WordPress Plugin Introduction

A WordPress Plugin is a program, or a set of one or more functions, written in the PHP scripting language, that adds a specific set of features or services to the WordPress weblog, which can be seamlessly integrated with the weblog using access points and methods provided by the WordPress Plugin Application Program Interface (API).

WordPress Plugin – Names , Files and Location

Names

The first task in creating a WordPress Plugin is to think about what the Plugin will do, and make a (hopefully unique) name for your Plugin.

Files

The next step is to create a PHP file with a name derived from your chosen Plugin name. For instance, if your Plugin will be called “Fabulous Functionality”, you might call your PHP file fabulous-functionality.php. Again, try to choose a unique name.

Your WordPress Plugin must have at least one PHP file; it could also contain JavaScript files, CSS files, image files, language files, etc.

Readme File

If you want to host your Plugin on http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/, you also need to create a readme.txt file in a standard format, and include it with your Plugin. See http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/about/readme.txt for a description of the format or use the automatic plugin ‘readme.txt’ generator.

Home Page

It is also very useful to create a web page to act as the home page for your WordPress Plugin. This page should describe how to install the Plugin, what it does, what versions of WordPress it is compatible with, what has changed from version to version of your Plugin, and how to use the Plugin.