Wordpress Developer: Theme & Plugin Workshop
Duration 2 days
Objectives
Wordpress is a user-friendly yet powerful blogging platform that's increasingly being used as the basis for full CMS websites. Because it's open source it's free, and it has a massive developer community behind it. Wordpress is also a very robust and reliable environment, it's search-engine optimised, and is ideal to quickly prototype and develop a new website, serving as a CMS and putting you in control of both design and functionality.
Our hands-on, expert-led 2 day workshop comprises:-
Day 1 - Wordpress Theme development
- Work with templates, template tags, and the WordPress Loop
- Quickly generate different web page results and looks
- Create custom category pages and search result pages
- Use a theme or style switcher to rapidly prototype/demonstrate alternate site designs
- Create WordPress themes ready for public release.
Day 2 - Wordpress plug-in development.
- Understand what a Wordpress plugin is, and the Wordpress API
- Quickly make and integrate a basic plugin
- Create user administration options for an advanced plug-in
- Access external data for your Wordpress Site
- Prepare your WordPress plugin ready for public release.
Requirements
Working knowledge of CSS, HTML/XHTML, plus some basic PHP. Other web scripting skills an advantage but not essential.
Course Outline
Day 1: Wordpress Themes
Why Wordpress Themes?
Benefits of Wordpress Themes
Using CSS, HTML/XHTML and PHP
Theme Development Guidelines
Designing themes for public release
Contact Info, Purpose, Naming Conventions
Limitations of your theme
Commenting special modifications
Special instructions for your theme
Cross-browser testing
Anatomy of a Theme
Theme directories
A look at the default themes
Theme style sheet
Functions file
The template files
The Loop - the heart of your theme
What the loop does
Selecting and Showing posts
Title, Date and Author
Content and Additonal Detail
Trackback and Autodiscovery
Using the Loop in other templates
Using is_home() for the Front page
Static pages
Theme Templates Check List
The 15 files you need to know
Referencing files from your template
Custom Templates
Plug-in API Hooks
Query-based Templates
Template Hierarchy
Conditional Tags
Category Ids
Category Based styles
Project: Build and Complete your theme
Using the default theme as a starting point
Designing the layout
Creating the image files needed
Loading Sandbox or test content
Header.php
Index,.php
Footer.php
Sidebar.php
Building the style.css file
Modifying the templates
Day 2: Wordpress Plugins
Advantages of writing your pwn plugins
Seamless integration
Researching existing plugins
Plugins and PHP
Resources
Plugins - Development Overview
Names, Files and Locations
File Headers
Plugin Hooks
Template Tags
Saving data to the Database
Making Plugin options
Wordpress Coding Standards
A look at the Worpress Plugin API
WP Applcation Programming Interface
Function Reference
Activation and Deactivation Hooks
Actions
Filters
Pluggable Functions
Project: Build your own basic Plugin
Creating and saving the plugin file
Setting up the PHP file
Writing the comment block
Testing the empty plugin
Wrting a function that performs a Filter action
Integrate your function into the Wordpress API
Testing the plugin in wordpress
Refining and adding to your plugin
Updating the comment block and setting an iteration number
Final Check
Project: Build a more advanced Plugin
A Plugin to connect to an external data source
Set up the new plugin
Using an Action Hook
Creating the plugins administration page
Saving the Data
Creating the user function
Testing the function
Wrap up and Q and A
Final thoughts and ideas
Further steps in Theme and Plugin development
Additional resource and learning options
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