What Languages Do You Need to Know to Build a Wordpress Site
WordPress Development for Beginners: Getting Started
Interested in learning PHP and building your own themes and plugins for WordPress? Or just being able to code your own killer customizations for your websites?
Learning WordPress development might seem similar a daunting thing to do but it all comes down to getting started. And so nosotros've put together this gratuitous series to help get you lot started.
Over five weeks, you'll learn PHP and start coding your own themes and plugins from scratch.
This is the commencement mail service in our five-role series for beginners, pedagogy you the fundamental concepts of WordPress development and then you can take the bound from tinkerer to developer.
Annotation: For this series, it's of import that y'all already accept a thorough understanding of HTML and CSS as both of these languages are essential building blocks when working with WordPress.
Permit's get started.
- How WordPress Works
- Areas of Evolution
- Themes
- Plugins
- Remainder API
- Core
- WordPress Development: What Y'all Need to Learn
- HTML and CSS
- PHP
- Javascript
- MySQL
- Advanced Tools
- WordPress is a Gateway Drug
- Further Reading and Study
- Missed a Tutorial in our Series?
How WordPress Works
To sympathize what and how we tin develop for WordPress, we'll start by taking a quick look at how WordPress works.
At that place are iii major components: the core, themes, and plugins.
The core code contains all the default functionality that makes upward the WordPress content management system. This includes everything from the admin backend, to functions like scheduling posts, password strength checking, allowing the creation of users, and so on.
While the core is responsible for the backend of a website and how information technology operates, themes are responsible for the front-end and how websites look and feel. We apply the WordPress admin to create posts, pages, and other site content, only exactly how our posts and pages are displayed to visitors is up to the theme. This gives you considerable power over your website. You might want to install and activate pre-built themes, or break out of the box completely and go your own way with custom designs.
The simplest manner to describe plugins is that they provide additional functionality to WordPress. To brand this happen, a plugin may alter the backend and/or the front-finish of a website. A plugin that adds a Tweet button for Twitter is a good example. It would probably create a new settings page in the backend admin card, where you could set up some default options for a user'south tweet; it would also add together itself to the forepart-end of a website, most likely displaying under a mail service.
Areas of Evolution
Equally far as WordPress development goes, y'all can develop whatsoever of the three major components above, in addition to standalone applications―with the help of the new Residue API―but more on that in a moment.
Regardless of what it is you want to do with WordPress, I would recommend post-obit a set path in your studies. The post-obit list will assistance y'all familiarize yourself with the systems y'all need to know before learning more about your area of choice:
- Themes
- Plugins
- Residuum API
- Core
Themes
Learning how themes piece of work and how to develop them will allow you to create websites and craft single-page sites, content-heavy dynamic websites, and everything betwixt. It will as well allow you to get better/more client piece of work (if that's what you're interested in pursuing) or even get into the theme sale business.
At that place are many successful theme authors on marketplaces like Themeforest andMojo Market place, amongst others.
At the fourth dimension of writing this, the virtually popular theme on Themeforest has sold 784,998 times to appointment–and has been the #1 best-seller for nine years. (If you're curious, this super popular championship holder is Avada.) Currently priced at $60, that'due south quite a windfall for the developers.
While not all theme developers brand quite that much money, and you may not attain overnight wealth edifice themes, you can still make a nice living if you do information technology correct.
If y'all want to see some swell examples of themes, take a expect at the marketplaces I mentioned above, or check out the WordPress Theme Directory where everything is gratuitous. Many showtime-time theme developers also release their piece of work to the directory.
Plugins
In a fashion, plugins are the lifeblood of WordPress, transforming it into everything from a forum to a social network, eCommerce platforms, and much more with the push of a push. Plugins give you total control over all aspects of the WordPress system, allowing you to modify anything you want. This can exist a huge help in making WordPress white characterization for clients, adding that one footling function you always need, and essentially making WordPress your own.
Plugin marketplaces also exist and are generally owned by some of the same companies that also run theme marketplaces. CodeCanyon is by far the largest with more than 900 plugins available to purchase. Sales tend to be lower than with themes, but if you find the right niche it can even so be very profitable.
WordPress also has a gratis Plugin Directory, with an inventory speedily climbing to 60,000 plugins. It'due south a great source of tools, inspiration, and examples of great code (and, regrettably, besides some bad).
Residual API
Using the REST API volition come a bit later in your career when you accept mastered themes and plugin development, though theoretically, you may be able to employ information technology if you lot know some other linguistic communication pretty well, like Java or Cherry.
The Rest API is relatively new and allows you to create truthful applications based on WordPress. This includes iPhone and Android apps, and even things like Idiot box apps, if you know some other programming languages.
The best way to explain this feature is to compare information technology to something similar Twitter or Instagram. No dubiety yous've seen someone'south Twitter feed displayed on their website. To add together this feature to your ain site, you don't need to know how Twitter's core code works, all you need is a bit of code that says "delight retrieve my latest five tweets". Twitter handles the actual retrieval, spitting back the data of the five tweets you asked for. You can then use HTML and CSS to display that data.
This is exactly what the REST API does for WordPress. You lot can connect to whatever website and inquire it for your latest five posts. But y'all can do a lot more that: you can delete users, create users, edit categories, and more than (all of which crave authenticating yourself, of form). This means you can utilise WordPress as a repository of information and build the front-stop and/or the backend using a different organisation birthday.
Core
WordPress is developed past a customs of thousands of volunteers around the globe. In addition to the internal WordPress team, let past Matt Mullenweg, WordPress's latest stable release, v.ix, as well reflects the hard piece of work of 624 generous volunteer contributors. That doesn't even include the many more who worked on other aspects of WordPress, from translations and mobile applications to accessibility and support.
If you're interested, you could get involved yourself, at whatever time. While you need quite a scrap of experience to contribute lawmaking to WordPress core, yous could submit ideas, or piece of work in any number of other key areas―design, support, accessibility, translation and more―through WordPress's Get Involved department.
WordPress Evolution: What You Need to Learn
There is a well-defined fix of tools you need to exist familiar with to become started with WordPress evolution and WordPress web design.
For whatever good programmer, though, the process of learning never ends. I'll lay out the starter parcel for you correct hither and I'll also encompass some of the more avant-garde tools yous may bump into eventually equally yous learn more than.
The accented minimum yous'll need to be comfy with is HTML, CSS, and PHP. In improver to these languages, you'll eventually want to larn JavaScript and MySQL at some betoken. When yous have a adept grasp of these languages, you lot can then motility onto things like LESS/SASS, Coffeescript, XML, JSON, and so on. None of these languages are essential to WordPress development, simply knowing them will broaden your horizons and/or brand your life as a developer so much easier.
HTML and CSS
The beginning two languages yous should larn are HTML and CSS. No thing what code you write, no matter what language you utilise, it all eventually boils down to HTML when sending web pages to a user, and very likely some CSS styled that page.
HTML is responsible for giving websites structure. At a basic level, this means that you'll be deciding what text should be a heading, what should be a list, what goes in the sidebar, and what's in the header and footer. On a deeper level, you're actually making important SEO and optimization decisions. Don't worry near that bit for now, though, every bit getting to grips with the syntax is most of import.
CSS is used for applying styles to your HTML structure. You'll define the colour of text, links, the space betwixt paragraphs, image alignment, border colors, float properties, edge thickness and other elements using CSS code. CSS is extremely easy to acquire only very hard to master.
Web developer site W3Schools provides fantastic tutorials on how to use HTML and CSS.
PHP
PHP is an immensely popular server-side scripting linguistic communication and, according to web applied science survey service W3Techs, is used in 77.nine% of all websites where the language is known. PHP is the language WordPress (and most other content management systems) are built on, and as such, a thorough cognition of PHP is essential for WordPress development.
Past knowing PHP, you'll proceeds more than merely the knowledge to code for WordPress. Learning any server-side linguistic communication volition give yous insight into how programming works, and it will bestow a special kind of logic, which you tin utilize to solve all sorts of problems on and offline.
A server-side language differs from a client-side language–like HTML–in that it's candy on the server first. In HTML, y'all could write code for Practiced Morning time and that HTML would then be sent to the browser every bit-is, where your visitors would encounter "Good Morning" displayed.
In a server-side language, you could write code for something like skilful [time_of_day] and before that command is sent to the user, the server would process it and figure out what to put in place of [time_of_day]. Depending on what time of 24-hour interval y'all admission the site, y'all may meet "Good Morning" or "Good Evening". Note that the information your browser receives is notwithstanding in patently onetime HTML simply it has been processed on the server beforehand. Also, notation that the code higher up is not bodily PHP code, it's just an example to show you lot the logic.
W3Schools besides provides a fantastic PHP tutorial. We'll wait at the basics of PHP programming in the second tutorial in this series, but it's worth brushing up on your skills to become expert.
As with all programming languages, information technology'south practice that will make things sink in and help you lot get ameliorate. You could learn almost all PHP within a couple of days merely you would still have no idea what you're doing – you demand to effort things out, mess up, not understand what's going on. Overall, stick with it! Equally they say, practice makes perfect.
JavaScript
The role of JavaScript on the spider web is ever-increasing, especially with JavaScript-based tools popping up, like Node and Angular.
JavaScript is ordinarily used to add dynamic functionality to websites and for asynchronous loading.
Let me give you an example of both.
If you lot would similar a form to be completely subconscious simply fade in inside a lightbox when the user clicks on a button, you tin can use JavaScript since it can handle the animation and peradventure other functions, like checking the class is filled out correctly before being sent forth.
Asynchronous loading is washed via a mechanism called AJAX. AJAX can be used to retrieve information from the server and then brandish information technology without reloading the page. A good case is endless scrolling where the commencement 10 posts are loaded and when you become close to the lesser of the folio the next 10 posts are retrieved and appended to the electric current gear up.
In November of 2015, Automattic launched Calypso, a desktop app that allows users to manage WordPress.com and Jetpack-enabled websites. Written purely in JavaScript, and leveraging libraries similar Node and React, Calypso signals a potential shift away from WordPress' reliance on PHP. As such, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg has encouraged developers to (and I quote)… "learn JavaScript, deeply."
A good identify to start learning JavaScript is, again, W3Schools. Nosotros won't exist exploring Javascript in this beginner serial, merely information technology's worth learning as knowing this language volition become essential for WordPress developers in the coming years.
Many developers first learn JavaScript through the extremely popular jQuery framework. It is used extensively in WordPress and in millions of projects on the web. While this is just fine, keep in listen that JavaScript is more than than just jQuery, and learning JavaScript on its ain is a skilful idea as well.
MySQL
MySQL is a language used to admission and work with information in a database. WordPress uses it heavily to think all its data, but as developers, y'all won't demand information technology too much because WordPress has its ain gear up of helper functions. In some special cases, you may need to write your own database query or you may want to optimize something for your own site, so having a bones knowledge of MySQL is helpful.
Working with databases is pretty straightforward. A table in a database is very similar to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Each column has a heading and data is stored in rows. MySQL is used to add, delete, modify, and recall data. Yous might desire to write a MySQL query that returns all posts that have the word "awesome" in them and take more than than eight comments. You may as well want to find all users who are named "Daniel." You could also utilise MySQL to calculate the sum of all your advertising views or discover the most popular advertisement in your network, for example.
Once again, writing raw MySQL lawmaking in WordPress is rare, but information technology does happen, and agreement how the language works will assistance you write better lawmaking in general. Head on over to W3Schools for their SQL tutorial.
Avant-garde Tools
Once you lot're familiar with at to the lowest degree the 3 essential languages – HTML, CSS, and PHP – you tin can begin exploring diverse helper tools. I of the first things people tend to learn is LESS and/or SASS. Both are supersets of CSS, which means that all valid CSS code is valid LESS and SASS code. What both languages add is the ability to use variables, functions, and other constructs in CSS, which is not possible past default.
Build tools are something you volition want to explore at some point likewise. The best ones are Gulp and Grunt. These can monitor files for changes and run various tasks when the requirements are met. For example, any fourth dimension you change a SASS file you could automatically compile information technology into CSS and save it to a specific file. Images could be optimized, files concatenated, external packages downloaded and all sorts of other handy tasks tin exist made to happen with these tools.
The command line, or terminal, is something you should too accept a look at. Yes, using the control line can look scary only it really isn't – just typing in a few commands can save you and so much time. A elementary script and a tool named WP-CLI tin install WordPress in a few seconds, including the installation of themes, plugins, and test content whereas doing it manually takes much longer and involves much more effort.
Version control is another one of those extremely useful tools you don't know y'all need until y'all try it. Information technology was originally devised for working on the same lawmaking in teams simply can be used as a solution for managing projects, bugs, and backing things up at the same time. SVN and Git are the most popular contenders. Git wins this round with me due to its slightly meliorate workflow and Github, which provides a web-based Git repository hosting service.
WordPress is a Gateway Drug
The great thing virtually WordPress is that it tin exist a gateway to learning other web development skills and languages.
I've personally had this experience, showtime learning object-oriented PHP, then getting into Laravel, outlying areas like build tools, LESS/SASS, command-line tools, and such. I've too ventured into native app territory with C# and other languages.
Once yous get how everything works, you learn more and more than as you create new and bigger projects and everything becomes easier. After object-oriented PHP, learning C# was non a huge effort because your encephalon becomes accustomed to the logic of information technology. It's similar to picking upward a ukulele after playing the guitar, or learning to drive a truck once y'all've skilful driving a automobile. There are lots of differences, just once you take the basics pinned down, moving forward isn't such a big leap.
Further Reading and Written report
Now that y'all know what's needed to get started in WordPress development, yous may have a sense of being overwhelmed. Don't worry, it's normal to feel that way at the offset!
I can't stress plenty how important it is not to be discouraged. All coders take to start somewhere. About are terrible at coding when they starting time out, struggle with understanding concepts, and get frustrated. But it'due south the ones who ability through and don't give up and are always pushing themselves to learn who succeed–and this determination that establishes the good coders from the bad.
Missed a Tutorial in our Series?
You can catch up on all five WordPress Development for Beginners posts here:
- WordPress Development for Beginners: Getting Started
- WordPress Development for Beginners: Learning PHP
- WordPress Development for Beginners: Building Themes
- WordPress Development for Beginners: Widgets and Menus
- WordPress Development for Beginners: Building Plugins
In the meantime, hither'due south what you need to do before starting WordPress Evolution for Beginners: Learning PHP:
- Brush upward on your HTML and CSS knowledge. Every bit I mentioned in a higher place, W3Schools is a fantastic resource for learning HTML and CSS. If you want a more easily-on approach, Codecademy has a bang-up HTML and CSS form for beginners that includes lots of practical examples.
- Set a localhost environment on your computer. Non just is working with WordPress on a localhost install faster, it's also safer and more secure. If you're not certain how to set up up WordPress on your machine, check out our post on how to prepare it upwards on Windows, and also how to set up information technology upwards on Mac.
- Download a expert text editor. I use Atom, which has a bang-up characteristic set. I'll be using it throughout the series but it really doesn't matter what y'all utilize as long equally you're comfy using information technology.
Editor'south Note: This post has been updated for accuracy and relevancy.
[Originally Published: Nov 2015 / Revised: March 2022]
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Source: https://wpmudev.com/blog/wordpress-development-beginners-getting-started/
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