true that the themes can modify the overall look of your site, but the plugins can change how it performs its functions every day. With WordPress plugins, you can easily create custom posts, add new tables to the database, track the famous articles and link your content to other websites or blogs.
If you want to create a WordPress plugin for your own websites, you should bear in mind the following things stipulated by Andrew Dyhan, a leading expert of Semalt.
1. Plugin and theme modifications
If you have ever used WordPress, you must be familiar with the fact that a theme changes the overall layout of your site and a plugin helps you edit the functions.php file, giving you lots of powers and enabling you to improve the performance of the web pages. Go to the functions.php file and insert a specific code here. The plugin's functions persist regardless of the nature of themes you are using. The changes you make in the plugin will begin from the functions.php file, but this file has nothing to do with your theme.
2. Create a plugin folder
It's important to create a plugin folder and a single file with relevant content. For this, you should navigate to the wp-content/plugins area and create the new folder named as an awesome plugin. Here, you should create a file with the name of awesomeplugin.php. Once created, open that file and paste this code in that:
<?php
/*
Plugin: Awesomeness Creator
Plugin URL: http://www.abc.com
Version: 1.2
Author: My Website
Author URI: http://abc.com
License: GPL2
*/
3. Structuring your plugin
When it comes to creating complicated and sophisticated plugins, you should structure them properly and divide them into different categories based on their functions and performance. If the plugin belongs to a particular class, you can add it to the existing list of plugins and separate your files to avoid any confusion. Make sure you have created a balance between the layout, structure, and mechanism of your plugin. For this, you can split its files into different sections and seek the help of experts at Akismet and WP-PageNavi.
4. Naming the plugin
Now it's time to give a proper name to your plugin and check its functionalities properly before publishing it online. If the plugin has been generated with awesome excerpts, then you can name it as excerpt plugin or something you can easily remember. Make sure you don't use common names and give a try to unique prefixes. For instance, you can use "abc_excerpt" for a plugin that relates to excerpt and has the similar features.
5. Safety of your plugin
If you have plans to distribute the plugin, its safety should be your preference because other webmasters may steal your plugin code and spread it online, causing problems for you. Take as many security measures as possible and make sure your plugin does not spread bad data on the internet.