• Vladimir Prelovac
• WordPress Plugin Development
• PACKT Publishing
• 9781847193599

I had my first look at WordPress plugins just last month. I mucked around with an existing plugin, looked at the php files on my system, scanned the gawd-awful WordPress documentation and was able to figure out quite a bit from that. I wasn't happy (did I mention the gawd-awful WordPress documentation?) but it was a beginning.

Let me be straight up on this: I'm NOT a big WordPress fan. Nobody would ever forget to include the word "mess" when searching for appropriate adjectives to describe WordPress. The use of Php has consistently opened up WordPress users to security problems and I have little doubt that it will leave them vulnerable once again. I would never, never, NEVER recommend this to anyone except..

Well, except that I do recommend it. Because it's simple for the non-techy user. Because the WordPress community does a decent job of keeping ahead of the Php security holes. Because although the whole plugin architecture is clumsy, limited and pretty dumb, it does make it easy for unsophisticated users to add features. And because WordPress is so damn popular in spite of its big warts, it's easy to find pre-made code and willing developers

How's that for a ringing endorsement?

With that out of the way, I knew I lacked the patience to muck through the WordPress supplied documentation if I wanted to learn more. This book seems just right for that. I was impressed that by the end of Chapter Two you would actually know a little more than I had scratched out of that sample code and a lot of painful time at the WordPress site. The examples used are practical - mundane enough to be easily understand, but requiring enough hooks to have you learn something useful.

I'm going to bang the "you need to be a programmer" drum again. Yeah, I know: most bloggers HATE that idea so much. It's true though. You are missing out on a lot by treating this stuff like brain surgery. Honest, honest honest: I'm an idiot! If I can do this stuff, so can you. This is no worse than learning how to pump your own gas - really!

And you'll never spill any Php on your shoes.

Tony Lawrence 2009-02-25 Rating: 4.0