12 Mar Top 5 WordPress Plugin Development Tutorials
To continue my habit of helping you all I’m writing down a list of top WordPress plugin development tutorials here. The one I’m going to share down here are available over the internet and you all can use them without paying anything. But to get along with these tutorials you need to be aware and a beginner of HTML, CSS and PHP web programming languages. These three languages are required to be there in your mind and you should be at least beginner with them.
Since WordPress script itself is driven around these three basic programming languages so you need to learn them in order to write your first custom plugin. Also these tutorials are worthless unless you start trying continuously after reading stuff from them.
Let us start with the things directly. The only requirement you need to be aware and complete with is already been told above (yeah, the HTML, CSS and PHP). There may be certain small requirements urging during the process of which I should talk about in starting itself.
Just to ensure that we both are on same page, I’m hoping that you’re writing this first plugin just to test your coding part. There are lesser chances that your first plugin can help you earn a lot of money after becoming popular because there are over 30k plugins available at free over official WordPress store.
Apart from those free stuff, there are many premium ones available too. So you need to concentrate on learning things rather than on earning from day one.
Next thing may sound small to you but it’s the base of what you’re planning to do. It’s the IDEA. You need to have a unique or at least a working idea in order to start with this plugin development. When we develop custom WordPress theme then we are aware that we are developing a template layout but when it comes to plugin things aren’t the same.
You need to have a reason why you’re creating a plugin since it adds an additional functionality to the WordPress script. Thus you need to have that additional functionality in your mind before starting over here. Otherwise you may learn how to code a plugin but no single working product will come out your hard work.
You may also try learning how to code first because bringing an idea may take time. You can simply copy the idea from some other plugin like creating a social plugin or a plugin for backup of website. After copying the idea start with the development and try becoming expert at.
One day when that unique idea strikes your mind, you’ll be ready with the whole knowledge required for development and then you can move on to further steps. Hope all these things I added on extra here were helpful for you.
So coming back to main topic again, let us start with the list of tutorials (with their descriptions) that can help you learn WordPress plugin development process.
Table of Contents
A Crash-Course in WordPress Plugin Development.
Jeffrey Way of Tuts+ Code Articles blog had written and shared an awesome and practically working tutorial covering almost every aspect related to plugin development for WordPress platform. This guide had been written back in 2009 but the recipe is still working and doing well.
It’s the best tutorial out there to help you learn all the basic things and to help you with a visual confirmation a 30 minute video is also being inserted over there. You can even contact the Jeffery for further help via mail.
WordPress Plugin Development from Scratch, Part 1/4: Basic Structure.
Next recommended tutorial is shared by 1stWebDesigner blog. The whole tutorial is divided into four structural parts and it will let you know things from basic to high standards. A plugin affects a lot of database things so you need to be aware of database technologies. If you’re afraid of how to deal with database thing then head over to this guide as it got all the help you may require.
The whole tutorial comprise of visual graphics (proper screenshots) and written in simple and understandable English (even if you’re not good at it). Head towards this guide and let it complete the urge inside you for plugin development.
Learning how to Create a WordPress Plugin the Right Way.
This one here is the latest guide I found which was good enough to recommend. It’s written by Chris Lema and he had make sure that every step is covered up in his guide. He didn’t left any stone unturned, seriously.
The language throughout is simple and things are divided into chapters (different webpages linked with main one). Thus you can divide the learning process into a schedule and learn the whole process day by day. You can even find recommended tools needed for it.
You can even get helped at any particular step via the discussion part available over the blog there. This tutorial will guide you from plugin definition, idea, introduction to development, adding Dashboard menus, etc. It’s strictly written to make you expert at it.
Beginner’s Guide To WordPress Plugin Development.
Hongkiat is a popular blog covering technical knowledge throughout the world and through many different topics. It had also covered a detailed yet simple guide to help you learn develop your own plugin from scratch. It covers up everything in simple language and covers up every technical gimmick and tools you may require in the process.
This tutorial is a bit old but it still works flawlessly. I can bet over it because it’s there on Hongkiat.com which is a leading authority blog over the internet. Go for it.
WordPress Essentials: How To Create A WordPress Plugin.
Last recommended guide is covered by Daniel Pataki over Smashing Magazine blog. It will let you learn all PHP and other related technical processes and recipes which you need to draft your own plugin in order to add an additional functionality to the WordPress website.
Over to You
Apart from learning the techniques and coding, do remember that an idea is required to create a plugin. If you can come up with a unique one then you can count millions in a year easily (if promoted well). Hope you find success. Peace.
*last updated 03/11/2019
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