Professional WordPress Plugin Development

Extend WordPress with plugins using this advanced WordPress development book, updated for the current version

This significantly updated edition of Professional WordPress Plugin Development addresses modern plugin development for WordPress, the highly popular content management system (CMS). If you’re using WordPress to create and manage websites, WordPress plugins are the software that can extend or enhance CMS functionality. This book offers guidance on writing plugins for WordPress sites to share or sell to other users.

The second edition of Professional WordPress Plugin Development covers the building of advanced plugin development scenarios. It discusses the plugin framework and coding standards as well as dashboards, settings, menus, and related application programming interfaces (APIs). Additional topics include security, performance, data validation, and SQL statements.

•   Learn about the power of hooks in WordPress

•   Discover how JavaScript and Ajax will work in your site

•   Understand key technologies: Block Editor/Gutenberg, JS/React, PHP, and the REST API

•   Create and use custom post types and taxonomies.

•   Creating custom dashboard menus and plugin settings

•   Work with users and user data

•   Schedule tasks and utilizing Cron

•   Performance and security considerations

Written by experienced plugin developers, Professional WordPress Plugin Development also helps you internationalize and localize your WordPress website. Find out about debugging systems and optimizing your site for speed. As WordPress use continues to increase, you can elevate your professional knowledge of how to extend WordPress through plugins.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 An Introduction to Plugins

CHAPTER 2 Plugin Framework

CHAPTER 3 Dashboard and Settings

CHAPTER 4 Security and Performance

CHAPTER 5 Hooks

CHAPTER 6 JavaScript

CHAPTER 7 Blocks and Gutenberg

CHAPTER 8 Content

CHAPTER 9 Users and User Data

CHAPTER 10 Scheduled Tasks

CHAPTER 11 Internationalization

CHAPTER 12 REST API

CHAPTER 13 Multisite

CHAPTER 14 The Kitchen Sink

CHAPTER 15 Debugging

CHAPTER 16 The Developer Toolbox

About the authors

Brad Williams is CEO and cofounder of WebDevStudios, a WordPress design and development firm. He is coauthor of Professional WordPress Design and Development.

Justin Tadlock is a plugin and theme developer with over a decade of professional experience. He currently writes for WP Tavern.

John James Jacoby has authored dozens of popular WordPress plugins and leads the development of bbPress and BuddyPress. He has contributed to every major WordPress version since 2008.