Custom WordPress Plugin Development

I build custom WordPress plugins using professional development practices: Composer autoloading, mature PHP packages, comprehensive testing with PHPUnit and Playwright, and enterprise-grade code quality standards enforced using CI/CD pipelines.

Rapid WordPress Plugin Prototyping

I believe in getting working WordPress plugins in front of you quickly. Plugin prototypes focus on functionality first, with high-fidelity designs added only after the core logic has been reviewed and approved.

Prioritising Core Functionality

I prototype WordPress plugins using unstyled wireframes and iterative development to check whether proposed core functionality works, or if it needs refinement.

Iterative Refinement

I iterate on a functional plugin, adding dedicated unit and end-to-end tests to ensure edge cases are covered without relying on extensive manual testing.

Final Touches

Once the user flows and plugin architecture are tested and approved, I flesh out settings screens and apply high-fidelity designs where required.

Modern PHP Architecture for WordPress Plugins

I use Composer for dependency management and use mature PHP packages when they solve problems better than custom code would. WordPress functions are always used if available, but, if appropriate to the project, I lean on Symfony components and other battle-tested libraries.

PHP 8

I use the latest PHP 8.x features including type declarations and match expressions. I write clean code that’s easier to maintain and harder to break.

Composer

I use Composer for proper dependency management, and I understand how to resolve version conflicts of dependencies between WordPress plugins and themes.

Symfony Components

If relevant to the project, I use Symfony components: DomCrawler, Validator, String, and Yaml. Using these enterprise-quality building blocks saves development time and reduces bugs.

Comprehensive Testing for WordPress Plugins

To help ensure stable, robust WordPress plugins I use PHPUnit for unit and WordPress integration tests, Playwright for automated in-browser tests, and code quality tools that enforce official WordPress standards.

Unit Tests

I write unit tests for my PHP code using PHPUnit and the WordPress test suite. These tests run on every commit, to increase confidence that future updates won’t break existing functionality.

E2E Tests

I write end-to-end tests in Playwright to cover user journeys in web browsers. These tests cover my custom PHP and JavaScript code, checking it works as expected with WordPress core and other systems.

Code Quality Checks

My code quality checks use WordPress VIP coding standards. They include automated checks for security, performance, code conventions and WordPress best practices.

CI/CD & Deployment for WordPress Plugins

Every WordPress plugin I build includes continuous integration that runs tests and quality checks automatically. Code that fails checks doesn’t get merged. Passing code deploys automatically.

GitHub Actions

I create automated workflows that run my tests and code quality checks frequently, using matrix testing to cover supported PHP versions, WordPress versions and browsers.

Automated Releases

My workflows generate distributable WordPress plugin ZIPs automatically, which are archived in GitHub Releases. These can be pushed to staging or production environments automatically, or downloaded and installed manually.

WordPress.org Ready

If you decide to distribute via the official WordPress plugin repository, I can help. I’ll create deployment workflows with automated changelogs, WordPress VIP compliance, and automatic publishing to wordpress.org SVN.

Open Source WordPress Plugin Experience

I’ve been contributing to an open source plugin in the official WordPress plugins repository for over 5 years. This experience shapes how I approach plugin architecture, backwards compatibility and community standards.

WordPress VIP Standards

I build all my WordPress plugins to wordpress.org and WordPress VIP standards. My CI/CD pipelines always include automated checks for coding standards, and for security checks including sanitisation and escaping.

Backwards Compatibility

Because updates to open source WordPress plugins must not break existing installations, I understand deprecation strategies, migration paths and how to evolve software and APIs without introducing breaking changes.

Who Needs Custom WordPress Plugins?

Custom WordPress plugin development is right for businesses that:

Need custom functionality that existing WordPress plugins don’t provide.
Wish to integrate WordPress with external APIs and services.
Require enterprise-quality code with testing and code standards.
Plan to distribute via WordPress.org or as a commercial product.

Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on complexity. Simple WordPress plugins with a single feature can be ready in 1-2 weeks. Plugins with API integrations, custom admin interfaces and comprehensive testing typically take 1-2 months. Complex plugins with multiple features may take longer. I provide realistic timelines during scoping.

Yes. I build WordPress plugins with WordPress.org repository requirements in mind from the start. This includes coding standards compliance, security best practices, and proper readme.txt formatting. I can handle the submission process and address any review feedback.

For private WordPress plugins I use PHP 8.1 as the minimum version, with PHP 8.4 preferred. This allows modern PHP features like typed properties, attributes and match expressions. For WordPress.org plugins, I can target older PHP versions if broader compatibility is required.

Yes. I offer ongoing maintenance for WordPress plugins I build, including WordPress version compatibility updates, security patches and feature additions. Alternatively, I can hand off to your internal team with full documentation and optional knowledge transfer sessions.

Yes. All my WordPress plugins use WordPress i18n functions correctly from the start – gettext calls, proper text domains, and translatable strings throughout. Plugins are ready for translation into any language without code changes. I also have experience with Multisite/Network, WPML and Polylang integrations for multilingual sites.

Say Hello!

hello@pressingspace.com