Back in December 2011, I released an initial version of the WordPress Plugin Boilerplate. The purpose of the boilerplate was to provide an easy way to build WordPress plugins.

Specifically, the project featured:

  • File organization
  • Documented code
  • Implementation of the Plugin API
  • Action and Filter Reference

After the feedback that I received upon thisl release, I officially published version 1.0 to GitHub on November 29, 2012. After over a year of various contributions from others and other improvements, I’m proud to release the second version of the WordPress Plugin Boilerplate.

WordPress Plugin Boilerplate

WordPress Plugin Boilerplate Homepage

In order to make the project a bit more accessible to those who are unfamiliar with GitHub, or who are simply looking for a way to download the project’s zip file, the boilerplate now features its own homepage as powered by GitHub Pages.

Of course, that doesn’t really speak much about the changes that are introduced in this version.

This version includes a number of new additions, features, and improvements many of which could not have been made possible without the contributions of others.

Latest Additions

Here’s what you can expect in the latest version of the boilerplate:

  • Disabling the admin menu by default
  • Initializing the attributes
  • Combining the admin_open and admin_close into a single admin view
  • Bringing some of the code up to the WordPress coding standards
  • Added access modifiers for functions
  • Implemented the singleton pattern
  • japh. Merged upstream changes, maintained separation of uninstall functionality
  • mikkelbreum. Restricted scripts and styles to load only on plugin settings page if it is enabled.
  • mikkelbreum. Added the option for a plugin settings page
  • mikkelbreum. Removed the need to customize the URL for wp_enqueue_style and wp_enqueue_scripts
  • mikkelbreum. Corrected action book for register_admin_styles
  • tbwiii. Listed jQuery as a dependency for both JavaScript sources
  • japh. Added an uninstall.php placeholder
  • leewillis77. Improved the way language files are loaded
  • wesbos. Updated the year to 2013

Installation

Because the project includes a README that provides detailed instructions on what to expect when using the boilerplate, the plugin actually lives inside of the download.

Once you’ve downloaded the project,

  1. Copy the plugin-boilerplate directory into your wp-content/plugins directory
  2. Navigate to the Plugins dashboard page
  3. Locate the menu item that reads TODO
  4. Click on Activate

Easy, right?

In Development

Of course, the project is always under development and is looking for contributions from others. If you happen to stumble across any bugs, issues, or feature requests, please don’t hesitate to open an issue or create a pull request.

Ultimately, I want this boilerplate to be written by WordPress developers for WordPress developers using the most common best practices and development strategies available.