A fun look at how to extend WordPress with class and consistency. Challenges plug-in and theme authors to apply a new, rigorous philosophy to their work: what would core do?

1. WWCD?
(What would core do?)
Extending with Classiness and Consistency
What Would Core Do?

2. About Me: Jake Goldman
• President (& chief engineer!) @ 10up LLC, a
WordPress development & strategy agency
• Author of over a dozen WordPress plug-ins
• Dozens of clients, from university like Bates
College to WP.com VIP clients like TechCrunch
• Writer/expert reviewer @ Smashing Magazine
• @jakemgold
What Would Core Do?

3. This is WordPress Core
Simple, clean,
economical. And
moddable!
What Would Core Do?

4. This is (often) WordPress Core
with Plug-ins
Well… I guess it
does go faster.
And it has more
HTML5!
What Would Core Do?

5. WordPress with a lot of
complex plug-ins
Is this even a
car?
What Would Core Do?

6. (BTW – What Drupal Developers
Think WordPress is)
What Would Core Do?

7. (…And what we think Drupal is)
What Would Core Do?

8. What Extended WordPress
Should Look Like
What Would Core Do?

9. Seriously, here‟s the point.
It’s not the our extensions don’t work, or aren’t well
coded (there are plenty of those, too).
It’s that they stick out like sore thumbs.
What Would Core Do?

10. WordPress WordPress WordPress
Page pageMash Category Post
Editor Editor Editor
What Would Core Do?

11. Why do “consumers” love WordPress?
• It’s simple for writers to understand. The user
interface is intuitive and (mostly) consistent.
• It’s pretty.
• There are no more bullets.
• Alright maybe it’s affordable, too.
Many of our extensions are ruining this.
What Would Core Do?

12. 10up‟s Philosophy
• WHAT WOULD CORE DO?
• Can you tell where “out of the box”
WordPress stops and our custom
functionality begins? If so, we did it wrong.
• If the core team was tasked with building
this functionality in, how would they have
done it?
What Would Core Do?

13. The right way: Akismet
Do you even remember it’s not built into core?
BTW, is anyone else
surprised that erectile
dysfunction is still the
most common spam?
What Would Core Do?

14. The wrong way: cformsII
Where did
these colors
come from??
What Would Core Do?

15. The wrong way: cformsII
Where else do
we select
content to edit
like this?
What Would Core Do?

16. The wrong way: cformsII
Where did these
icon conventions
come from?
What Would Core Do?

17. The wrong way: cformsII
What is a “Save
form settings”
option doing in
the admin bar?
What Would Core Do?

18. The wrong way: cformsII
Why are forms at the
bottom instead of with
content? And should
we just call it “Forms”?
What Would Core Do?

19. The wrong way: cformsII
Why is there a
“Help” menu
item?
What Would Core Do?

20. Case Study: Simple Local Avatars
Why did I build it?
I just wanted to upload avatars.
Weren‟t there other plug-ins that do that?
Sure, if you want a page full of settings (including a default
option to include a plug-in author credit), a completely new
user admin page to manage the avatars, want to retrieve
avatars from Twitter and Facebook, want SnapShot
integration, and…
What Would Core Do?

21. The Alternative: Add Local Avatars
Do I really need
a whole new
user list screen?
What Would Core Do?

22. Oh come on.
Really?
What Would Core Do?

23. Who cares
where it’s
saved??
What Would Core Do?

24. Isn’t size a
parameter in
“get_avatar”
already?
What Would Core Do?

25. Save it for
another
plug-in.
What Would Core Do?

26. No.
What Would Core Do?

27. Case Study: Simple Local Avatars
Number of new admin screens:
None.
What Would Core Do?

28. Simple Local Avatars
Number of new setting fields: One.
What Would Core Do?

29. Simple Local Avatars
Number of new user profile fields: One.
What Would Core Do?

30. Simple Local Avatars
Value of “it just
works”:
Priceless.
What Would Core Do?

31. It‟s not just plug-ins
Where else
do we have
tabs like We get it.
these?
Heading…
5?
What’s
with the
font?
Hex only?
What Would Core Do?

32. It‟s not just plug-ins
Oh god.
What Would Core Do?

33. Best Practices: Think About Design
What would core do? Heck, what does WordPress do?
What Would Core Do?

34. Best Practices: Think About Settings
• Should it be a top level menu or
submenu?
• Does it need its own page? Or is it
part of, say, “writing” settings?
• Should it be a drop down or a radio
button?
• Do really you even need any
settings?
What Would Core Do?

35. Best Practices: Leave Dashboard
Alone! (a.k.a. stop advertising to us)
I love you,
Frederick, but
frankly, my dear,
I don’t give a
damn.
What Would Core Do?

36. Yep. This isn’t
Best Practices:
even the
advanced tab.
Less is More
For users: the paradox of
choice. Save it for another
plug-in.
Decisions > Options.
What Would Core Do?

37. Coding Techniques: Settings API
add_settings_field & add_settings_section
http://codex.wordpress.org/Settings_API
You can add setting fields and sections to existing
setting screens. Don’t make a page for two media
settings.
What Would Core Do?

38. Coding Techniques: Screen API
Add help and documentation using the
native “Help” pull down.
wpdevel.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/help-and-screen-api-changes-in-3-3/
What Would Core Do?

39. Coding Techniques: Add Hooks
Instead of two dozen options, add your own hooks
so that other developers can override behavior for
the 5% in the long tail. (Like core does!)
do_action( „my_plugin_save‟ );
$output = apply_filter( „my_plugin_output‟,
$output ) ;
What Would Core Do?

40. Coding Techniques: Uninstall Hook
codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/register_uninstall_hook
“Thank
goodness that
plug-in is gone!”
What Would Core Do?

41. WWCD?
What would core do?
by Jake Goldman
@jakemgold
slides & code will be available at
get10up.com
What Would Core Do?