Custom WordPress Plugin Developer Roadmap

Typically a custom website will need custom plugins. This roadmap is your guide to becoming a Custom WordPress Plugin Developer. It systematically guides you on your journey to build and grow your proficiencies, expertise, and career. It covers all aspects of custom WordPress plugin development.

Are you new to web development or programming? Or is your local web development machine not setup yet? If yes, then click here.

You will want to do the Absolute Beginner series first.

And make sure that your machine is setup and ready to go. Check out this article to setup your Sandbox, Kint, Whoops, etc.

Make sure you setup Kint on your machine as you'll use it here.

Check out this article to setup your Sandbox, Kint, Whoops, etc.

Do you need to build your CSS and/or HTML technical chops? Then click here.

Every web developer needs to know HTML and CSS. As a theme developer, you need to have a high proficiency in both in order to quickly build amazing themes. Here are some resources for you:

• HTML & CSS – Codecademy
• HTML Essential Training – Lynda.com
• HTML / CSS Path – Code School
• Become a front-end developer – Thinkful
• HTML Fundamentals – Pluralsight

14 Episodes
02:18:22 Runtime

Introduction to WordPress Web Development - Absolute Beginnersfree

In the first part of Absolute Beginner's Guide to Web Development series, you will be introduced to websites, browsers, and programming. Let's talk about the roles of the various technologies and programming languages. You'll also learn about the role of plugins and themes in relationship to a WordPress website.

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16 Episodes
03:21:32 Runtime

PHP 101: Gentle Introduction to WordPress Programmingfree

Welcome to WordPress programming. In this hands-on code building lab, you are going to get a gentle introduction into PHP programming. This lab assumes that you do not know anything about programming or PHP. You'll start at the beginning and incrementally learn the major concepts and instructions you'll encounter. It's PHP 101.

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14 Episodes
01:50:52 Runtime

PHP Variables Bootcamp

In order to be proficient in PHP, you need to first know variables. It's learn and do time. In this lab, you are focusing on user-defined variables, the data they represent, how they are passed and assigned into function parameters' list, naming, and their scope. For Pro members, you learn more about the PHP internals, how variables are linked to their data, and how memory moves around under the hood.

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7 Episodes
01:07:16 Runtime

PHP Conditional Expressions

Conditional expressions are an essential in programming, yet they are largely misunderstood. In this bootcamp lab, you will discover how complex expressions are evaluated as well as falsey states, assignments in the expression, and much more. Roll up your sleeves as it's time to dive deep into PHP conditional expressions.

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15 Episodes
02:50:33 Runtime

PHP String Building and Processing Basics

As developers, we need to build and process dynamic strings. Our code pulls in information from various sources, assembles it, and then renders it out to the browser. PHP provides a powerful function library to help us. In this hands-on lab, you will learn about the basics of PHP string building and processing.

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14 Episodes
02:25:26 Runtime

Ins and Outs of PHP Namespace for WordPress

PHP Namespace gives you the means to encapsulate your code modules to improve readability and prevent code naming collisions. In this hands-on lab, you will migrate from prefixing convention to PHP namespacing. You will learn the ins and outs of namespacing.

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Hooking into WordPress: What the Heck is a Hook?

Actions. Filters. Events. Hooks. You read about these terms all the time in tutorials and codex. You see code snippets with add_action, add_filter, and apply_filters. What the heck is a hook? What does it do? And why should you care about learning the event management system in WordPress? Stop pulling your hair out and give me a few minutes of your time to explain it in layman's terms.

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8 Episodes
01:17:56 Runtime

WordPress Plugin API - Introduction & Registering Event Hooks

The Event System in WordPress Plugin API is the cornerstone for developers, as it allows you to extend, enhance, and change the behavior of WordPress. In this lab, you will be introduced to the event-driven mechanism. Then you'll get to work registering callbacks for events (actions and filters) to help you know this important API. Let's dig into add_filter and add_action.

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Developer's Guide to Differentiating WordPress Content - Post Types

As developers, it can be confusing to understand the intent and role of the mechanisms in WordPress to differentiate content. What are post types, taxonomies and terms, and custom fields? Why do they exist? When do you use the built-in ones? When do you build a custom one? We need a definitive guide that provides structure and best practices for differentiating content. We need a Developer's Guide. In this first part of the series, we'll discuss the why, what, and when of the WordPress post type from both a technical and practical perspectives.

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2 Timing Mistakes When Removing a WordPress Callback Hook

You want to remove some callback hook in WordPress. You keep trying, but it's not working. Argh, why isn't it working? Did you know that timing is important? There are two (2) common timing mistakes when removing (or attempt to remove) a WordPress callback hook. Let's explore these timing mistakes and then give you some strategies to master the remove process every single time.

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8 Episodes
00:49:58 Runtime

WordPress Built-in Post Type Basics

Out-of-the-box, WordPress gives you built-in post types. In this hands-on lab, you will interact and change the built-in post types including the configured features. This is an introduction to post types, which will prepare you for building custom post types.

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10 Episodes
01:17:16 Runtime

WordPress Built-in Taxonomy Basics

Out-of-the-box, WordPress gives you built-in taxonomies which are used to group like or similar content together. You use categories and tags to add contextual information about the content and give readers additional mechanisms to explore and discover. In this hands-on lab, you will interact with and change the built-in taxonomies. This is an introduction to taxonomies, which will prepare you for building your own custom taxonomies.

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Get Familiar with WordPress Posts Database Table

Have you ever opened up your database? Have you poked around in there to understand the layout and different buckets of content and information? In today’s quick tip, you’ll look at the wp_posts database table. You’ll learn about basic database terminology, such as record, row, primary key, and columns. You’ll see how the columns within a record relate to the content you see in the WordPress back-end.

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13 Episodes
02:08:59 Runtime

Introduction to Databases

Dynamic content requires a storage system to retain the content, settings, and information. WordPress uses MySQL as its relational database. In this hands-on lab, you will dig into the WordPress database structure, do basic raw SQL queries, and learn about the relationship between WordPress and its database.

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16 Episodes
02:32:33 Runtime

Introduction to jQuery and JavaScript

jQuery provides you with a feature-rich suite of tools to simplify your JavaScript code. In this hands-on code building lab, you will be introduced to jQuery including JavaScript scoping, traversing the DOM, IIFE, functions, selecting elements, parameter handling and defaults, and more. This lab will introduce you to JavaScript fundamentals as well, as jQuery is a JavaScript library.

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13 Episodes
01:58:54 Runtime

Doing More With PHP String Processing

There are many times when we need to more complex processing with strings. PHP provides us with the instructions we need to verify and manipulate strings. In this hands-on lab, you will continue learning about processing strings in PHP.

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8 Episodes
01:01:34 Runtime

Let's Build a WordPress Starter Sandbox Pluginfree

In this lab, you will build a custom WordPress Starter plugin, one which could be the starter for your projects. You'll install Composer, Kint, and Whoops. You'll look at file structure and how WordPress' Plugin API recognizes which file is the plugin's main file. You'll look at PHP DocBlocks and more. This plugin is one you will use throughout your training here on Know the Code. Let's get started.

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22 Episodes
02:56:19 Runtime

Let's Build a Blog Intro Custom Plugin

Out-of-the-box WordPress does not provide a way to introduce the Posts Page (Blog), as the editor is turned off and there is no automatic rendering of the content before the posts. In this lab, you will build a Blog Intro real-world, custom plugin which provides an introduction or welcome feature for your clients. As you build this plugin, you are learning about fetching content from the database, sanitizing, the Genesis framework, views, and more.

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10 Episodes
01:20:49 Runtime

Custom Post Type Basics

WordPress gives you the means to add new post types. In this hands-on lab, you will explore configuring and registering a new custom post type. You are actively building a team biography plugin, where team members are displayed on a business-centric website.

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12 Episodes
01:30:53 Runtime

WordPress Custom Taxonomy Basics

WordPress gives you the means to add new custom taxonomies. In this hands-on lab, you will explore configuring and registering a new taxonomy for the team biography plugin you built in the Custom Post Type Basics lab. Plus, you learn some basic PHP string building and handling.

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25 Episodes
04:18:43 Runtime

Let's Build the Collapsible Content Plugin - Part 1

Let's get you started building custom (from scratch) WordPress plugins. In Part 1 of this series, you are going to build the basics of the Collapsible Content plugin. As you are building it with Tonya, you'll learn deeply about custom plugin development, file structures, jQuery, PHP, WordPress core, shortcodes, Gulp, and much more.

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28 Episodes
05:11:56 Runtime

Add a FAQ Feature to the Collapsible Content Plugin - Part 2

In this hands-on lab, you and I will walk through the entire process of adding a new feature to an existing WordPress plugin. You'll start with the Collapsible Content plugin and then add a FAQ feature to it. This feature will require you to plan, think, and execute building a custom post type, custom taxonomy, advanced SQL queries, custom archive, and shortcode.

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31 Episodes
06:04:21 Runtime

Making the Collapsible Content Plugin Reusable - Part 3

One of our jobs is to build quality code that is reusable again and again without changing the codebase. Ideally, we'd like to configure what's different and have the codebase the same for all of our projects. In Part 3, you will convert the Collapsible Content plugin into the ModularConfiguration design pattern by moving all runtime configurable parameters into configuration files Then the codebase will be made reusable. The actual implementation then is determined by the configuration file that's loaded. This approach will save you time.

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12 Episodes
02:46:48 Runtime

Advanced SQL - Get Posts Grouped by Terms

This hands-on lab teaches you more advanced SQL including table relationship types, how to join multiple tables together, and how to write SQL queries that are faster and more scalable for your WordPress projects. You will use a practical example plugin to test two different approaches to solving the problem of fetching posts that are grouped by each term. You'll test these approaches, explore the actual SQL queries, and learn about the impact of processing speed, performance, and scalability.

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15 Episodes
03:04:55 Runtime

Introduction to PHP Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) for WordPress

Object-oriented programming (OOP) seeks to emulate real objects through code. In life, objects have both characteristics, those attributes that define it, and behavior. OOP is a completely different approach to programming than procedural. As such, its actual implementation is often misapplied and misunderstood. In this hands-on lab, you will get an introduction to OOP. You'll explore how to implement it for your WordPress plugins and theme.

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13 Episodes
01:58:04 Runtime

PHP OOP and WordPress Hooks Basics

Registering and unregistering WordPress hook callbacks is different with PHP objects. In this hands-on lab, you'll learn the syntax, why it's different, how to register and unregister, as well as strategies to work with other plugins.

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Coming TBD

Collapsible Content Plugin with OOP - Part 4

The best way to learn OOP is to build convert something that you already know from procedural to OOP. That will make the thought processes and methodologies more relatable for you. In Part 4, you will convert the Collapsible Content Plugin from procedural to Object Oriented Programming (OOP).

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