Chapter 1, WordPress As a Web Application Framework, walks you through the existing modules and techniques to identify their usage in web applications. Identification of WordPress features beyond the conventional CMS and planning portfolio management application are the highlights of this chapter.

Chapter 2 , Implementing Membership Roles, Permissions, and Features, begins the implementation of a portfolio management application by exploring the features of the built-in user management module. Working with various user roles and permissions as well as an introduction to the MVC process through routing are the highlights of this chapter.

Chapter 3, Planning and Customizing the Core Database, serves as an extensive guide for understanding the core database structure and the role of database tables in web applications. Database querying techniques and coverage of the planning portfolio management application database are the highlights of this chapter.

Chapter 4, The Building Blocks of Web Applications, explores the possibilities of extending WordPress posts beyond their conventional usage to suit complex applications. Advanced use of custom post types and an introduction to template engines are the highlights of this chapter.

Chapter 5, Developing Pluggable Modules, introduces the techniques of creating highly reusable and extensible plugins to enhance the flexibility of web applications. Implementing various plugins for explaining these techniques is the highlight of this chapter.

Chapter 6, Customizing the Dashboard for Powerful Backends, walks you through the process of customizing the WordPress admin panel for adding new features as well as changing existing features and design. Building reusable grids and designing an admin panel are the highlights of this chapter.

Chapter 7, Adjusting Themes for Amazing Frontends, dives into the techniques of designing amazing layouts, thereby opening them for future extension. Widgetizing layouts and building reusable templates are the highlights of this chapter.

Chapter 8, Enhancing the Power of Open Source Libraries and Plugins, explores the use of the latest trending open source technologies and libraries. Integrating open authentication in to your web application and structuring the application at the client side are the highlights of this chapter.

Chapter 9, Listening to Third-party Applications, demonstrates how to use WordPress XML-RPC API to create a custom API for your web application. Building a simple yet complete API with all the main features is the highlight of this chapter.

Chapter 10, Integrating and Finalizing The Portfolio Management Application, guides you through the integration of modules developed throughout this book into a standalone plugin while introducing you to important concepts such as caching, security, and testing.

Appendix, Configurations, Tools, and Resources, provides an application setup guide with necessary links to download the plugins and libraries used throughout the book.

Technically, you need a computer, browser, and an Internet connection with the following working environment:

Once you have the preceding environment, you can download the Responsive theme from http://wordpress.org/themes/responsive and activate it from the Themes section. Finally, you can activate the plugin developed for this book to get things started.

Please refer to Appendix, Configurations, Tools, and Resources, for the application setup guide, required software, and plugins.

This book is intended for WordPress developers and designers who have the desire to go beyond conventional website development to develop quality web applications within a limited time frame and for maximum profit.

Experienced web developers who are looking for a framework for rapid application development will also find this to be a useful resource.

Prior knowledge of WordPress is preferable as the main focus will be on explaining methods for adapting WordPress techniques for web application development rather than explaining basic skills with WordPress.

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "WordPress passes existing MIME types as the parameter to this function. Here, we have modified the $mimes array to restrict the image types to JPG."

A block of code is set as follows:

function filter_mime_types($mimes) {
    $mimes = array(
      'jpg|jpeg|jpe' => 'image/jpeg',
    );

    return $mimes;
}

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

public function flush_application_rewrite_rules() {
  $this->manage_user_routes();
  flush_rewrite_rules();
}

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Once the user fills the data and clicks on the Register button, we have to execute quite a few tasks in order to register a user in the WordPress database."

Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to <[email protected]>, and mention the book title via the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.

Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.