Because of that, at the time of this writing there are over 60,000 WordPress plugins that have been developed for the internet’s favorite content management system (CMS).

And you can join in on the fun by creating your own WordPress plugin.

Fortunately, WordPress makes the process pretty easy. Some coding knowledge will be needed, but it’s not terribly hard to learn how to create a basic plugin to add additional functionality to your website. And if it goes really well, you may even be able to sell it to others and turn your project into a side hustle!

Ready to learn more about why you might want to create a WordPress plugin, as well as how to develop your own?

You’re in the right place!

A Quick Intro To WordPress Plugins

WordPress has a market share of nearly 63% among all CMSes, making it the most popular option by a landslide.

As mentioned earlier, WordPress is an open-source software platform. That means its source code, plugins, and themes are available for anyone to work with and modify as they see fit.

Note: There’s a difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. The .org version is the open-source option that’s free to download and use to create a custom site. It’s the version we’ll cover in this post. The .com version is a hosted site builder with which you can create a limited site for free.

WordPress plugins are packages of code that extend the functionality of a WordPress site. They’re created by different developers all around the world and are designed for a variety of purposes.

For instance, in the existing plugin library you’ll find options for adding social media share buttons, adding newsletter signup forms to your sidebar, improving website search engine optimization (SEO), turning WordPress into a full-blown ecommerce site, and much more.

The WordPress plugin ecosystem empowers those without coding knowledge to create and customize powerful websites. Additionally, it offers almost limitless opportunities for pro developers and web enthusiasts alike.

Why Develop A WordPress Plugin?

WordPress has one of the largest markets for developers. This means you’ll find plenty of resources to help you develop the exact plugin you need to optimize your website. (But don’t worry, we’ll also detail the process here soon!). You won’t find that level of support on many other website-building platforms.

The magic of WordPress is that you can develop a solution for your own site and you don’t have to share it on the plugin market. However, many developers choose to make their plugins available to others to help them work around similar issues as those the developers encountered.

If you do choose to offer your plugin to others, there’s some earning potential associated with WordPress plugins because of the massive user base.

While there’s no shortage of competition, if you have a new or better solution to a common problem, you could find your plugin downloaded for thousands of sites. With a great plugin, the right pricing strategy, and some marketing efforts, a plugin could turn into a nice passiveish income stream.

Lastly, WordPress is an ideal platform for learning how to code. Because it has been around for over 20 years, there’s a seemingly limitless number of resources both on and off WordPress to help you get the hang of development.

Speaking of resources, let’s dive into everything you need to know to create your very own WordPress plugin.

How To Create a WordPress Plugin (6 Steps)

While different plugins will require different amounts of coding and know-how, they all tend to follow this same general development process.

Step 1: Do Your Research And Planning

Like we said, there are numerous tools in the WordPress plugin directory — tens of thousands of them in fact. Therefore, the first thing you’ll want to do is do some research to see if your idea already exists.

Even if it does, you could still proceed with your plan, provided that you make some tweaks so that you’re not creating an exact replica. Explore similar plugins and find out how you might be able to improve upon them. Alternatively, you could complement what’s already available with something like your own custom post type — say, to help keep a diary of your media consumption — or additional features.

You might also want to check the status of existing plugins. For instance, if a plugin hasn’t been updated in some time or isn’t compatible with the latest version of WordPress, there might be an opportunity to provide a better solution.

You can also look at the number of active installations to see if there’s a big market for the type of plugin that you have in mind. This can help you decide if it’s worth the effort if you’re looking to earn money. It’s also a good idea to test the plugin on your own site to see what it does well and what could be done better.

Finally, before diving into the build, you’ll want to read up on the WordPress Coding Standards. This is particularly important if you’re planning to share or sell your plugin. These coding standards are a set of guidelines and best practices that developers should try to adhere to when creating themes and plugins for WordPress.

Related: Want To Learn WordPress? Start With These Resources

Step 2: Set Up A Testing Environment

The next step is to set up a testing environment.

As a beginner, you’re likely to learn (and maybe break) a few things along the way. You don’t want to experiment on your live website that any internet user can see. A local environment — a staging website — will enable you to test your plugin privately as you work on it.

We endorse using Local to create a WordPress site on your computer. It offers a straightforward, user-friendly development environment that offers powerful yet flexible tools for most people.

You can also create an online staging environment. With DreamHost web hosting, you can easily create a staging WordPress site where you can test your plugin without breaking your live site or interrupting your visitors’ user experiences.

Step 3: Create Your Plugin File

Once you have your staging environment set up, it’s time to use it to create your plugin.

The first step is to create a folder for it in your site’s directory.

You can use an FTP/SFTP client like FileZilla to access your site’s files and folders. Or, you may be able to tap into your site via the file manager provided in your hosting account. For DreamHost users, our guide to using the website file manager will help you use our built-in file manager.

Once you’ve connected to your site’s directory, navigate to wp-content/plugins and create a new folder for your plugin.

Next, you’ll need to create a PHP file to add to this folder. To do this, open your preferred text editor and enter the following information:

<?php
/**
* Plugin Name: test-plugin
* Plugin URI: https://www.your-site.com/
* Description: Test.
* Version: 0.1
* Author: your-name
* Author URI: https://www.your-site.com/
**/

Of course, you’ll need to change the above information to match your details. When you’re ready, you can save your file. Remember to use the file extension “php” (e.g., my-first-plugin.php).

Then, you’ll need to upload this file to the plugin folder that you just created at wp-content/plugins. Once you’ve done this, navigate to your test site’s WordPress dashboard and go to the Plugins page.

Here, you should be able to see your new plugin!

This plugin won’t do anything yet if you were to activate it. However, WordPress will recognize it as a functional add-on from this point forward.

Step 4: Add Code To Your Plugin

Every plugin is different. However, they all share common components. For instance, all plugins use hooks to interact with WordPress.

A hook is how a plugin connects to the pre-existing code of WordPress’s core programming. In other words, the hook is the anchor point where a plugin inserts itself in order to add or change the functionality of a site.

Hooks are an important part of WordPress development. There are hundreds of hooks that can be used as triggers for a plugin, and you can even create new ones if needed.

But for now, there are two types of hooks that you’ll need to consider when creating your plugin:

1. Actions: These add or change WordPress functionality and make up the majority of hooks.
2. Filters: These are used to modify the functionality of actions.

To code your plugin, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with hooks and how they work. Fortunately, the Plugin Handbook from WordPress can help you get started.

For this guide, we’ll use the following code (source) as an example:

function modify_read_more_link() {
    return '<a class="more-link" href="' . get_permalink() . '">Click to Read!</a>';
}
add_filter( 'the_content_more_link', 'modify_read_more_link' );

As you might be able to see, this code uses a filter to modify the standard “read more” link by replacing it with a different value: “Click to Read!”

If you add this snippet to your PHP file and activate the plugin on your site, you’ll end up seeing the following anchor text below your post excerpts:

Feel free to experiment with the code and try using a different function.

Note that you could also add this code to your theme’s functions.php file. This file contains code that adds functionality to your site and works in a way that’s similar to how a plugin adds functionality. However, if you switch to a different theme in the future — or your theme is upgraded to a new version — you’ll lose these changes.

This kind of code works only for Classic themes. Block themes work differently and often require no PHP code since everything is built using Blocks using only the Site Editor.

Also note that the code in the example plugin above works only for sites utilizing classic themes. If you’ve been using the site editor built into WordPress — which has been in the core software for several years now — to lay out your site using blocks, the code above won’t do much for you.

Related: How To Install A WordPress Theme (Tutorial)

Step 5: Test Your Plugin

As you continue developing your plugin, it’s important that you save your work often and test your changes on your staging or development site.

Once you’re satisfied with your plugin, you should try it on a live site. Again, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve already thoroughly tested your plugin for any bugs and vulnerabilities.

It’s also a good idea to create a backup of your live site before testing your plugin on it. This way, if anything does go wrong, you can restore your content.

If you’re happy with the performance of your plugin at this point, you could offer it to other developers for them to use and test. This can earn you valuable feedback. You could also ask them to put your plugin through its paces and try to break it to prove its stability.

To do this, you’ll want to export your plugin to a zip file for easy distribution and installation. Locate your plugin’s folder in the site’s directory, then right-click on it and follow the steps to create a zip file. For example, on Microsoft Windows select Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.

Choose a destination, and the files within your folder will be compiled into a zip folder that you can easily share. If you’re developing on a live site, you may need to first download the plugin folder from your SFTP client before compressing it.

To install your plugin on a WordPress site, simply navigate to Plugins > Add New Plugin from the sidebar in your WordPress admin panel.

At the top of the page, you’ll see a button to Upload Plugin. Once selected, you’ll be prompted to choose a zip file to upload to your site.

Upload the compressed file you just made and select Install Now. WordPress will then unpack and install the plugin on your site.

Once that’s complete, just click on Activate Plugin.

Your new plugin is now live!

Step 6: Distribute Your Plugin (2 Options)

Now, you can start distributing the plugin you’ve created. Let’s look at the best ways to do this.

A. Publish Your Work To The WordPress Plugin Directory

By adding your plugin to the WordPress plugin directory, you can share your work with the community and gain exposure. You can take advantage of the WordPress user base to attract new clients.

However, you’ll need to make sure that your plugin complies with best practices and the Detailed Plugin Guidelines before uploading it for review. Keep in mind, it might take a while for your plugin to be reviewed and accepted.

Once your plugin is approved, you’ll need to add your files to the Subversion directory.

When this is all done, WordPress users will be able to install your plugin on their sites.

B. Share The Plugin On Your Own Website

In addition to uploading your plugin to the WordPress directory, you could also create a website for it.

You can use a site like this to market and provide more details about your plugin. You could also include documentation, tutorials, support options, links to other plugins you’ve made, and so on.

Developers often use websites to promote their premium plugins while providing a free or “lite” version in the WordPress directory. That way, users are able to easily find and download the product via WordPress before upgrading to a paid option.

You can lock certain advanced features behind a paywall, which can all be explained on a plugin website. Additionally, you can offer a multi-tiered membership model that offers a variety of feature sets depending on a user’s needs and budget.

Set Yourself Up For Plugin Success With DreamHost

As an open-source platform, WordPress enables you to develop your own plugin and share it with other users. While some coding knowledge will certainly be helpful, you can easily create a simple plugin and vastly improve your site’s functionality by following the steps above.

Once you’ve gained enough experience, you may even want to start selling premium versions of your plugins for a rewarding and mostly passive income stream!

But to really set yourself up for success, you need to be able to spin up an affordable plugin testing site — DreamPress can help you with that — as well as one or more marketing sites to display and sell your premium plugins. Use our AI-powered business name generator, affordable domain name finding and registration service, and WordPress-specific website builder to go from plugin idea to viable side hustle with ease!

Do More with DreamPress

DreamPress Plus and Pro users get access to Jetpack Professional (and 200+ premium themes) at no added cost!

Check Out Plans

The post How To Create A WordPress Plugin (Beginner’s Guide) appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.

And in 2024, you have a lot of options to choose from. There are text editors that prioritize simplicity and user-friendliness, making them perfect for beginners or those who need a distraction-free environment for writing. Others are powerhouses of functionality, offering extensive customization options, advanced code management features, and integrations that appeal to seasoned developers. With so many options, how do you choose the one that’s right for you?

We’ve compiled a comprehensive and up-to-date list of the best text editors available, plus key features, compatibility details, and other criteria you should consider when choosing a text editor for your needs. After reading this article, you should be able to confidently select a text editor that not only fits your immediate needs but also supports your evolving skill set and projects. Let’s get started.

Choosing The Right Text Editor For Your Needs

Focusing on the features that align with your specific needs can help you narrow down the enormous selection of text editors to find the one that suits you best. Whether you’re coding, designing, or writing, the right tool can make all the difference in your productivity and efficiency.

Features For Use Case

No matter what field you come from, the right text editor needs to be compatible with your platform. It should also be user-friendly, especially if you’re a beginner.

What To Look For If You’re A Developer

• Language support and syntax highlighting. Essential for readability and efficiency, syntax highlighting differentiates code elements, making it easier to write and debug. Ensure your editor supports the programming languages you use.
• Integrated Development Environment (IDE) features. Features like code completion, error checking, and integrated debugging can significantly speed up your development process.
• Version control integration. Integration with systems like Git helps track changes and collaborate on projects.
• Customizability and extensibility. The ability to customize the interface and add functionalities through plugins or extensions allows you to tailor the editor to your specific needs.

What To Look For If You’re A Web Designer

• Live preview and editing. Real-time preview features help you to see changes instantly as you code, which is invaluable for web design.
• Support for different web languages. Make sure the editor supports HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other web development languages you might use in different projects and settings.
• Integration with design tools. Some text editors offer integrations or plugins for design tools, making it easier to incorporate design elements into your web projects.
• Responsive design features. Tools that aid in creating responsive designs can be a significant advantage in the mobile-first era.

What To Look For If You’re A Writer

• Distraction-free writing mode. A clean, minimal interface helps keep focus on writing without unnecessary distractions.
• Document organization. Features like tabs, project views, or document outlines can help you organize your writing projects efficiently.
• Formatting and markdown support. For those who publish online, markdown support is essential for easy formatting.
• Version control and automatic backup. While not as critical as for developers, version control can be useful for tracking revisions and backing up your work.

Compatibility

Make sure the text editor is compatible with the operating system you use, whether that’s Windows, macOS, Linux, or others. It should also be able to handle the file types you work with regularly. This is especially important for developers and web designers who deal with various code files.

Online Editors Vs. Offline Editors

Online editors can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, which makes them more flexible. They also may include real-time collaboration features, which can be invaluable for team projects.

Offline editors are installed on your machine, typically offering better performance and reliability.

When deciding between an online or offline editor, consider how your data is stored and managed. This may impact your choice based on the sensitivity of your work.

Free Or Premium

Free editors can be very capable, but premium editors might offer more advanced features or better support. Premium editors often provide a more extensive set of features and integrations. Evaluate if these additional features justify the cost based on your needs. Paid editors may also offer more frequent updates and dedicated support, which can be invaluable for professional or commercial work.

The Top 11 Text Editors

1. UltraEdit

UltraEdit is a versatile and powerful text editor known for handling complex and large files with ease. Initially released in 1994, it has evolved into a tool that caters to a wide range of professional needs, including coding, text manipulation, and file sorting.

Key features:

• Large file handling: Capable of efficiently handling files of any size, a standout feature for handling massive data or log files.
• Customizable interface: Offers a highly customizable interface, including themes, layouts, and toolbars, allowing users to tailor the environment to their preferences.
• Multi-carets and multi-select: Enhances editing efficiency by allowing users to edit in multiple places simultaneously.
• Robust search: Features a powerful search function, including regular expressions, search in files, and more.
• Syntax highlighting and code folding: Supports a wide range of programming languages with syntax highlighting and code folding for easier navigation.

Usability:
UltraEdit has a steeper learning curve compared to more basic text editors, due to its extensive feature set. However, it offers comprehensive documentation and support, making it manageable for beginners who put in the work to learn its many features.

Platform compatibility:
UltraEdit is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it a versatile option for users across different operating systems.

Best suited for:
UltraEdit is best suited for advanced users such as developers, programmers, and data professionals who need a robust and powerful tool for complex editing tasks. Its capability to handle large files also makes it ideal for professionals dealing with large datasets or logs.

2. BBEdit

BBEdit is a professional HTML and text editor for macOS, known for its reliability and performance. Developed by Bare Bones Software, it’s a popular choice among macOS users for web design and development, as well as for general-purpose text editing.

Key features:

• Rich text and HTML editing: Offers powerful tools for text, HTML, and markdown editing, making it ideal for web designers and content creators.
• Grep pattern matching: Utilizes advanced search and replace capabilities, including regular expression (grep) support.
• Code folding and syntax highlighting: Supports a wide array of programming languages and file formats with syntax highlighting and code folding.
• Integrated file management: Features a built-in file browser for easy management of local and remote files.
• Scripting and automation: Supports AppleScript and macOS Unix scripting, allowing for extensive customization and automation.

Usability:
BBEdit is well known for its clean and intuitive interface, making it accessible for beginners while still providing the depth of features required by advanced users. Its well-organized menus and extensive documentation further aid in usability.

Platform compatibility:
BBEdit is exclusively available for macOS, catering specifically to the Apple ecosystem.

Best suited for:
BBEdit is a great choice for macOS users at various proficiency levels. It’s particularly well-suited for web designers and developers due to its rich set of HTML and text editing tools, as well as for writers and content creators looking for a robust markdown and text editor.

3. Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a free, open-source text editor developed by Microsoft. It’s highly regarded in the programming community for its versatility, feature-rich environment, and support for many different programming languages.

Key features:

• Extensibility: A vast marketplace of extensions allows users to add new languages, themes, debuggers, and to connect to additional services.
• Smart code completion: Offers context-aware code completion, parameter info, quick info, and member lists, enhancing coding efficiency.
• Integrated Git control: Built-in Git support provides easy access to source control features without leaving the editor.
• Debugging tools: Comes with powerful built-in debugging tools, eliminating the need for a separate debugging tool.
• Customizable workspace: Users can adjust settings and keyboard shortcuts, and install extensions to personalize their workspace.

Usability:
VS Code strikes a balance between functionality and user-friendliness. Its interface is intuitive enough for beginners, while its extensive customization and advanced features cater to the needs of experienced developers.

Platform compatibility:
VS Code is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Best suited for:
Visual Studio Code is an excellent choice for many users, from beginners to advanced developers. Its comprehensive features and support for multiple programming languages make it ideal for software developers, web developers, and data scientists. The availability of extensions also makes it adaptable for almost any programming need or preference.

4. Sublime Text

Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor known for its speed, ease of use, and powerful features. It’s well-loved by developers for its smooth performance and minimalistic interface, making it ideal for code, markup, and prose. Its blend of simplicity, powerful search capabilities, and extensive customization options have made it a popular choice among software developers, web designers, and writers alike.

Key features:

• Goto anything: This feature allows quick navigation to files, symbols, or lines with simple keystrokes.
• Multiple selections: Users can make multiple changes simultaneously, enhancing editing efficiency.
• Highly customizable: Sublime Text offers various customization options, including key bindings, menus, snippets, macros, and more.
• Package control: An extensive ecosystem of plugins and themes, easily accessible through an integrated package manager.
• Split editing: Supports editing files side-by-side or editing two locations in one file, enhancing the ease of working with multiple files or large codebases.

Usability:
Sublime Text is known for its clean and uncluttered interface — easy for beginners to navigate yet powerful enough for advanced users. It’s designed to be fast and responsive, even with large files.

Platform compatibility:
Sublime Text is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Best suited for:
Sublime Text is a great option for users of all skill levels, but it’s particularly appealing to developers and programmers who value speed and efficiency in their workflow. Its powerful editing features and customizability also make it a strong choice for web designers and content writers who need a versatile and reliable text editor.

5. WebStorm

WebStorm is a powerful and intelligent IDE specifically designed for JavaScript and related technologies. Developed by JetBrains, it offers a comprehensive set of tools for complex client-side development and server-side development with Node.js. WebStorm is known for its advanced coding assistance, intelligent code navigation, and fast error detection, making it a favorite among professional web developers.

Key features:

• Smart code completion: Tailored for JavaScript, it provides context-aware code completion for faster and more accurate coding.
• Powerful navigation and refactoring: Helps easily navigate code and ensures safe refactoring across the entire project.
• Built-in debugging: Simplifies the debugging process by allowing users to debug applications directly within the IDE.
• Testing tools integrations: Supports testing frameworks like Jest, Mocha, and others, making testing more efficient.
• Version control: Offers seamless integration with Git, GitHub, Mercurial, and other VCS.

Usability:
WebStorm is designed with professionals in mind, and while it’s packed with features, it might have a steeper learning curve for beginners. However, its intelligent features and integrations can significantly boost productivity once mastered.

Platform compatibility:
WebStorm is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Best suited for:
WebStorm is best suited for intermediate to advanced web developers who require a robust and intelligent environment for JavaScript development. It’s particularly effective for those working with modern frameworks and libraries like React or Angular. WebStorm’s rich set of features and integrations makes it a powerful tool for full-stack development and large-scale web applications.

6. Notepad++

Notepad++ is a popular, free, open source text and source code editor primarily designed for Windows. It’s known for its simplicity, lightweight nature, and efficiency. Notepad++ supports various programming languages and is praised for its utility for coding, as well as for general text editing tasks. It’s a great choice for those looking for a basic but powerful editor, especially for quick edits or small-scale development projects.

Key features:

• Syntax highlighting and syntax folding: Supports a multitude of programming languages, providing easy readability and organization of code.
• Regular expression search and replace: Offers advanced search and replace capabilities, which are particularly useful for text manipulation and editing.
• Plugin support: While lightweight, it can be extended with plugins to add additional functionalities.
• Tabbed document interface: Allows opening multiple documents simultaneously in a single window for easy navigation and comparison.

Usability:
Notepad++ is well-known for being straightforward and user-friendly. It’s an excellent choice for beginners due to its simplicity and ease of use. The software is also very lightweight, ensuring quick startup and smooth performance, even on older hardware.

Platform compatibility:
Notepad++ is primarily designed for Windows. While it can be run on other operating systems (like macOS and Linux) using compatibility layers, it functions best on Windows.

Best suited for:
Notepad++ is ideal for users who need a simple, effective, and lightweight text editor, particularly software developers and web designers working in a Windows environment. Its ease of use also makes it a good option for beginners and those who need a quick, reliable tool for smaller coding projects or basic text editing tasks.

7. CoffeeCup HTML Editor

CoffeeCup HTML Editor is a specialized tool designed specifically for web design and development. Focused on HTML editing, it offers a mix of visual editing features and hand-coding tools. It’s tailored for users who are looking to create, edit, and manage HTML and CSS files for websites, ranging from beginners to intermediate developers. The editor is known for its user-friendly interface and helpful features that streamline web design processes.

Key features:

• Split-screen preview: Allows users to see the live preview of their HTML and CSS code changes in real-time.
• Comprehensive tag reference: Offers a helpful reference for HTML tags, attributes, and values for quick and easy coding.
• Templates and themes: Comes with a variety of pre-designed templates and themes that can be used as a starting point for web projects.
• Code validation tool: Includes tools to validate HTML and CSS, ensuring that the code adheres to current web standards.
• SEO and analytics tools: Provides features to optimize web pages for search engines and integrate analytics.

Usability:
CoffeeCup HTML Editor is particularly user-friendly for those who are new to web development or prefer a more guided approach. The interface is intuitive, and the inclusion of templates and comprehensive tag references helps beginners get started quickly.

Platform compatibility:
CoffeeCup HTML Editor is primarily designed for Windows. Its focus on this platform allows it to offer a smooth and integrated experience for Windows users.

Best suited for:
This editor is best suited for web designers and developers who are at the beginner to intermediate level, especially those working on HTML and CSS projects. Its range of features and user-friendly approach make it a great tool for those who are learning web development or need a straightforward tool for building and managing websites.

8. TextMate

TextMate is a versatile and powerful text editor designed for macOS. It combines a minimalistic interface with a rich feature set, making it a favorite among developers and writers who use Mac products. TextMate is known for its ability to handle a wide variety of programming languages, along with its unique approach to project management and customization.

Key features:

• Bundles for different languages: TextMate supports multiple languages and workflows through the use of ‘bundles’, which are collections of syntax definitions, commands, and templates.
• Macro recording and playback: Offers the ability to record and playback keystrokes to automate repetitive tasks.
• Clipboard history: Keeps a history of clipboard items, enhancing coding and editing efficiency.
• Project management: Provides a convenient way to manage and navigate large projects with multiple files.
• Regular expression search and replace: Advanced search capabilities make it easier to modify and manage complex documents.

Usability:
TextMate balances functionality with simplicity. Its interface is clean and user-friendly, suitable for beginners, yet it packs a powerful set of features for more advanced users. The learning curve is moderate, and macOS users often find it intuitive.

Platform compatibility:
TextMate is exclusively available for macOS. This focus allows it to integrate tightly with the macOS environment, offering a smooth experience for Mac users.

Best suited for:
TextMate is ideal for macOS users across various proficiency levels, from beginners to advanced users. It’s particularly appealing to software developers, web designers, and writers who appreciate a blend of simplicity and power. Its project management features and extensive language support also make it a good choice for those working on large-scale projects or in diverse programming environments.

9. Espresso

Espresso is a streamlined and powerful web development tool designed specifically for macOS. It focuses on simplifying the process of web design and development, integrating features like live styling, visual layout, and streamlined code editing. Espresso is popular among web designers and developers for its elegant interface and its emphasis on efficiency and real-time feedback.

Key features:

• Live preview: Provides real-time previews of your web projects, along with an X-ray feature for inspecting and adjusting layouts directly in the preview.
• CSS editing tools: Features powerful CSS editing tools, including visual navigation and dynamic styling with live editing.
• Code folding and syntax highlighting: Supports various web languages with features like code folding and syntax highlighting, enhancing readability and organization.
• Snippet management: Allows for the creation, use, and organization of snippets, speeding up the coding process.
• Integrated workflow: Seamlessly integrates file management, FTP/SFTP publishing, and project organization, all within a streamlined interface.

Usability:
Espresso is known for its user-friendly interface, making it a good choice for beginners and professionals alike. The tool is designed to be intuitive, allowing users to quickly adapt and enhance their web development workflow.

Platform compatibility:
Espresso is exclusively available for macOS.

Best suited for:
Espresso is ideal for web designers and developers using macOS who are looking for a tool that combines coding efficiency with visual design capabilities. Its focus on live editing and streamlined workflow makes it appealing to those involved in front-end web development and design, especially those working with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

10. Bluefish

Bluefish is a powerful editor targeted toward programmers and web developers, offering a lightweight, fast, and versatile editing environment. It supports various programming and markup languages but is primarily known for its robust tools in web development. Bluefish combines ease of use for beginners with powerful features for advanced users, making it a well-rounded choice for editing dynamic and interactive websites.

Key features:

• Multi-language support: Offers robust support for HTML, XHTML, CSS, XML, PHP, C, Java, JavaScript, SQL, and many more.
• Code navigation and auto-completion: Facilitates code navigation and includes auto-completion for tags, variables, and custom code snippets.
• Advanced search and replace: Comes with powerful search and replace tools, including support for regular expressions.
• Project management features: Helps organize and manage large projects.

Usability:
While Bluefish is packed with features, it still has a user-friendly interface. Its design and functionalities are accessible for beginners, and it provides the depth required by more experienced users.

Platform compatibility:
Bluefish is highly versatile in terms of platform compatibility. It’s available for Linux, Windows, macOS, Solaris, and FreeBSD.

Best suited for:
Bluefish is a versatile and powerful choice for web developers and programmers, especially those who work across various programming languages and frameworks. Its balance of advanced features and ease of use makes it suitable for both beginners and experienced users. The software is particularly suited for those working on complex web projects or large codebases.

11. Vim

Vim, short for Vi Improved, is a configurable text editor built to make text editing as efficient as possible. It is an advanced version of the Unix editor Vi, known for its power, flexibility, and efficiency. Vim is a command-line editor and is considered one of the most complex yet powerful text editors used in programming and other text editing tasks. It’s particularly favored in the Linux world, but has a dedicated user base across various platforms.

Key features:

• Modal editing: Vim operates in different modes, primarily the insert mode (for entering text) and the command mode (for executing commands).
• Extensive customization: Users can customize Vim extensively with scripts, making it highly adaptable to individual needs.
• Powerful search and replace: Features advanced pattern matching and search and replace capabilities.
• Vast plugin ecosystem: The Vim community has created many plugins for extending its functionality.
• Keyboard-centric operation: Designed for use without a mouse, enhancing speed and efficiency.

Usability:
Vim has a steep learning curve, especially for users not familiar with command-line interfaces. It is almost entirely keyboard-driven, which can be challenging to master but offers unparalleled efficiency once learned.

Platform compatibility:
Vim is available on multiple platforms, including Unix, Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Best suited for:
Vim is best suited for advanced users, particularly developers and programmers who are comfortable with command-line environments and need a highly efficient and customizable editing tool. Its robustness and efficiency make it a favorite for tasks that require extensive text manipulation and coding, especially in Unix-like environments.

Text Editor FAQs

What are the best simple text editors?

For simple text editing, Notepad++ (Windows) and BBEdit (macOS) are excellent choices. They offer user-friendly interfaces with essential features like syntax highlighting and search and replace functions. These editors are ideal for straightforward text manipulation without the complexity of more advanced tools.

What are the best text editors for writing?

For writing, especially those focused on coding or technical documentation, Visual Studio Code and Sublime Text are top choices. They provide clean interfaces, distraction-free modes, and extensive customization options, making them good picks for a variety of writing tasks, including technical writing and scripting.

What are the best text editors for note-taking?

For note-taking, especially in contexts like coding or technical documentation, Sublime Text and Notepad++ are excellent choices. Sublime Text’s distraction-free mode and project management capabilities make it great for organizing and editing notes efficiently. Notepad++, with its straightforward interface and customizable features, is well-suited for quick and efficient note-taking, particularly on Windows systems.

Create a Website for All

With automatic updates and strong security defenses, DreamPress takes server management off your hands so you can focus on what really matters: creating a site that can be enjoyed by every user.

Choose Your Plan

The post The 11 Best Text Editors: From Coding To Note-Taking appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.

Fortunately, creating a custom theme for WordPress is a relatively straightforward process. Surprisingly, it doesn’t require a ton of technical knowledge or experience with web development. Plus, building your own theme can be well worth the effort, since you can get your site looking exactly the way you want it.

Designing A Custom WordPress Website

You want your site to look great and have all the functionality you need, so you check out the WordPress Theme Directory:

Unfortunately, nothing you see fulfills your requirements, and you don’t want to compromise on your vision. Maybe you want something unique to make your site stand out, but you don’t want to spend the money on a premium theme.

Page Builders

One option is to use a page builder plugin. These tools allow you to take an existing theme and rearrange the layout to match your needs. Most popular page builders provide simple drag-and-drop controls with no coding requirements. Certain multipurpose themes come with this feature built-in.

Block Themes

If you decide to try the native WordPress Editor, full site editing is a feature set in WordPress that includes several tools to make the design process more accessible for site owners.

Using this new Site Editor, you can use drag-and-drop blocks to customize most of your site from a single interface, including page templates, without using code. Here is our complete guide to Full Site Editing.

Theme Customization

If you choose a customizable theme, you can also adjust the look of your site without getting technical. Using the WordPress Customizer and the Theme Options panel, you should be able to adjust various design elements:

• Color scheme: From the background color of your site to the particular shade of your body text.
• Typography: This covers the fonts used on your site and how text is displayed in various types of content.
• Layout: Certain themes allow you to switch between different layouts and choose how your site should adapt to different screen sizes.

The exact choice of options here will depend on the theme you choose. Premium themes tend to be more generous with customization features.

Creating A Child Theme

If you want more control, you could consider creating a child theme.

Given the amount of choices in the WordPress Themes Directory,  you will likely find a theme that meets some (if not all) of your needs. Rather than starting from a very basic template, you can adapt the existing theme to meet your vision.

On the surface, a WordPress child theme works like any other theme. The key difference is that a child theme inherits attributes from a parent theme (the original theme you chose to use).

This relationship allows the child theme to override specific portions of the parent theme while retaining most of the parent’s appearance and functionality.

Child themes provide an efficient method to customize an existing theme without modifying the parent theme files. Updating the parent and child themes for security and bug fixes is essential. Most often, only the parent theme will need to be updated.

As such, using a child theme is an effective way of creating a unique online presence without diving too far into the world of development.

Complete Control

Sometimes, even this isn’t enough. When you want to build something truly unique, it’s time to consider creating your own theme.

Fortunately, developing a theme for WordPress is easier than you might think. Thanks to the platform’s user-friendly interface and the numerous tools available, almost anyone can create a custom theme.

We’re going to take you through the process of creating your first theme. To get started, you’ll need two things:

• Your own WordPress website
• A quality hosting plan

You’ll also benefit from having experience with local staging environments, as you’ll be using one to create your theme. Having some understanding of CSS and PHP will also be helpful (although not strictly necessary).

Finally, there’s one important tool you’ll want to have, which will make the process much easier: a starter theme.

What Is A Starter Theme? (And Why You Should Use One)

A starter theme is a bare-bones WordPress theme that you can use as a foundation to create your own. This enables you to build on a solid framework without worrying about the complexities of coding a theme from scratch. It will also help you understand how WordPress works by showing you the basic structure of a theme and how all its parts work together.

There are plenty of excellent starter themes out there, including Underscores, UnderStrap, and Bones (to name just a few).

We’ll be using Underscores for our tutorial. It’s a solid choice for beginners because it only contains the basics. Plus, this starter theme was developed by Automattic (the team behind WordPress.com), which means it’s more likely to be safe, compatible, and well-supported in the long run.

How To Develop Your First WordPress Theme (In 5 Steps)

With the preparation out of the way, you’re finally ready to start creating your first theme. As we mentioned earlier, we’ll be using a starter theme for this walkthrough.

However, if you want to try creating everything yourself with no template, you can do so, but that approach will require a lot more coding proficiency.

Step 1: Set Up A Local Environment

The first thing you’ll need to do is to create a local development environment. This is effectively a server that you install on your computer, which you can use to develop and manage local WordPress sites. A local site is a safe way to develop a theme without impacting your live site.

There are many ways you can create a local environment, but we’ll be using Local. This is a fast, easy way to install a local version of WordPress for free and is compatible with both Mac and Windows:

To get started, select the free version of Local, choose your platform, add your details, and download the installer. When the installation has been completed, you can open the program on your computer.

Here, you’ll be asked to configure your new local environment:

This is a straightforward process, and you’ll have your local WordPress site ready in a few minutes. Once set up, your new site will look and work exactly like a live WordPress website.

Step 2: Download And Install Your Starter Theme

Like most starter themes, Underscores is very easy to get started with. In fact, all you need to do is go to the website and name your theme:

If you want, you can click on Advanced Options to customize the base theme further:

Here, you can fill out more information, such as the author’s name, and give the theme a description:

There’s also the _sassify! option, which will add Syntactically Awesome StyleSheets (SASS) files to your theme. SASS is a preprocessing language for CSS which enables you to use variables, nesting, math operators, and more.

When you’ve made your choices, you can click on Generate, which will download a .zip file containing your starter theme. This is the core file around which you’ll develop your own theme, so you’ll need to install it on your local site.

Once you’ve installed your theme, you can preview your site to see how it looks. It’s very basic right now, but that won’t be the case for long!

Step 3: Learn About The Different Components Of A WordPress Theme

Before you can customize your theme, you’ll need to understand the purpose of its components and how they fit together.

First, let’s discuss template files, which are the main building blocks of a WordPress theme. These files determine the layout and look of the content on your site.

For example, header.php is used to create a header, while comments.php enables you to display comments.

WordPress determines which template files to use on each page by going through the template hierarchy. This is the order in which WordPress will look for the matching template files every time a page on your site is loaded.

For example, if you visit the URL http://example.com/post/this-post, WordPress will look for the following template files in this order:

1. Files that match the slug, such as this-post
2. Files that match the post ID
3. A generic single post file, such as single.php
4. An archive file, such as archive.php
5. The index.php file

Since the index.php file is required by all themes, it’s the default option if no other file can be found. Underscores contains the most common theme files, which will work right out of the box. However, you can experiment with editing them if you want to get a feel for how they work together.

Key Theme Files

In addition to the index.php file, you will find the following files in most WordPress themes:

• header.php: This contains the HTML for your custom header template, including metadata and links to stylesheets. Note that menus are usually handled by the WordPress custom menu feature.
• footer.php: This file holds the HTML for your website’s footer template.
• sidebar.php: If you want your website to have a sidebar, the code will come from here. Bear in mind that this is simply the structure; widgets are controlled from the admin area.
• single.php: This is the template file for single blog posts. If you want to support different post types, you can create more than one file.
• page.php: The default layout of individual pages comes from this file. Again, you can create more than one template — for instance, you could create a product page design for an online store.
• comments.php: This file controls the display of comments under your blog posts and on pages.
• search.php: When someone uses the search functionality on your website, this template defines how the search results will appear.

In general, you will only need to edit these files if you want to add content or drastically change the layout of your site. Most other adjustments can be made using custom CSS in your stylesheet file.

The Loop

Another important element you need to grasp is the Loop. WordPress uses this code to display content, so in many ways, it’s the beating heart of your site. It appears in all template files that display post content, such as index.php or sidebar.php.

The Loop is a complex subject that we recommend you read more about if you want to understand how WordPress displays post content. Fortunately, the Loop will already be integrated into your theme thanks to Underscores, so there’s no need to worry about it for now.

Step 4: Configure Your Theme

It’s easy to think that themes are purely for cosmetic purposes, but they actually have a huge impact on your site’s functionality. Let’s look at how you can make a few basic customizations.

Add Functionality With Hooks

Hooks are code snippets inserted into template files, which enable you to run PHP actions on different areas of a site, insert styling, and display other information. Most hooks are implemented directly into the WordPress core software, but some are useful for theme developers as well.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common hooks and what they can be used for:

• wp_head(): Added to the <head> element in header.php. It enables styles, scripts, and other information that runs as soon as the site loads. This is often used to insert Google Analytics code.
• wp_footer(): Added to footer.php right before the </body> tag.
• wp_meta(): This usually appears in sidebar.php to include additional scripts (such as a tag cloud).
• comment_form(): Added to comments.php directly before the file’s closing </div> tag to display comment data.

These hooks will already be included in your Underscores theme. However, we still recommend visiting the Hooks Database to see all available hooks and learn more about them.

Add Styles With CSS

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) define the appearance of all content on your site. In WordPress, this is accomplished using the style.css file. You’ll already have this file included in your theme, but at the moment, it only contains the basic, default styling:

If you want a quick example of how CSS works, you can edit any of the styles here and save the file to see the effects. For example, you can find the following code (usually on line 485):

a {
color: royalblue;
}

This code controls the color of unvisited hyperlinks, which appear royal blue by default:

Let’s see what happens if we try to change that by replacing it with the following code:

a {
color: red;
}

Save the file and check out your local site. As you might expect, all unvisited links will now appear bright red:

You may notice that the visited link at the top has not changed color. That’s because it’s actually governed by the next section in the stylesheet:

a:visited {
color: purple;
}

This is a very basic example of how editing style.css will affect the look of your site. CSS is a massive topic that we recommend you explore further if you want to learn more about creating web designs. There are plenty of resources on the topic for beginners.

Step 5: Export The Theme And Upload It To Your Site

When you’ve finished tinkering with your theme, it’s time to make sure it works properly. To do this, you can use the Theme Unit Test data.

This is a set of dummy data that you can upload to your site. It contains many different variations of styles and content, and it will enable you to see how your theme copes with unpredictable data.

When you’ve thoroughly tested your theme and are convinced that it meets the required standards, all that remains now is to export it.

First, you’ll need to find the location of your website on your local machine. You’ll likely find it in a folder called Websites, inside your default Documents directory.

Open the website’s folder and access /wp-content/themes/, where you’ll find your theme:

You can now use a compression tool, such as WinRAR, to create a .zip file based on the folder. Simply right-click on the folder and select the option that enables you to zip it, such as Compress “folder.”

When the folder has been zipped, it’s ready to be uploaded and installed on any WordPress site, just as you installed your Underscores theme at the start.

Tips For Developing Your First Custom Theme

When you start messing around with code for the first time, it’s always possible to make a few mistakes. For this reason, it’s a good idea to take your time in developing your first theme, and experiment within your local environment.

Here are a few additional measures you can take to ensure that your theme will thrive in the wild:

• Use version control: Systems like Git help you to track changes in your code over time, and revert bugs.
• Validate your code: Use tools like Theme Check and the W3C Validator to find errors in your code. Running frequent checks can help you to catch problems early.
• Test your theme: Try to load your theme on different browsers and devices to identify layout or rendering issues. A design that works perfectly on your own computer can fall apart on a different platform.
• Use code comments: Leaving yourself notes that explain what everything does can help you to fix problems at a later date.

Create A Custom WordPress Theme

Creating a custom WordPress theme from scratch is no small feat. However, the process might not be as difficult as you think.

To recap, here’s how to develop a WordPress theme in five simple steps:

1. Set up a local environment, using Local.
2. Download and install a starter theme, like Underscores.
3. Learn about the different components of a WordPress theme.
4. Configure your theme.
5. Export the theme and upload it to your site.

By following the guidelines in the Codex documentation site, you can develop a theme that meets quality standards. You might even consider submitting it to the WordPress Theme Directory!

Launch Your Unique WordPress Site With DreamPress

Building a great theme is the first step towards creating a successful website. We have the tools to help you fill in the rest.

With DreamPress managed hosting, you can test any theme or plugin online with one-click staging. We also provide bulletproof backups, so you can roll back changes at any time, and built-in caching for optimum performance.

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The post So You Want To Build Your Own Custom WordPress Theme? appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.

And keep up, you must, as it’s become the standard in version control for tech products today.

But instead of just expecting you to keep it all in your head, we put together this go-to resource full of critical commands for you to reference so you can use Git both effectively and efficiently.

Not a Git super user (yet)? That’s perfectly fine.

The commands we’ll detail here range from the everyday to the more rare and complex. And, as an added bonus, each is joined by tips on ways you can use it during a development project.

We’ll kick things off with some info on Git’s background, then wrap up with a full walkthrough of how you might use Git in a real-life setting.

Quick Debrief: Understanding Git, GitHub, & Version Control

Git is what its builders call a Source Code Management (SCM) platform. In other words, it’s a version control system. One that’s free, easy to use, and thus at the core of many well-known projects.

Which brings us to a logical question if you aren’t immersed in the world of development: What exactly is version control?

Building something from code frequently takes a lot of trial, error, and steps. And, in many cases, collaboration.

It’s easy for important elements that took a lot of effort to get overwritten or lost. For example, if you’ve ever worked with a colleague in a live Google Doc, you understand what we mean.

A version control tool basically saves each iteration of your progress throughout a project. This is helpful in case you want to rewind to a previous version to review and grab certain elements to reuse — or even restore an older version if something in the current build isn’t working as intended.

Git is installed locally, meaning it exists on your computer instead of in the cloud. In fact, you don’t even have to be connected to the internet when using it!

In this way, it provides a secure repository (often called a “repo,” which is a storage space for code) for a developer to save every “draft” of a project they’re working on.

Git takes this one step further with the branching model for which it has become known.

With Git, a developer can create various code “branches” that extend from a project. These branches are basically copies of the main project, which used to be called the “master” project, but that term is being phased out.

Changes in branches don’t impact the code of the main project unless you tell them to. With branching, developers can do things like experiment with new features or fix bugs. The changes made in a branch won’t impact the main code unless you do something called “merging.”

Git makes perfect sense for website owners or developers working on their own projects. But what about when you need to work with a team on a coding project?

Meet GitHub.

GitHub is a development platform for hosting Git repositories.

In other words, it’s how you get your Git repos off of your local machine and onto the internet, usually for the purpose of enabling people to collaborate on them.

GitHub is cloud based and for profit, though the basics can be used for free when you sign up.

The primary function of GibHub is enabling developers to work together on a singular project in real time, remotely making code revisions, reviewing each other’s work, and updating the main project.

GitHub maintains the core feature of Git: preventing overwriting and maintaining each saved version of a project. It also layers in all kinds of additional features and add-ons like increased storage, fast development environments, AI-powered code writing, code auditing support, and much more. (We recommend checking out the pricing page to see everything on offer.)

It’s important to note that GitHub isn’t the only service in this space. Alternatives include Bitbucket, GitLab, etc.

However, Git and GitHub of course work together like peanut butter and jelly, as you’ll see a little later in this article.

First things first: a complete list of all the Git commands developers and tech teams should be familiar with to find success in this version control environment.

21 Of The Most-Used Git Commands You Should Know

Are you ready for the ultimate Git cheat sheet?

In this section we’ll dive into the Git commands, instructions, basically, that you need to know to use Git successfully. And, we’ll even throw on some tips on how you may use each of them in a project.

Pro tip for making the most of this document: Press “command + F” on a Mac or “Ctrl + F” on Windows to open a search box to find a specific command, if you’re looking for something in particular.

git config

git config is a helpful command for customizing how Git works on three levels: the operating system level (system), user-specific level (global), and repository-specific level (local).

Try out git config with these moves:

git config --global user.email [your email]
This is a command many devs run right after downloading Git to set up their email address.

git config --global user.name [your name]
For setting up your user name.

git config --local
Customize your local repository-specific settings. This will override default Git configs at the system and global levels.

git pull

git pull is your command for fetching code from a remote repo and downloading it to your local repo, which will then be updated to match what you just pulled.

This act of merging is foundational to using Git. And, it’s actually “shorthand” for two other commands: git fetch then git merge.

Here are a few ways this command is commonly used:

git pull [remote]
Fetch a specific remote repo and merge it with the local you’re working on.

git pull --no-commit [remote]
This command still fetches the remote repo, but does not automatically merge it.

Since pull is such a core Git command, there are tons of ways to use it. This guide to Git Branch Commands offers even more examples and some fresh combos you can try.

git fetch

git fetch as a standalone command downloads commits from remote repos into local repos. It gives you the chance to see and modify code from other devs.

Let’s try out this command:

git fetch origin
Downloads a copy of the origin remote repository and saves it locally. Nothing is changed or merged, unlike what git pull does by default.

git fetch --all
Grab data from all remote repos (origin included).

git fetch --shallow-exclude=[revision]
Excludes commits from a specific branch or tag.

git merge

The git merge command combines branches (most often two, but can be more) to create a singular history. Git will highlight conflicts that arise in the merge to be fixed.

Options for this command include:

git merge [branch name]
Use this to merge changes from the named branch into the branch you’re using.

git merge --abort
Stop the merge and restore the project to its pre-merge state. This command perfectly illustrates how Git helps maintain older code versions to protect project progress.

git add

git add is the command to use when you’re ready to “save” a copy of your work. It’s very often used in conjunction with the next command — git commit — as this adds (aka “commits”) what’s been saved to the project’s running history.

Here are some ways you can specify what to save (or “stage”) with this command:

git add [file]
This tees up all the changes you’ve made to a specific file so it can be included in the next commit.

git add [directory]
Similar to above, this cues changes to a specific directory so it’s ready for the commit.

git commit

git commit is the second command in the trifecta of making and tracking a change in Git.

This command basically says to store any changes that were made with the git add command. Not to make the changes to the main code, just to hold them safely.

Some options for using this command include:

git commit --amend
Modifies the last commit instead of creating a whole new one.

git commit -m [your message here]
Annotate your commit with a message, which goes inside the brackets.

git push

git push completes the collaboration cycle in Git. It sends any committed changes from local to remote repositories. From here, other developers on the project can start working with the updates. It’s the opposite of the fetch command.

Here’s how to use it:

git push [remote] [branch]
Push a specified branch, its commits, and any attached objects. Creates a new local branch in target remote repo.

git push [remote] --all
Push all local branches to a specific remote repo.

git branch

Create, edit, and remove branches in git with the git branch command.

Use the branch command in these ways:

git branch [branch]
This creates a new branch, which you can name by replacing the word in brackets.

git branch -c
This command copies a Git branch.

git push [remote repo] --delete [ branch name]
Delete a remote Git branch, named in the last set of brackets.

git checkout

Use the git checkout command to navigate among the branches inside the repo you’re working in.

git checkout [branch name]
Switch to a different Git branch, named within the brackets.

git checkout -b [new-branch]
Simultaneously create a new branch and navigate to it. This shortcut combines git branch and git checkout [new branch].

git remote

With the git remote command you can see, create, and delete remote connections, “bookmarks” in a way, to other repos. This can help you reference repos in your code without having to go find them and use their full, sometimes inconvenient names.

Try these remote commands:

git remote add [alias] [URL]
Add a remote repository by specifying its link and giving it an alias.

git remote -v
Get a list of remote connections, and include the URLs of each.

git revert

git revert undoes changes by creating a new commit that inverses the changes, as specified.

One way to (carefully!) use git revert is:

git revert [commit ID]
This will only revert changes associated with the specific commit that’s been identified.

git reset

git reset is a more risky and potentially permanent command for undoing commits.

This command should only be used in local or private repos to prevent the chances of interrupting anyone who’s coding in a remote, public repo. Since it can “orphan” commits that may then get deleted in Git’s routine maintenance, there’s a real chance this command can erase someone’s hard work.

This is a complex command that should be used with discretion, so before trying it for the first time we strongly recommend reading this Git Reset guide from Bitbucket.

git status

git status provides insights into your working directory (this is where every stored historical version lives) and staging area (kind of like the “under construction” area between the directory and repository). With this command you can see where your files stand.

There’s one primary way to use this command:

git status
See a list of staged, unstaged, and untracked files.

git clone

Use git clone to create a copy of an existing repository. This is useful for creating a duplicate of a repo in which you can play around without damaging anything that’s live to the public.

Here are some options for using this command:

git clone [repository URL] --branch [branch name]
Clone the linked repository, then jump right to a specific branch within it.

git clone [repo] [directory]
Clone a specific repository into a specific directory folder on your local machine.

git init

Use the git init command to create a new Git repository as a .git subdirectory in your current working directory. It’s different from git clone as it can create a new repository instead of only copying an existing one.

The most common applications of this command include:

git init
Where it all starts, this transforms your current directory into a Git repository.

git init [directory]
With this, you can turn a specific directory into a Git repository.

git init --bare
This generates a new bare repository, from which commits can’t be made. This creates a helpful staging ground for collaboration.

git rebase

git rebase has history rewriting powers that help keep your commits neat and clean.

It’s an option when you need to integrate updates into the main branch with a fast-forward merge that shows a linear history.

git rebase [target branch name]
Rebase your checked out branch onto a specific target branch.

git rebase [target branch name] -i
Initiate an interactive rebase from your checked out branch onto a different target branch.

This is another complex command that shouldn’t be used in a public repo as it may remove important elements of the project history. To learn more about how both the standard and interactive versions of this command work, we again recommend Bitbucket and their git rebase guide.

git diff

“Diffing” is the practice of displaying the variations between two data sets.

The git diff command shows variances between Git data sources such as comments, files, etc.

Options for using this command include:

git diff --staged
Shows the difference between what’s staged but isn’t yet committed.

git diff [commit ID 1] [commit ID 2]
This command compares changes between two different commits.

git tag

The git tag command points at a time in Git history, usually a version release. Tags don’t change like branches do.

git tag [tag name]
Use this to name a tag and capture the state of the repo at the time.

git tag -d [tag name]
Want to remove that tag? Run this command.

git rm

The git rm command removes files from both staging and the working directory.

Here are a few ways to try out git rm:

git rm [file]
This is the basic code to get a file ready for deletion in the next commit.

git rm --cached
This removes a file from the staging area, but keeps it in the working directory so you still have a local copy in case you need it.

git log

git log provides a, well, log of all the commits in the history of a repository.

Ready to try it out? Here we go:

git log [SHA]
A Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) is a unique identifier for each commit. Use this command to display a certain commit as well as every other commit made previously.

git log --stat
The command displays which files were changed with each commit, number of lines added/removed, and number of files and lines edited.

git show

This git show command line provides details on different Git objects like trees, tags, and commits.

Here are a few ways to exercise this command:

git show [SHA]
The simplest of git show commands, Use the SHA that we just learned about above to show the details of any object.

git show [SHA]:path/to/file
This will show a specific version of a file you’re seeking when you include its SHA.

Still learning how to use Git, have any questions about the above commands, or just itching to dive into even more variations that you can use to manipulate your code in thousands of ways?

We have to shout out the Git tutorials from Bitbucket as a great, deep, and interconnected resource that can take you most places you want to go with Git.

And go you should. After all, open-source, and the Git tech that powers most of it, is the future of business.

Commands In Real Life: How To Develop On WordPress Using Git + GitHub

We just threw a ton of possibly new terms and tricks at you.

If you aren’t deep into Git, it can be hard to see how these can all come together to work in a real-life scenario.

So we’ll top things off with a walkthrough of how to use Git and GitHub to set yourself up to develop on a WordPress website.

1. Install WordPress.org

First up, the WordPress part.

You’re going to install a WordPress.org instance (learn the difference between WordPress.com & WordPress.org if you’re not familiar) and create a local staging environment on your computer.

If you don’t already have a great process for this, we like Local’s WP-specific dev tool.

2. Install Git

And just like that, it’s time for the Git part.

Install Git if you haven’t already. Find the latest version on the Git website.

Many Mac and Linux machines already have Git installed. Check yours by opening your command line interface (like Terminal on Mac or Git Bash on Windows) and entering the first command of this tutorial:

git --version

If Git is there, you’ll get a version number back. If not, this Git installation guide will get you on your way.

3. Create A Local Repo With Git

Now, we’ll create your local Git repo.

Access your WordPress theme’s folder (this example includes Twenty Twenty-One) using this command:

cd/Users/[you]/Documents/Websites/[website]/wp-content/themes/twentytwentyone

Replace [you] and [website] with your own folder names. Then, initialize this directory as a repository with this command:

git init

To add every file in the folder to the index, type in:

git add

Commit your changes with a notation that will keep your history organized with this command:

git commit -m “first commit"

Your local repo is configured!

4. Create A Remote Repo With GitHub

At this point, you want to create a GitHub account if you don’t already have one.

Once created and signed in, you can create a remote repository from your GitHub dashboard.

When you’re finished following the steps to set up your new project, it’s time to get your WordPress theme into your new remote repo in GitHub.

5. Add WordPress Project To GitHub (Learning To Push)

Use these commands in Git to push your WordPress theme into GitHub:

git remote add origin [repo URL]

git push -u origin master

Replace the URL in brackets with a link to the repository you just set up in GitHub.

Next, you’ll be asked to enter your GitHub username and password.

Once those are in, files committed to your local repo thus far will be pushed to your GitHub repo.

6. Optional: Fetch (AKA Pull) Updates

Now that you’ve pushed changes from your local repo to the remote repo on GitHub, the last thing to learn is how to pull changes so you can do the reverse — add updates from the remote repo to your local one.

Of course, if you’re working independently on a coding project, you won’t need to do this step. However, it’s helpful to know as it immediately becomes necessary once you’re collaborating with a team who are all making and pushing updates.

So, we’re going to pull updates into local using the fetch command:

git fetch [URL]

Don’t forget to replace [URL] with the link to the repository from which you’re pulling.

With that, changes are pulled from GitHub and copied to your local, so both repos are the same. You’re synced and ready to work on the latest version of the project!

Still need a hand with Git?

For a much more detailed walkthrough of the above process, check out our full guide on How to Use GitHub for WordPress Development.

Or, better yet, engage our development experts at DreamHost.

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Fortunately, you can add Lottie animations to your site to give you a competitive edge. LottieFiles provides a free library of animations you can easily add to your website. Then, you can use them to boost user engagement and enhance your site’s design.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at some key benefits of using Lottie animations on your site. Then, we’ll show you three simple ways to add these visual elements. Let’s get started!

The Benefits of Adding Lottie Animations to Your Site

While videos and images can make your website more engaging, these kinds of visuals are seen all over the internet. On the other hand, animations can give you a unique edge.

Plus, the predicted global market for the animation industry is expected to rise by 60% over the next nine years. That means if you start using them now, you can get ahead of a growing trend.

In fact, 61% of marketers used interactive content as a digital engagement tactic last year. Other strategies included GIFs, which can also be used to display animations.

Lottie animations are an excellent choice, largely due to their small file sizes:

In fact, these files are 600% smaller than GIFs – You can add them to your site without weighing anything down. This can allow you to preserve a positive UX.

Better yet, Lottie animations can be completely customized to suit your brand identity. On top of that, it’s an affordable solution since LottieFiles provides the most extensive, free animation library. You’ll get access to thousands of UI elements, characters, and illustrations.

How to Add Lottie Animations to Your Site (3 Ways)

Now that you know the benefits of using Lottie animations, let’s look at three ways to add them to your site.

Method 1: Add Your Animation with oEmbed

Adding your Lottie animations through oEmbed is the simplest method in this guide. The only downside is that you won’t be able to edit the animation settings or set them up to react to user interactions.

To get started with this method, browse the LottieFiles animations library to find the perfect animation for your site. Once you find a design that you like, click on the animation and simply copy the oEmbed URL (you will need to be logged into a free account to do this):

Then, head to WordPress and open the page or post where you want to include your animation. Next, simply add a new Embed Gutenberg block:

Now, paste the oEmbed URL that you copied from the Lottie website:

Hit the Embed button to confirm the action.

At this point, you should see the animation appear on your page:

As we mentioned earlier, you won’t be able to customize the animation once you’ve added it to your WordPress page or post. Therefore, it’s crucial you make all the edits you want beforehand while you’re still on the Lottie website.

Method 2: Add Your Animation Using the Lottie block for Gutenberg Plugin

While the oEmbed method is the simplest, using the Lottie block for Gutenberg plugin is also very easy. Plus, it allows you to immediately preview any changes you make to your designs.

First off, go to Plugins > Add New to install and activate the Lottie block for Gutenberg plugin in WordPress:

You can then log into your LottieFiles account or create an account for free.

Next, add a new block in the Gutenberg editor. Search for the Lottie block and add it to your page:

Here, you’ll find three ways to insert a Lottie animation in WordPress:

• Click on Discover animation to browse the LottieFiles library (you’ll need an account to do this).
• Select Media Library to find an animation you’ve previously uploaded.
• Hit Insert from url to paste a JSON link.

If you choose the final method, you can find the JSON link on the Lottie website:

Once you’ve added the animation to your page, you can preview the design in Gutenberg:

Now, in the Block settings, you can customize your animation. For instance, you can give it a transparent background, change the dimensions, or trigger the animation with different actions. You can also use the plugin to add a Lottie animation as a WordPress background.

Method 3: Add Your Animation with HTML and JavaScript

Adding your Lottie animation with HTML and JavaScript is still fairly easy, but it’s the most complex method. Plus, you aren’t able to see updates in real-time.

Instead, you have to switch between Gutenberg and your website to preview your changes. Still, you may want to use this method if you’re familiar with HTML and looking for enhanced customization options.

To get started with this approach, click on the animation in the LottieFiles library and copy the Lottie JSON file link:

Next, scroll down until you see “Use animation in…” and select <html>:

This will take you to the LottieFiles Web Player:

Here, you can choose a background color, determine the animation’s size and speed, and more.

Now, deselect the Controls checkbox and you’ll see that some HTML code has been generated at the bottom of the screen:

Copy the line of code that starts with “<lottie-player>” and ends with “</lottie-player>”. Then, in WordPress, add a new Custom HTML block:

Paste the HTML that you copied from LottieFiles and click on Save Draft in the top right-hand corner:

Your animation won’t work just yet. First, you’ll need to load the Lottie Player JavaScript file in WordPress.

To do this, return to the LottieFiles Web Player and copy the script tag that begins with “<script>” and ends with “</script>”:

Now, head to WordPress and install the Simple Custom CSS and JS plugin:

Once active, go to the plugin’s dashboard and choose Add HTML Code:

You can give your code a title like “Adds Lottie Player”. Then, paste the script tag in the editor and click on Publish:

Now, return to the page where you inserted your HTML code. You should see your Lottie animation when you switch to the preview:

If the animation is too big or too small, you can change the default parameters in the HTML code where it says style= “width: X; height: X;”.

Add Lottie Animations to Your Site Today

Since images and videos appear on almost every website, including them on your pages isn’t likely to make your designs stand out. However, you can add Lottie animations to your site to impress visitors, reflect your branding, and improve engagement.

To recap, here are three ways to add Lottie animations to your site:

1. Add Lottie animations with oEmbed.
2. Add Lottie animations using the Lottie block for Gutenberg plugin.
3. Add Lottie animations with HTML and JavaScript.

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Adding a custom field to your WordPress post enables you to assign extra data to it. In turn, this helps you add specific information or features only to particular posts. As an example, you could use a custom field to tell WordPress which of your posts are sponsored, then add some code to your theme file that will display a disclosure statement only on those posts.

An Introduction to Custom Fields

The WordPress Block Editor is pretty flexible by default and enables you to customize your content to the Nth degree. You can add just about anything you like to your posts. However, the more content you have, the more you may start wishing for better ways to organize and manage it.

Custom fields are a somewhat more advanced WordPress feature that lets you add extra information to specific posts. That information is called ‘metadata’. Custom fields and metadata are of particular use to developers, who can use them to extend posts with all sorts of additional coding. However, they can still be beneficial for the more general WordPress users.

For example, let’s say you wanted to indicate which of the posts on your blog are sponsored to ensure you’re being transparent with your audience. You could add a short disclosure statement to each relevant post individually. Alternatively, you could save time by using a custom field that displays a relevant message. Then, you could add code to your theme file to make your disclosure statement appear on the correct posts.

If this sounds complex, don’t worry. Using custom fields is more straightforward than it looks. In fact, we’ll show you exactly how to implement this example below. If you’re interested in other potential applications for custom fields and metadata, you may also want to check out the WordPress Codex entry on the topic.

How to Add Custom Fields to Your WordPress Posts (In 2 Steps)

The concept of custom fields might seem a bit abstract, so let’s walk through an example to see exactly how this feature works in action. This general custom field process can be used for a wide variety of applications. You could add status updates to your posts, include a disclosure notice on sponsored content, and much more.

However, you’ll first want to take a moment and back up your website. If you’re following these instructions, you’ll be implementing changes to your theme’s primary file, and you don’t want to risk making any permanent mistakes. For extra security, creating a child theme and using it instead of your base theme is also advisable.

Step 1: Enable Custom Fields and Assign New Metadata to Your Post

The first thing you’ll need to do is open up a post to which you would like to add a custom field. It can be an old post or a new one.

Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Preferences from the dropdown list:

Then, select Panels from the popup menu and enable Custom fields. You’ll now be prompted to Enable & Reload:

Now, if you scroll down below the post, you’ll find a new section:

Under Name and Value, you’ll add some metadata describing the information you want to add to this post. Depending on the themes and plugins you have installed, you may already have some options listed under Name. Regardless, you’ll want to create new metadata in this instance.

Choose a name for your metadata. It can be anything, although it’s best to keep it short and descriptive. Continuing our example from above about displaying a disclosure statement on specific posts, we’ll call it Sponsored Post. Then we’ll add a simple “Yes” to the Value box, indicating that this particular post is sponsored:

Click on Add Custom Field, and this metadata will now be assigned to your post. Don’t forget to save or update the post itself too.

Step 2: Add Conditional Code to Your Theme File

The previous step told WordPress a critical piece of information about your post: whether or not it is sponsored content. Now, you need to add directions so that your site knows what to do about that. As we mentioned earlier, this does involve a bit of coding. However, don’t let that scare you off. Even if you aren’t a developer, you should find the process relatively straightforward.

Within WordPress, you’ll want to navigate to Tools > Theme File Editor. Here, you can look through and make changes to the files that make up your site. You’ll want to check out the sidebar on the right-hand side and find the Single Post file (also known as single.php):

This is where you’ll add the code that will tell WordPress what to do in response to your custom fields. The exact code you’ll use will vary somewhat, depending on what you want to do. In our example, you’d want to add this snippet:

<?php
$meta = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'Sponsored Post' );
if( $meta[0] == 'Yes' ) {
?>
<p>This post is sponsored content, and we received a free copy of the product in order to conduct our review.</p>
<?php } ?>

Then, click on the Update File button. This code tells WordPress to check and see if a post has the Sponsored Post custom field and if the value is set to “Yes”. If so, it will display the message. If there is no custom field or the Sponsored Post value is set to “No”, nothing extra will be added to the post.

Also, where you place the code will determine when it appears in the post. For example, to get it to appear at the top of the page, you would add it before this line in the single.php file:

while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();

Hopefully, you are beginning to see how custom fields can be useful. There are a lot of possibilities when using this feature, so don’t be afraid to play around a little and see what you can accomplish with it.

Using Plugins to Manage Your Custom Fields

You now know how to add custom fields and metadata to your WordPress posts. However, what if you want to get more flexibility from this feature or just want to simplify the process?

This is WordPress we’re talking about, so of course, there are plugins that can help you out. There may not be a lot of plugins related to custom fields, but you can find a few quality options. For a great example, check out Advanced Custom Fields:

This very popular, free plugin streamlines the process of adding custom fields to WordPress. It also gives you more choices for where metadata can be added, such as users, media, and comments. Finally, it adds tools to provide more options for displaying custom field values within your theme files. There’s even a premium version with even more functionality.

If that plugin seems like overkill — and it can be for non-developers — Custom Field Suite is a solid alternative:

This tool is essentially a lightweight version of Advanced Custom Fields. It adds a handful of useful new custom field types to your site. Plus, it simplifies adding and managing custom fields without overwhelming you with too many new options.

This can be a smart plugin to start with if you’re looking to get more out of your custom fields. What’s more, you can always switch to a more robust solution once you feel more confident with the process.

Add Custom Fields to WordPress Content

Custom fields and metadata are concepts that might seem a smidge confusing at first. However, with time and patience, you’ll find that they enable you to get even more out of the WordPress platform.

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The time has come to familiarize yourself with this invaluable WordPress resource. GitHub is an excellent platform for tracking, managing, and collaborating on development projects, so it’s well worth learning how to use. It enables you to host projects online and use the powerful version control of Git to keep track of every change.

An Introduction to GitHub

GitHub may look overwhelming if you’re a newcomer, but at its core, it’s actually pretty simple. In essence, GitHub is a free hosting service specifically designed for developers. Its primary use is to host projects for sharing and collaboration, making them available so that other users can contribute to and download them:

As the name implies, GitHub is built around the functionality of Git. This is a version control system that tracks all changes made to a project. What makes this system so powerful is how comprehensive it is. Since Git keeps track of every file and change in your project, it enables you to revert quickly to any previous version.

Git also lets developers create ‘branches’, which are copies of a project that you can work on independently. Creating branches gives you the opportunity to make and test changes without affecting the whole project. You can then ‘merge’ your changes into the main branch if you want or simply discard them.

These features are key to understanding why Git and GitHub are so invaluable to developers. You don’t have to worry about causing irreparable damage to a project, for example, since you can always create branches and roll back all revisions.

Plus, it’s easy to collaborate on a project with a potentially unlimited number of users. In fact, this is exactly how WordPress itself is developed these days.

Getting Started with GitHub

Before you can start using GitHub, you’ll need a system for using Git and GitHub together. First of all, you’ll need to download and install Git on your local machine. You’ll be using it to perform crucial GitHub related-tasks, such as transferring files between your computer and your GitHub repository.

GitHub is only the host for the project, so all the actual development happens on your local machine. Git then uses ‘repositories’ to store each project.

This might sound confusing, in theory, so let’s look at a typical workflow:

1. You have a project hosted in a repository on GitHub.
2. You create a local repository and use Git to ‘pull’ in the latest version of the project from GitHub.
3. You can now work on the project on your local computer. When you have made changes, you can ‘push’ them back into the GitHub repository.

How you decide to structure your specific workflow depends on your preferences and the project’s requirements. The important thing is that your process works smoothly for you, your project, and your collaborators.

Finally, to get the most out of Git, you’ll want to use the command line. Git is most commonly used through Secure Shell (SSH), which features a command line interface. If you don’t already know how to use the command line, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the process before getting started.

How to Use GitHub for WordPress Development (In 7 Steps)

Now, it’s time for you to try out GitHub development for yourself! In this example, you’ll be creating a GitHub project for developing a WordPress theme. We’ll show you how to create a GitHub account and two repositories before showing you how to transfer your theme back and forth between them.

Step 1: Create a Local WordPress Environment

When you’re developing WordPress, it’s important to always use a staging environment. This gives you the freedom to try new things without worrying about how they will affect your live site.

In this case, you’re going to create a local staging environment by installing WordPress on your computer. You can do this in a few different ways, but we recommend using Local, which enables you to quickly create a local version of WordPress for free:

Simply select your platform and download the free version of Local. Then you’ll just need to run the installer.

The installer will take a moment to work. After it’s completed, you can create and configure a new local WordPress site, following the instructions in this guide.

Step 2: Install Git on Your Local Machine

It’s now time to install Git. If you are running a recent version of Mac OS, you might find that Git is already on your machine. You can check this by opening your command line interface, such as Terminal, and entering the following command:

git --version

If Git is installed, this function will return its version number. If not, you will instead be asked if you want to install it right away. You can also download the installer and run it manually for Mac, Linux, and Windows computers.

If you’re not comfortable with the command line interface, you might want to consider downloading a Git GUI application instead. However, for this example, we’re going to use the standard command line method. Either way, once Git is installed, you’re ready to create a local repository.

Step 3: Create a Local Repository for Your Project

You can now create a local Git repository for your project. In this example, we’ll use the Twenty Twenty-One theme, which should already be included in your local WordPress installation.

First, you’ll need to access the theme’s folder using the following command:

cd /Users/you/Documents/Websites/website/wp-content/themes/twentytwentyone

Make sure to change this file path so that it leads to the right directory by replacing you and website with the correct folder names. You can now initialize this directory as a repository with the following command:

git init

Next, you’ll need to add your files to the index. This process tells Git which files you have added or edited since the last time you performed a commit (in other words, saved your changes).

Since this is the first commit, you can use the following command to add every file in the folder:

git add

You can now commit your changes. The following command will commit all files in the index and include a message to help you keep your versions organized:

git commit -m "The first commit"

You have now finished configuring your local repository! That means it’s time to turn your attention towards GitHub.

Step 4: Register a GitHub Account

At this point, you’ll want to create a GitHub account. Start by accessing the GitHub homepage and filling in the registration form:

The interactive signup form will prompt you to enter a password and username and confirm your email address. Then, you’ll be asked to choose how many team members will be working with you and whether you’re a student or a teacher:

After that, you’ll be asked which features you’re interested in using. We recommend selecting Collaborative coding at a minimum:

Now you can choose the free plan by clicking on Continue for free:

You’ll then be taken directly to your GitHub dashboard. If you want to know more about the basics of using GitHub, we recommend taking some time to read the aforementioned guide. For now, however, we’re going to create a repository.

Step 5: Create a Repository on GitHub

You’re finally ready to create the GitHub repository for your project. This is a fairly simple process and only requires you to configure a few settings. Let’s start from the top.

To get started, click on Create repository in your dashboard:

First, you can select the repository’s owner, which is effectively the admin for the repository. This should already be set to yourself, so you can leave it as-is:

Next, you’ll need to give your repository a descriptive and concise name. You may want to name it after the plugin, theme, or other project you’ll be working on.

After that, you can enter a description of the project. Again, this should be specific and descriptive so that other developers and users can understand what it is you’re creating.

Since you signed up for a free account, you will only be able to create a public repository (although that’s all you’ll need right now). You’ll also be given the option to immediately clone the repository to your computer using a README file. Since you already have a local repository in place, you shouldn’t select this option now. However, it can be a handy tool for future projects.

Finally, you’ll see two drop-down menus at the bottom of this screen. The first enables you to select a gitignore option if you want Git to ignore certain files from being tracked.

The second option lets you choose a license for your repository. When you’re creating a real project, it’s important that you carefully consider what license to use. WordPress has very specific rules about licenses, which you’ll need to be aware of when developing for the platform.

For now, you can simply choose None from that menu and then click on Create repository to finish setting things up:

This will take you to your new project, which means it’s time to add your theme.

Step 6: Commit Your Project to GitHub

You can now push your theme to GitHub. Enter the following command into Git, making sure to replace the URL with a link to the repository you just set up:

git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/my-git-theme.git

git push -u origin master

You will then be prompted to enter your GitHub username, followed by your password. When you have done that, all the files you have committed to your local repository will be pushed to your GitHub project:

If you return to your GitHub repository, you will see that all files have been added to it.

Step 7: Fetch Updates from GitHub to Your Local Repository

You now have two repositories set up, and you know how to push changes from your local machine to the GitHub project. The final step is to flip this process and learn how to pull data from GitHub to your local installation.

If you’re working alone on a project, you’ll rarely need to worry about doing this. However, it becomes necessary if other developers are pushing their changes into the external repository as well.

You can do this easily by using the fetch command. Simply enter this command into Git, replacing the URL with the correct one for your GitHub project:

git fetch https://github.com/yourusername/my-git-theme.git

This command will pull all changes from GitHub and copy them over. Your local repository will now be synced up with your GitHub repository.

With that done, you have successfully created a new GitHub project for a WordPress theme! At this point, feel free to continue experimenting with these tools to see what you can accomplish.

Get Started With WordPress Development Using GitHub

Using GitHub for WordPress development grants you absolute power over every aspect of your projects. By using Git’s powerful version control features, you’ll get access to each change, enabling you to easily revert to earlier versions of your files. Git and GitHub also make it easy for multiple developers to collaborate on the same project.

To start using GitHub for WordPress development, you’ll simply need to create a local WordPress environment, install Git, and sign up for GitHub. Then, you can create a local repository for your project and make a GitHub repository. Finally, you’ll need to commit your project to GitHub and fetch updates to your local repository.

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What if you want to manage your site more directly, with just a few easy commands? This is where the WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI) comes in handy.

The WP-CLI is a tool that enables you to interact with your WordPress site directly by using commands in a text-based interface. It’s also very comprehensive, with a wide variety of potential commands. Almost anything you can do on the back end of your site, you can do much faster using the WP-CLI.

An Introduction to the WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI)

Like most WordPress users, you’re probably very familiar with the WordPress admin area. It works well, but it’s not the only option for managing your site. In fact, it’s not even the most direct or efficient way of doing so. Having a graphical interface is certainly preferable for some users. However, it does mean you’ll spend a lot of time navigating through menus or waiting for pages to load.

Enter the WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI).

As the name suggests, this tool enables you to perform administrative tasks on your WordPress site using a command line. With this method, you can complete a task by simply typing in a line of code and hitting Enter.

The beauty of the WP-CLI is that it gives you direct control over your site. Anything you can do in the WordPress admin dashboard, you can do using the WP-CLI instead. It’s not nearly as complicated as you may fear, and there are plenty of resources available if you want to learn more about it.

To use the WP-CLI, you’ll need to install it on your WordPress site. Let’s look at this process in more detail now.

How to Install the WP-CLI on Your WordPress Website

If your site is hosted with DreamHost, it will already have the WP-CLI installed. If you need to, however, you can also install this tool manually.

You’ll first need to make sure that your environment is compatible, meaning that it conforms to the following specifications:

• A UNIX-like environment (OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, Cygwin)
• PHP 5.6 or later
• WordPress 3.7 or later

That first point might be a problem for some users. The WP-CLI is made with UNIX-like environments in mind and has limited support for Windows. It is still possible to install it on Windows, but beware that it may require some additional tinkering.

To install the WP-CLI in one of the environments on the above list, you’ll need to use Secure Shell (SSH) to download and configure the necessary files. First, you need to download the wp-cli.phar file to your root directory, using the following command:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar

You should then check to make sure that the file is working, using another command:

php wp-cli.phar --info

Next, you’ll want to make the file executable, which will enable you to use the wp command. You’ll also want to move it to another directory. This final command will perform both tasks:

chmod +x wp-cli.phar

sudo mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp

With that, the WP-CLI should now be successfully installed. You can test it by running the command wp –info. If everything works, you’ll see information about your version of the WP-CLI displayed.

That’s it! You’re now ready to use this tool to manage your site more efficiently. Before we move on, however, let’s run through some alternative methods of installation.

Alternative Ways to Install the WP-CLI

As we alluded to earlier, there are actually several methods to install the WP-CLI. We won’t detail all of them in this article. However, we’ll list them out briefly and link to more information on each, so you can choose the technique that best suits your needs.

You can use the following tools to install the WP-CLI on your site:

• Composer
• Homebrew
• Docker
• .deb package
• A custom PHP binary
• MediaTemple

Finally, you may want to get involved in developing the WP-CLI yourself. You can easily get involved with its development by using the Git installation instructions.

5 Ways to Use the WP-CLI to Manage Your WordPress Site

The WP-CLI provides total access to your site — right at your fingertips. There are dozens of commands you can use to manage nearly everything from comments to core updates. Plus, you can even create custom commands.

We’re now going to look at just a few of the standard commands available to you. This is to give you an idea of how you can use WP-CLI to manage your site before you dig deeper into the rabbit hole of possibilities.

1. Install and Update WordPress

The most fundamental task you can accomplish with the WP-CLI is to download and install WordPress on your site. The command for downloading WordPress is simply:

wp core download

This will download and extract WordPress in the current directory. You can also add additional parameters to refine the download further. For example, the locale parameter determines which translation of WordPress will be used. This command will download the Brazilian Portuguese version of WordPress:

wp core download --locale=pt_BR

Once downloaded, you can install WordPress using the install command. This command contains a number of parameters that configure the setup. Let’s take a look at an example:

wp core install --url=example.com --title=Example --admin_user=supervisor --admin_password=strongpassword --admin_email=info@example.com

As you can see, this is all fairly self-explanatory. Simply replace the example data in each parameter with your own values. To ensure that everything has worked as expected, you can use the following command to test the installation:

wp core version

This will return the version number of your installation, proving that WordPress has been successfully installed! Now you can make sure it’s updated with the following command:

wp core update

If a newer version of WordPress is available, it will be downloaded and installed automatically after you run this command.

2. Manage Themes and Plugins

There are many ways you can manage themes and plugins using the WP-CLI, so let’s look at some of the basic options now. First, you can use the list command to view a list of your themes or plugins. Using parameters, you can filter the display by items with a specific status (such as inactive) or a particular output format.

For example, if you want to list all inactive themes as a CSV list, you can use the following command:

wp theme list --status=inactive --format=csv

You can also install a plugin by specifying its slug in the plugin directory, providing the path to a local file, or entering the URL for an external file. In this example, we’re also going to activate the plugin at the same time:

wp plugin install ../my-plugin.zip --activate

It’s also easy to change the status of a plugin or theme. This command can be used to enable a theme, which in this example is Twenty Twenty:

wp theme enable twentytwenty

There’s also a command for deactivating a plugin. In our example, we’ll use this command to disable the Hello Dolly plugin. We’ll also uninstall the plugin at the same time:

wp plugin deactivate hello –uninstall

Finally, you can search the respective directories looking for a specific plugin or theme. For instance, let’s search for a theme containing the string “photo”. We’re also setting it to return three results instead of the default ten:

wp theme search photo --per-page=3

This will display the following table:

As we mentioned, this is only a small taste of how you can manage themes and plugins using the WP-CLI. Hopefully, you’re getting a sense of how useful this tool can be.

3. Create a Child Theme

By using the scaffold command, you can generate a child theme that includes the functions.php and style.css files. We recommend that you do this if you want to make changes to an existing theme. When you use a child theme, any customizations won’t be lost after new software updates.

To do this, you’ll simply need to specify the slug for the new child theme, and for the theme you’re using as the ‘parent.’ In this example, we’re creating a child based on the Twenty Twenty theme, and we’re giving it the slug twentytwenty-child:

wp scaffold child-theme twentytwenty-child --parent_theme=twentytwenty

If the process is successful, you’ll see a message that the child theme has been created. This will also include the path to its directory:

Success: Created '/var/www/example.com/public_html/wp-content/themes/twentytwenty-theme'.

You’ll now find the child theme in the specified template, ready to be edited!

4. Moderate Comments

Moderating and managing comments is made a lot easier in the WP-CLI, which enables you to quickly create, delete, and edit them. There are many comment subcommands you can use, but let’s look at some of the most basic options.

First, you can add a new comment. The following command will add a comment to a post with the post ID of 20, and specifies the contents and author:

wp comment create --comment_post_ID=20 --comment_content="This is my comment" --comment_author="author-name"

Before you manage existing comments, it can be helpful to get a current list. You can do this with the list command, and the results can be filtered in multiple ways. For example, using this command will return a table containing the comment ID and author name for all approved comments on the post with an ID of 3:

wp comment list --number=3 --status=approve --fields=ID,comment_author

This is what the resulting table will look like:

If you want to delete comments, you can do that by specifying the comment IDs individually, like this:

wp comment delete 64

You can also delete multiple comments by separating each ID with a space. In this example, we’re also using the force parameter, which permanently deletes comments instead of adding them to the trash bin:

wp comment delete 5 22 64 64 --force

With a little practice, you can work through your site’s comments very quickly using WP-CLI commands.

5. Update the WP-CLI

As with every aspect of WordPress, you should always make sure that the WP-CLI is up-to-date. Fortunately, this is very simple. All you need to do is run the following command:

wp cli update

If your version is the most recent available, you will get a message confirming this. However, if a new version can be downloaded, you’ll be prompted to accept the installation. If you select yes, the WP-CLI will be updated, and you’ll see a confirmation message:

Success: Updated WP-CLI to 0.23.1

With that, you’ve updated your installation of the WP-CLI.

By now, you’re beginning to see what you accomplish using this simple interface. There’s more to learn, but you should be proud of how far you’ve come already!

Work More Efficiently with the WordPress CLI

Speed, accessibility, and efficiency are all traits that any smart developer looks for in their tools. The WP-CLI offers all of these and more while enabling you to manage your WordPress site remotely. Using the WP-CLI, you can perform any action that’s possible in the WordPress admin — just much more quickly (once you’ve had a bit of practice).

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The post What Is the WordPress CLI (And How Can You Use It)? appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.

.htaccess is a configuration file for the Apache web server, which serves many WordPress sites. It’s a powerful tool that helps safeguard your site and boost its performance through some minor tweaks to its code. By editing this file, you can ban users, create redirects, prevent attacks, and even deny access to specific parts of your site.

An Introduction to the .htaccess File

.htaccess is short for “HyperText Access.” It’s a configuration file that determines how Apache-based servers interact with your site. In simpler terms, .htaccess controls how files in a directory can be accessed. You can think of it as a guard for your site because it decides who to let in and what they’re allowed to do.

By default, an .htaccess file is typically included in your WordPress installation. The main purpose of this file is to improve security and performance. Plus, it also enables you to override your web server’s settings.

You’ll most likely find your .htaccess file in your site’s root directory. Since .htaccess applies to both its own directory and any subdirectories within that main folder, it impacts your entire WordPress site.

It’s also worth noting that the .htaccess file does not have a file extension. The period at the start simply makes sure the file remains hidden.

How to Edit Your WordPress .htaccess File

Editing the .htaccess file is, in practice, as simple as editing any other text file. However, because this is a core file, making changes to it can have unintended consequences.

For this reason, it’s vitally important that you back up your site before you begin, regardless of whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer.

When you’re ready to edit your .htaccess file, you can access it using Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) or Secure Shell (SSH). You will find .htaccess in your site’s root directory:

Open the file using your preferred text editor, such as TextEdit or Notepad. If the file hasn’t been edited before, you’ll see the following default information:

It’s important not to add or change anything between the # BEGIN and # END tags. Instead, all new code should be added after this block.

At this point, all you need to do is add your code and save the file. When you’re including multiple new functions, it’s best to save and test each one separately. If an error occurs, this will make it much easier to troubleshoot which change caused the problem.

While almost all WordPress installations will already contain an .htaccess file, in some cases, you may need to create one. You can do this using a text editor of your choice, as long as you save it with the right file name: .htaccess with no extension.

It’s also important to configure the file’s permission settings correctly. You can then upload .htaccess to your site’s root directory.

9 Things You Can Do With Your WordPress .htaccess File

Now that you’re familiar with the .htaccess file, it’s time to get up close and personal. We’re going to introduce a number of ways you can easily boost your site’s security and performance by editing this file.

Simply use the code snippets we’ve provided below, and remember to create a backup before you start!

1. Deny Access to Parts of Your Site

One of the most useful things you can do with .htaccess is deny access to certain pages and files. There are a few files you should consider hiding in this way for security reasons, such as your wp-config.php file.

You can do this by adding the following code, which will cause a 404 error to appear if anybody attempts to view the file:

<Files ~ "/wp-config.php">
Order Allow,Deny
Deny from All
</Files>

In cases where sensitive data should be hidden, it can be useful to restrict access to the corresponding directory. Since many WordPress sites use the same folder structure, this setup can leave your site vulnerable. If you add the following line, it will disable the default directory listing functionality:

Options -Indexes

This will stop users and robots from viewing your folder structure. If anybody tries to access it, they’ll be shown a 403 error page instead.

2. Redirect and Rewrite URLs

Creating redirects enables you to automatically send users to a specific page. Redirects can be particularly useful if a page has moved or been deleted, and you want users who attempt to access that page to be taken somewhere else.

You can accomplish this with a plugin such as Redirection, but it’s also possible to do it by editing the .htaccess file. To create a redirect, use the following code:

Redirect /oldfile.html http://www.example.com/newfile.html

You can probably see what’s going on here. The first part is the path to the old file, while the second part is the URL you want visitors to be redirected to.

3. Force Your Site to Load Securely With HTTPS

<style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }</style><div class=’embed-container’><iframe src=’https://www.youtube.com/embed/QeicRf_Ri3Y’ frameborder=’0′ allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

If you have added an SSL certificate to your domain, such as DreamHost’s free Let’s Encrypt certificate, it’s a good idea to force your site to load using HTTPS. This will ensure that your site is safer for both you and your visitors.

You can make it happen by adding the following code:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Your site will now automatically redirect any HTTP requests and direct them to use HTTPS instead. For example, if a user tries to access http://www.example.com, they will be automatically redirected to https://www.example.com.

4. Change Caching Settings

Browser caching is a process where certain website files are temporarily saved on a visitor’s local device to enable pages to load faster. Using .htaccess, you can change the amount of time that your files are stored in the browser cache until they are updated with new versions.

There are a few different ways to do this, but for this example, we’ll use a function called mod_headers. The following code will change the maximum caching time for all jpg, jpeg, png, and gif files:

<ifModule mod_headers.c>
<filesMatch "\\.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$">
Header set Cache-Control "max-age=2592000, public"
</filesMatch>

We’ve set the maximum time to 2,592,000 seconds, which equates to 30 days. You can change this amount if you want, as well as the file extensions that will be affected. If you want to add different settings for different extensions, simply add more mod_header functions.

5. Prevent Certain Script Injection Attacks

Script injection (or ‘code injection’) attacks attempt to change how a site or application executes by adding invalid code. For example, someone might add a script to a text field on your site and then submit it, which could cause your site to actually run the script.

You can add the following code to protect against certain types of script injection:

Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\<|%3C).*script.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [F,L]

Your site should now be able to detect and stop script injection attempts and redirect the culprit to your index.php page.

However, it’s important to note that this example will not protect against all types of injection attacks. While this particular code can certainly be useful, you should not use it as your only protection against this type of attack.

6. Stop Username Enumeration Attacks

Username enumeration is a process where usernames from your site are harvested by looking at each user’s author page. This is particularly problematic if someone manages to find your admin username, which makes it much easier for bots to gain access to your site.

You can help prevent username enumeration by adding the following code:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/wp-admin [NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} author=\d
RewriteRule .* - [R=403,L]

This will stop certain attempts to enumerate usernames and throw up a 403 error page instead. Bear in mind that this will not prevent all enumeration, and you should test your security thoroughly. We also recommend strengthening your login page further by implementing Multifactor Authentication.

7. Prevent Image Hotlinking

Image hotlinking is a common problem that happens when images on your server are being displayed on another site. You can stop this by adding the following code to .htaccess:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^https://(www\.)?example.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule \.(png|gif|jpg|jpeg)$ https://www.example.com/wp-content/uploads/hotlink.gif [R,L]

Replace example.com with your own domain, and this code will prevent images from loading on all other sites. Instead, the picture you specify on the last line will load. You can use this to send an alternative image to sites that try to display graphics from your server.

Beware that this may cause issues when you might want images to appear externally, such as on search engines. You might also consider linking to a script instead of a static image, then respond with a watermarked image or an image containing an ad.

8. Control Your File Extensions

By using .htaccess, you can control how files of different extensions are loaded by your site. There’s a lot you can do with this feature, such as running files as PHP, but we’re just going to look at a basic example for now.

The following code will remove the file extension from PHP files when they’re loaded. You can use this with any file type, as long as you replace all instances of “php” with the extension you want:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /.*index\ HTTP/
RewriteRule ^(.*)index$ http://example.com/$1 [L,R=301]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^([^/]+)/$ http://example.com/$1 [L,R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /(.+)\.php\ HTTP/
RewriteRule ^(.+)\.php$ http://example.com/$1 [L,R=301]
RewriteRule ^([a-z]+)$ /$1.php [L]

This will cause all PHP files to load without displaying their extension in the URL. For example, the index.php file will appear as just index.

9. Force Files to Download

Finally, when a file is requested on your site, the default behavior is to display it in the browser. For example, if you’re hosting an audio file, it will start to play in the browser rather than being saved to the visitor’s computer.

You can change this by forcing the site to download the file instead. This can be done with the following code:

AddType application/octet-stream mp3

In this example, we’ve used mp3 files, but you can use the same function for txt, mov, or any other relevant extension.

Improve Your Site’s Security and Performance

The .htaccess file provides flexibility for controlling how your web server behaves. You can also use it to increase your site’s performance and get more control over exactly who can access what information.

With .htaccess, you can deny access to particular parts of your website. Additionally, it allows you to redirect URLs, force your site to load over HTTPS, and prevent some script injection attacks.

Editing your .htaccess file is just one way to improve your site’s security. Choosing a secure WordPress hosting provider is another. Check out our DreamPress managed hosting plans to see how we can boost your website’s security and performance!

Do More with DreamPress

DreamPress Plus and Pro users get access to Jetpack Professional (and 200+ premium themes) at no added cost!

Check Out Plans

The post Beginner’s Guide to the WordPress .htaccess File appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.