Book Image

Wordpress Web Application Development - Third Edition

By : Rakhitha Nimesh Ratnayake

Book Image

Wordpress Web Application Development - Third Edition

By: Rakhitha Nimesh Ratnayake

Overview of this book

WordPress is one of the most rapidly expanding markets on the Web. Learning how to build complex and scalable web applications will give you the ability and knowledge to step into the future of WordPress. WordPress 4.7 introduces some exciting new improvements and several bug fixes, which further improve the entire development process.This book is a practical, scenario-based guide to expanding the power of the WordPress core modules to develop modular and maintainable real-world applications from scratch. This book consistently emphasizes adapting WordPress features into web applications. It will walk you through the advanced usages of existing features such as access controlling; database handling; custom post types; pluggable plugins; content restrictions; routing; translation; caching; and many more, while you build the backend of a forum management application. This book begins by explaining how to plan the development of a web application using WordPress' core features. Once the core features are explained, you will learn how to build an application by extending them through custom plugin development. Finally, you will explore advanced non-functional features and application integration. After reading this book, you will have the ability to develop powerful web applications rapidly within limited time frames.

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Reader feedback

Customer support

Free Chapter

WordPress as a Web Application Framework

WordPress as a Web Application Framework

WordPress as a CMS

WordPress as a web application framework

Simplifying development with built-in features

Identifying the components of WordPress

A development plan for the forum management application

Understanding limitations and sticking to guidelines

Building a question-answer interface

Enhancing features of the questions plugin

Categorizing questions

Implementing Membership Roles, Permissions, and Features

Implementing Membership Roles, Permissions, and Features

Introduction to user management

Getting started with user roles

Understanding user capabilities

Registering application users

Implementing frontend registration

Creating a login form in the frontend

Essential user management features for web applications

Implementing user management features with popular plugins

Time to practice

Planning and Customizing the Core Database

Planning and Customizing the Core Database

Understanding the WordPress database

Exploring the role of existing tables

Adapting existing tables in web applications

Extending the database with custom tables

Planning the forum application tables

Querying the database

Limitations and considerations

Building Blocks of Web Applications

Building Blocks of Web Applications

Introduction to custom content types

Planning custom post types for an application

Implementing custom post types for a forum application

What is a template engine?

Persisting custom field data

Introduction to post type templates

Introducing custom post type relationships

Pods framework for custom content types

Implementing custom post type features with popular plugins

Time to practice

Implementing Application Content Restrictions

Implementing Application Content Restrictions

Introduction to content restrictions

Practical usage of content restrictions

Understanding restriction levels

Implementing content restrictions in posts/pages

Enabling restrictions on WordPress core features

Supplementary content restriction types and techniques

Useful plugins for content restrictions

Time to practice

Developing Pluggable Modules

Developing Pluggable Modules

A brief introduction to WordPress plugins

WordPress plugins for web development

Tips for developing extendable plugins

Time to practice

Customizing the Dashboard for Powerful Backends

Customizing the Dashboard for Powerful Backends

Understanding the admin dashboard

Customizing the admin toolbar

Customizing the main navigation menu

Adding features with custom pages

Building options pages

Using feature-packed admin list tables

An awesome visual presentation for admin screens

The responsive nature of the admin dashboard

Supplementary admin dashboard features

Time for action

Adjusting Theme for Amazing Frontends

Adjusting Theme for Amazing Frontends

An introduction to the WordPress application frontend

Web application layout creation techniques

Building the forum application home page

Generating the application frontend menu

Managing options and widgets with customizer

Creating pluggable templates

Extending the home page template with action hooks

Planning action hooks for layouts

Managing custom CSS with live preview

Responsive previews in theme customizer

Time for action

Enhancing the Power of Open Source Libraries and Plugins

Enhancing the Power of Open Source Libraries and Plugins

Why choose open source libraries?

Open source libraries inside the WordPress core

Open source JavaScript libraries in the WordPress core

Using PHPMailer for custom e-mail sending

Implementing user authentication with OpenAuth

Using third-party libraries and plugins

Using open source plugins for web development

Using plugins for checking security of other plugins

Time for action

Listening to Third-Party Applications

Listening to Third-Party Applications

Introduction to APIs

The WordPress XML-RPC API for web applications

Building the API client

Creating a custom API

Integrating API user authentication

Integrating API access tokens

Providing the API documentation

WordPress REST API for web applications

Time for action

Integrating and Finalizing the Forum Management Application

Integrating and Finalizing the Forum Management Application

Integrating and structuring the forum application

Integrating the template loader into a user manager

Working with the restructured application

Updating a user profile with additional fields

Scheduling subscriber notifications

Time for action

Supplementary Modules for Web Development

Supplementary Modules for Web Development

Internationalization

Working with media grid and image editor

Introduction to the post editor

Lesser-known WordPress features

Managing application scripts and styles

Version control

Migrating WordPress applications

Importing and exporting application content

Introduction to multisite

Time for action

Configurations, Tools, and Resources

Configurations, Tools, and Resources

Configuring and setting up WordPress

Open source libraries and plugins

Online resources and tutorials

Customer Reviews

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Building options pages

The theme options page is implemented in each and every WordPress theme by default. However, the design and the available options may vary based on the quality and features of the theme. We selected a theme called Responsive (https://wordpress.org/themes/responsive/) for the purpose of this book. So, let's take a look at the default theme options panel of the Responsive theme using the following screenshot:

The Responsive theme uses its own layout structure for the options page. Generally, we have two ways of creating options pages for plugins:

Using custom menu pages with our own template and processing
Using WordPress options pages with the options and settings API

Both techniques can be effectively used for web applications. However, most developers will pick custom menu pages for large scale applications. Let's identify the differences between the two techniques:

Custom menu...