Plugin Editor
-
I am a full-stack engineer with experience using PHP and Java.
What language are the plugins written in?
I am working with a friend who needs to take her leadership development business online and I have questions regarding the ability to publish online tests and, the back-end processing and storage of test results. While I know how to build these in either PHP or Java, I do not know what is being used in the 50,000+ plugins WordPress advertises.
WP.com: Yes
Correct account: YesThe blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
-
Hi there,
I should probably clarify up front that there are two versions of the WordPress platform. If you are looking for the most freedom in customizing your friend’s site, I typically recommend the open-source version of the WordPress platform. that is the free software you can download on wordpress.org
You can install that software on any traditional web host (Bluehost, GoDaddy, Siteground, etc.) and you would have full control over all aspects of the site and the site backed source files, database, and server config.
To explain WordPress.com, we’re specifically a managed provider (you can think of us as a managed host) for WordPress sites. It’s all we do and we know for a lot of people managing a website is complicated, so we take on that responsibility for our site owners. This does mean however that as a engineer you may feel this platform to be more limiting. We do offer our WordPress.com Business Plan which will allow you to set up a very advanced site with the ability to upload plugins, and offers built in security hardening, comprehensive backups you can access yourself, and automatic updates to core software… these are things you usually have to manage yourself on a traditional host. In addition we do provide developer tools like FTP access to source files as well as mySQL database access, but because our hosting is managed you would not have complete freedom to create your own server configuration details.
What language are the plugins written in?
We don’t offer in-house support for developer level topics like that, so I would recommend this as a starting point to understanding how WordPress plugins are built: https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/intro/
Predominately they are PHP, but can include javascript and CSS depending on what you are trying to create.
I am working with a friend who needs to take her leadership development business online and I have questions regarding the ability to publish online tests and, the back-end processing and storage of test results. While I know how to build these in either PHP or Java, I do not know what is being used in the 50,000+ plugins WordPress advertises.
As mentioned, we don’t offer full server config (we manage this the same for all sites we host) so I’m not the best resource to answer that question. For advanced WordPress topics like that I recommend the open-source developer community here: https://wordpress.org/support/forum/wp-advanced/
Generally speaking I would say that if what you are trying to do can be written specifically as “a plugin for WordPress” as covered at the link I gave in my first reply, that is your best bet. That would ensure the most interoperability with the WordPress site. Also a plugin could be installed on a WordPress.com site (under our Business Plan) whereas custom development directly at the server level hints at the need to full manage the site as a “self-hosted” instance with traditional hosting provider.
Hope that helps!
-
That is extremely helpful, thank you.
I think she/we will choose the Business plan. There appear to be enough plugins that at least cover 90% of what is needed. Anything beyond that I can write the PHP required to get it there.
I’m certain I will have other questions in the future.
Your response is greatly appreciated.
- The topic ‘Plugin Editor’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 