Software Engineering in Web Development, Backend Services, and More
Articles, tips, and resources for WordPress-based development.
When retrieving information from the WordPress database I prefer to avoid using direct database queries, but there are times in which they can be useful (and it’s important that it’s done right).
One use case in which it might be helpful is when you need to retrieve a set of data of a single type. Case in point: Say you need to load all WordPress custom fields.
At the time of this writing, there’s no function of which I’m aware that will do this, so here’s how I query the database to do so.
Occasionally, when working on a project there are times in which it’d be nice to have an API function to help achieve whatever it is that needs to be done. Case in point: the ability to retrieve a taxonomy by term ID.
Granted, it’s not a hard thing to do, but having the ability to retrieve the information from pre-existing functionality is always nice.
But when that’s not possible, we write our own way to do it, right?
In my talk for this year’s WordCamp Atlanta, I’m going to be talking about namespaces and autoloading in WordPress.
When I don’t yet have the images I want for my presentation, I use stock photos.
While working on my presentation:
All of this is primarily done to see how, if it isn’t obvious, others implement namespaces and autoloading in their projects. What’s interesting is that there seem to be three main ways in which people go about doing it.
I’ve mixed feelings about the WordPress admin bar, but that has to do with how third-party solutions add their options to it (plus, it can be disabled if you’re not a big fan of it).
Recently, I published a small plugin – meant primarily for developers – that allows users to toggle admin notices whenever they are working with WordPress (ideally in their local environment, though it can be installed anywhere WordPress is installed).
The plugin is simple:
But there’s a small nuance that I think is worth covering and that has to do with manipulating the WP admin bar styles using client-side code.
All of this is covered in the initial post, but one aspect of the code that I think is worth sharing for those working with the admin bar and those working with JavaScript.
A little over a year ago, I launched my first membership site which I called The First Version.
The idea behind the name wasn’t anything clever – it was the first time I’d tried something like this, it was the first version of the site, so the name was something that was quick and easy to register and set up.
Then, for the second iteration of the site, I called it Start Here under the idea of answering the question “where do I start with WordPress?”
The original “Start Here” landing page.
Anyone who has jumped into WordPress and begun to develop (or begun to try to develop) themes, plugins, applications, or any other type of solution for others knows that it can be difficult to know where to start.
Rather than offering another closed membership site, I’m going to be publishing an eBook called Start Here which still aims to answer “where do I start with WordPress” but does so in an easier and cheaper format.
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