Hello! Although I don’t have much experience creating plugins, in this article I’d like to share an example of building a simple plugin that will:
- Store data in the database via the admin panel.
- Display that data on the front end for site visitors.
First — create a folder in /wp-content/plugins/ for the plugin. Let’s name it my-plugin.
Second — inside that folder, add a PHP file that handles the plugin logic. I usually name it the same as the folder — in this case, my-plugin.php.
Third. To make WordPress recognize this file as a plugin, you need to add metadata at the top of the file (plugin name, description, author, etc.). For example:
/* Plugin Name: My Plugin Plugin URI: http://example.com Description: My Plugin Description Version: 1.0 Author: My Name Author URI: http://example.com License: GPL2 */
Plugin Name — the plugin’s name
Plugin URI — plugin page
Description — short description
Version — version number
Author — plugin author
Author URI — author website
License — license type
Back-end (admin panel)
To access the plugin’s page with a data-saving form, we first need to register a menu link in the admin panel. You can place it inside an existing menu or as a standalone item — even a multi-level menu like “Settings” or “Posts”.
Use the admin_menu hook like this:
/* Add menu items to the admin menu */
function myp_admin_action()
{
/* Add a menu sub-item to the "Settings" section */
add_options_page('My plugin (title)', 'My plugin (menu item)', 'manage_options', __FILE__, 'myp_admin_page_options');
}
/* Register a function for creating a menu */
add_action('admin_menu', 'myp_admin_action');The add_options_page function accepts 5 arguments:
- page title;
- menu label;
- capability required (e.g.,
manage_options); - unique menu slug;
- callback function that outputs the page content.
In our case, it’s myp_admin_page_options:
function myp_admin_page_options()
{
?>
<div class="wrap">
<h2><?php echo __('My Plugin settings', 'myp_domain')?></h2>
<form method="post" action="options.php">
<?php wp_nonce_field('update-options'); ?>
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="update" />
<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="myp_param1,myp_param2" />
<p>
<?php echo __('Option 1:', 'myp_domain'); ?>
<input type="text" name="myp_param1" value="<?php echo get_option('myp_param1'); ?>" size="20">
</p>
<p>
<?php echo __('Option 2:', 'myp_domain'); ?>
<input type="text" name="myp_param2" value="<?php echo get_option('myp_param2'); ?>" size="20">
</p>
<?php submit_button(); ?>
</form>
</div>
<?php
}This function creates the settings form:
Now let’s go over key details.
Nonce field for form validation:
wp_nonce_field('update-options');Hidden input to trigger update:
<input type="hidden" name="action" value="update" />
Which fields to save:
<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="myp_param1,myp_param2" />
Input fields for options:
<p>
<?php echo __('Option 1:', 'myp_domain'); ?>
<input type="text" name="myp_param1" value="<?php echo get_option('myp_param1'); ?>" size="20">
</p>
<p>
<?php echo __('Option 2:', 'myp_domain'); ?>
<input type="text" name="myp_param2" value="<?php echo get_option('myp_param2'); ?>" size="20">
</p>To fetch data from the DB:
get_option('myp_param1');Submit button:
submit_button();
Finally, developers often forget to clean up after uninstall. Here's how to delete options on deactivation (optional):
register_deactivation_hook(__FILE__, 'myp_deactivate');
function myp_deactivate()
{
delete_option('myp_param1');
delete_option('myp_param2');
}Front-end (what visitors see)
To output saved values in your theme template:
<?php echo get_option('myp_param1'); ?>
/*or*/
<?php echo get_option('myp_param2'); ?>That’s all!
