WordPress plugin development Archives

Coding Your WordPress Plugin on the Go Using InstantWP

Since a website is online, then you need to go online to update it, correct?

But isn’t that too cumbersome? You need to connect to your server, download the file, edit it then upload the edited file. After that, you need to check if your changes worked, otherwise you do that whole dance again.

It’s better to just have a copy of your website on your computer and edit it without needing to go online. Not only does it save you a lot of the trouble, you can test all the new plugins and themes you want without breaking your website. And as a bonus, it’s also a backup copy of your live site, in case you need it.

I know what you’re thinking, “Setting up my WordPress site on my computer? Madness! Isn’t that asking for too much for someone who’s not a developer?”

Fortunately, I did find something super simple for installing a WordPress on your local computer. I present: InstantWP!

It’s the simplest way I’ve found to setup a local WordPress on your laptop. Just download the free installer and run it on your computer. Then, you get a website server without all the crazy setup and trial and error. Trust me, it can get complicated setting up locally (and I might write about that in the future).

Here’s how I installed my copy:

Go here and download the installer for your computer. It works with Windows and macOS. The latest release should be at the top. Download the one with “Win” in the name if you’re using Windows, or the one with “macOS” if you’re using a Mac.
The file is around 300MB so it might take up to an hour to download. Might be good to grab something to eat or do some chores while it works (and stay off the computer so it can download faster).
Once you download it, unzip the file and open the ReadMe file included, the one that starts with “ReadMe” and ends in “.html”. It talks about a few things you might need to do to make InstantWP on your computer.
After that, just open “Start-InstantWP” inside the folder, wait for it to load, and you get a nice friendly screen that lets you do everything you need to do with your site. This is what it looks like:

Now that you have InstantWP installed, we need to do a few housekeeping activities before starting.

InstantWP starts with very little RAM, which might affect the performance of your offline site.
1. On the InstantWP screen, click Advanced, then click Edit Config File.
2. Edit the line RAM=268 to be RAM=512 or RAM=1024.
3. Save the file, then Quit and Restart InstantWP.
Click on WordPress Admin to go to your site’s admin area. By the way, the webpage might load a bit slowly at first but that’s normal. I suggest you wait a bit and let the site load up before clicking the button.
You can also add the plugin you made via my previous post. Just go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, then activate it. Try and see if it work.
Let’s go ahead and update WordPress as well, since InstantWP’s version is a bit old.
1. Click on WordPress Admin in the InstantWP screen.
2. Go to Dashboard, then click the Update Now.
3. Wait for the update to finish. You should see a screen similar to the one below (the latest version as I wrote this was 4.9.1)

That’s it! Some minor changes and a bit of waiting is all you need to get your WordPress site running on your computer.

If you need more info on how to use InstantWP, you can read the user guide, browse the FAQ or check the troubleshooting guide.

Right now, I’m assuming you’re building something from scratch so you don’t have a website yet. If in case you want to copy your live site into your local one, here’s a guide I found that will help you export your site. Note that it’s a bit comprehensive but I’m sure you can tackle it no problem.

Create WordPress Plugins to Promote Your Business

We’re drowning in content, but that doesn’t mean you should stop making it. But what you create definitely needs to stand out, which means making something that’s both different and engaging.

The one thing that I think fits both of those criteria are “apps”.

Apps = Interaction

By app, I don’t mean creating something fancy that you need to publish in an app store. It’s merely a shorthand I use to mean “interactive application”, a small piece of code that encourages visitors to interact with it via taps, clicks, swipes and other actions.

It might be a real mobile app. It can also be a plugin you publish in the WordPress directory, a browser add-on, or even a simple quiz you put up on your site. And since we’re all about WordPress plugins here, that’s the kind of app we will talk about below.

Useful Plugins Lead to Sticky Users

People who use plugins often add it to their site to solve a specific problem. But for you, the plugin maker, the app actually does one additional thing. It helps build your authority.

One adage says that the more often people are exposed to your message, the more likely they are to remember it and take action. Ads were a great way to do that before they became expensive. Content was the next best thing but since it was so easy to make online, you’re competing with a lot of other guys who make better content than you.

While content can easily be discarded after use, plugins have a longer life span. If it’s easy to use and produces results, people will use it time and again. That’s multiple exposures right there without having to make new content each time.

And those users are more likely to recommend your plugin, a nice side effect of using it often. More people using your plugin, the more chances they will use your other plugins and eventually try out your products and services.

Who’s Using Plugins for Marketing?

But I’m not alone in discovering this revelation though. A few other keen minds have thought that publishing a free and useful plugin then adding a few small “ads” is a great way to get customers and clients.

Let me show you some examples:

WordFence. A very powerful plugin that guards your site but it also has a small ad at the side where you can hire security professionals in case you get into more trouble than the plugin can handle.
H5P. A brilliant plugin for creating interactive content, or in other words: an app that makes apps. Each piece it makes is branded with their logo so if you get curious how you can build a piece similar to the one you’re seeing, one click lets you install the app for yourself.
Zotabox. This plugin lets you easily add attention-getters on your site, from popups to countdown timers. Personally, I use it to add Facebook Chat on my pages. It’s easy to configure and try out a few of the free features and once you’re hooked, you can pay for the other options.
YITH – if you’ve ever dabbled in WooCommerce, you’ve definitely run into at least one of the dozens of plugins made by this company. Their plugins work well but their upsell is a simple nudge to buy their more powerful pro versions.

So I think this method is quite effective if you’re into selling software, and not just WordPress paid themes and plugins. It’s also a way to share your services in a non-salesy and helpful way.

How to Use Plugins for Marketing

If you’ve already made a useful plugin, the next step is to find out how to insert your marketing message inside the app. Here are a few examples:

Add a can’t-miss link back to your own site in the plugin’s options.
Insert a link to your sales page on your plugin’s description in the user’s list of plugins. You can even put it right beside the Activate link so they can’t miss it.
Add a dismissable notice at the top of the page to lead the user to your homepage.

These are just a few of the ideas that other plugin makers have used to market their other products and services. There also other more unsavory ways to promote within your app but I don’t recommend them if you want to really convert the user to a customer.

I’ll probably be creating a brand new post to cover not just how to market your business within your plugin but also how to market the plugin itself.

It might seem like an extra step versus just promoting your business or services directly, but keep in mind that unlike content or ads, plugins stick around a lot longer. And it’s also easier to market something useful and easy to install.

I’ll be adding a link to the new post here once I’ve made it. You can add me on Facebook if you want to get notified when it’s up (I’ll post it on my feed). Or send me your email below.

Why Build a WordPress Plugin?

I’ve always been impressed with all the things you can do with plugins.

Remove the annoying bar at the top of the site? There’s a plugin for that. Want to collect emails on your home page? There’s a plugin for that as well. And yep, there’s even a plugin if you want to turn your site into a full-blown marketplace.

Ah, so much good stuff, so little time (and server space).

But if there’s already a plugin for everything WordPress, why should you build one yourself? After all, it’s not like plugins are hard to add to your WP site.

First, let me answer that from my own perspective.

Why I Built a WordPress Plugin

I’ve been working on WordPress sites for over 5 years now, mainly via our microjobs marketplace and some tinkering for side project. But I really haven’t made a plugin from scratch before and I wondered why.

Then it hit me that I’ve always been making plugins, just not in the usual way.

I modify free plugins all the time, making them my own. I add extra features, format the display and even sometimes remove code that doesn’t fit my needs.
I actually built a few one-file plugins (yes, you can do this!) but have since absorbed the code into the theme I use.

All those are nice for personal projects but I think it’s high time that I make something I can share to the world. After all, it’s bad manners to edit someone else’s work and push it as your own.

Why YOU Should Build a Plugin

So I made this plugin mainly because I wanted to learn WordPress plugin development. But I think even non-developers like digital marketers, creative freelancers, and consultants would benefit from building their own plugins.

Since you already own a WordPress site, why not discover how you can modify it to suit your needs?

Building a plugin helps you understand how WordPress works. This way, you know what goes on when a developer tinkers with your site. It also gives you an insight how the non-coding side of WordPress works, like publishing to the plugin directory.
Building a plugin teaches you how to modify other plugins to suit your needs. Often, you just need to change a single line of code to change a plugin to how you want it to work, much better than hiring a dev.
Building a plugin means you make something new. There’s no better feeling than getting that first person to install your plugin and tell you that it works on their site without a hitch.
Building a plugin also builds up your career (or business, as the case may be). You add one more skill to your toolbox and the plugin can be used to improve your site’s SEO, gather future customers, and expand the range of services you offer.
Building a plugin means you solve other people’s problems. Sure, you can install an existing plugin to make your own site better. But what if you can make something, publish it, and help dozens of other site owners without any extra effort? Everyone wins!

To my last point, I think making plugins is all about being helpful. Software is the most scalable way I know to help others, and plugins are an easy entry point for anyone who’s familiar with WordPress.

If you’re a WordPress site owner but don’t have programming skills, don’t fret! Making a plugin is a great starting point if you want to learn how to code and get something useful out of it.

But I think the next question is: what plugin should I build?