Can AI flip non-coders into professional WordPress plugin builders? To search out out, we requested ChatGPT to construct a customized WordPress plugin from scratch after which had our crack group of builders look at the code…
AI is the world’s hottest two-letter phrase proper now. With all of the latest information headlines about whether or not AI will take our jobs away, we wished to know… can ChatGPT truly develop a useful and helpful WordPress plugin with out having to put in writing code from scratch? And does the plugin meet greatest coding practices?
Fortuitously, WPMU DEV builds among the most sturdy WordPress plugins on this planet, so we now have loads of skilled WordPress plugin builders who can put ChatGPT to the take a look at.
The truth is, in the event you take a stroll round our firm’s digital corridors, you possibly can’t assist however stumble upon WordPress coders and builders. It appears everybody round right here can have a look at a WordPress plugin and see PHP the best way Neo sees the Matrix’s digital rain code.
What PHP code appears wish to skilled WordPress plugin builders. Supply: Giphy.com
Everybody, that’s …besides me!
I’m only a weblog author with no coding abilities and a burning need so as to add “immediate engineer” to my CV.
So, on this submit, we’ll discover easy methods to leverage the ability of ChatGPT to construct a easy customized WordPress plugin shortly and securely, even in the event you lack in depth coding abilities.
We’ll do that by:
1) Asking ChatGPT to generate the code for a helpful plugin that we are able to take a look at, and
2) Working the code generated by ChatGPT previous our group {of professional} plugin builders to allow them to evaluation it and supply their trustworthy suggestions.
We’ll cowl the next:
Step 1 – Outline the Plugin’s Performance
Step 2 – Generate Code Snippets with ChatGPT
Step 3 – Check the Customized Plugin
Suggestions from Our Knowledgeable Plugin Builders
Can ChatGPT Flip You Right into a WordPress Plugin Developer?
Step 1 – Outline the Plugin’s Performance
Earlier than utilizing ChatGPT to generate code, we have to have a transparent understanding of the performance we would like our plugin to offer.
This begins by outlining the precise options, actions, or modifications we’ll need to obtain with our plugin. This can then assist us generate correct prompts for ChatGPT and be sure that our AI-generated code aligns with our desired outcomes.
Step 2 – Generate Code Snippets with ChatGPT
To generate our code snippets utilizing ChatGPT, we’ll maintain issues easy (and free) and use the freely obtainable interface offered by OpenAI.
Take #1…
Observe: My first try at utilizing ChatGPT to create a WordPress plugin from scratch was means too bold. I requested ChatGPT to construct me a easy WordPress time-travel dummy textual content producing plugin, utilizing the immediate beneath…
This immediate will certainly kick ChatGPT’s WordPress plugin growth tyres.
As somebody who spends numerous time writing WordPress tutorials, I usually want dummy content material to check plugins, create screenshots, and many others.
So, I assumed it could be nice to mannequin my AI-generated dummy content material plugin on a plugin I usually use referred to as FakerPress.
ChatGPT pushed again on my request and let me know that creating a completely useful WordPress plugin with all of the options I requested was past the scope of a single response.
Nonetheless, it did supply to offer me with a primary template, information me on easy methods to implement among the options I discussed, and even gave me directions on easy methods to create a plugin listing and file…
Mmm…perhaps my first try at making a WordPress plugin was too bold!
At first, ChatGPT output code that regarded fairly spectacular…
To somebody who is aware of ‘zip’ about coding, the above code snippet positive appears spectacular!
ChatGPT additionally output all the extra code required to finish the subsequent steps.
Missing coding abilities, I relied on ChatGPT to information me by way of every step of the plugin growth course of.
With the plugin code output, the subsequent step was to add the plugin to my take a look at web site and take a look at it to verify it really works.
Step 3 – Check The Customized Plugin
After importing the folder containing the plugin code to the wp-content > plugins listing of my take a look at web site and activating it contained in the Plugins display…
And now for the second we’ve all been ready for [drumroll]…I bought a deadly error!
What an anticlimax…the bottom level of my WordPress plugin growth profession!
Assuming that perhaps I didn’t add the extra snippets that ChatGPT offered accurately, I went again and requested for all of the code to be offered as a single file that I may merely copy and paste to overwrite and replace the uploaded plugin file…
Why couldn’t it simply have given me your complete copy and paste code the primary time?
There was numerous code to output, so every time the method got here to a standstill, I instructed ChatGPT to proceed…
ChatGPT typically simply wants slightly light encouragement to maintain going.
After repeating this course of a number of instances, ChatGPT output your complete code and even offered some useful data.
After ready a complete 2 minutes…ChatGPT lastly output all the plugin code!
I uploaded the plugin file with the brand new code to my take a look at web site, then jumped into the location’s admin space and activated the plugin.
It labored! Or, so it appeared.
ChatGPT gave the plugin its personal menu merchandise…
ChatGPT created all this!
And a settings display with a lot of fancy bins and fields…
Seems to be spectacular…however will it work?
However I couldn’t see a subject to specify what number of posts or pages to create, so I merely ticked some bins, entered some values, and clicked on the “Save Modifications” button to see what occurs.
And now, for the second of fact…
And…completely nothing occurred!
The latest lowest level of my WordPress plugin growth profession…a plugin that does nothing!
My fancy-ass plugin was all make-believe, identical to a type of youngsters’s playground spaceships that’s crammed with ineffective knobs you possibly can flip and buttons you possibly can press whereas pretending to be flying in outer house.
So, I reached out to certainly one of our builders through Slack and requested them to have a look at the plugin file.
A number of the feedback that got here again included the next:
“The plugin tries to generate random content material on every admin web page load”
“It calls a operate dummy_content_generator_generate_content_paragraphs which, in flip, makes an attempt to name dummy_content_generator_get_random_paragraph for each paragraph it tries to generate. The issue is that there is no such thing as a dummy_content_generator_get_random_paragraph operate.
“The web page hundreds to a degree, then it errors out as a result of there’s extra lacking stuff”
“Aside from all of the talked about points, there’s no validation in any way, and no escaping of the output, which is horrible”
“By way of having one thing as start line, it is a very, very poor one. By way of having a working plugin, that is nowhere close to that”
After some forwards and backwards discussions , it was deemed that there was quite a bit flawed with the plugin, that it could take numerous work to repair it, and so they prompt I scrap the undertaking.
At this level, nonetheless, I used to be too invested in my mission to easily abandon the whole lot and quit. Recalling Sir Winston Churchill’s well-known phrases (“Fetch me one other brandy” “By no means give in, by no means give in, by no means, by no means, by no means…”), I made a decision it was time for…
Take #2…
Okay, so my first try to get ChatGPT to construct a WordPress plugin from scratch was a dismal failure. This in itself offered some helpful insights into ChatGPT’s means to carry out complicated coding duties (or, as somebody within the group put it, “you possibly can’t code utilizing ChatGPT with out having in depth coding data.”)
So, for “Take #2,” I made a decision to attempt once more with an easier plugin request.
Going again to the drafting board, a genius lightbulb second lit up in my thoughts…why not ask ChatGPT to counsel concepts for easy WordPress plugins it may then generate the code for?
So, that’s what I did. Right here’s the immediate I promptly engineered…
My genius immediate.
And right here’s the listing of prompt plugins ChatGPT replied with…
The blueprint of my WordPress plugin empire.
I appreciated the final suggestion, so I requested ChatGPT to generate the code for a useful content material duplicator plugin, and it instantly went to work.
That is what a license to print cash appears like!
ChatGPT generated the next code for the plugin within the blink of an eye fixed:
<?php
/*
Plugin Title: Content material Duplicator
Description: Permits customers to duplicate posts, pages, or customized submit varieties with one click on.
Model: 1.0.0
Creator: Your Title
Creator URI: https://yourwebsite.com
*/
// Add duplicate motion hyperlinks to submit row actions
operate content_duplicator_add_duplicate_link( $actions, $submit ) {
if ( current_user_can( ‘edit_posts’ ) ) {
$actions[‘duplicate’] = ‘<a href=”‘ . wp_nonce_url( admin_url( ‘admin-post.php?motion=content_duplicator_duplicate_post&post_id=’ . $post->ID ), ‘content_duplicator_duplicate_post’ ) . ‘” title=”Duplicate this merchandise” rel=”permalink”>Duplicate</a>’;
}
return $actions;
}
add_filter( ‘post_row_actions’, ‘content_duplicator_add_duplicate_link’, 10, 2 );
// Duplicate the submit
operate content_duplicator_duplicate_post() {
if ( isset( $_GET[‘post_id’] ) ) {
$post_id = absint( $_GET[‘post_id’] );
if ( current_user_can( ‘edit_posts’ ) && wp_verify_nonce( $_GET[‘_wpnonce’], ‘content_duplicator_duplicate_post’ ) ) {
$submit = get_post( $post_id );
$args = array(
‘post_title’ => $post->post_title . ‘ (Duplicate)’,
‘post_content’ => $post->post_content,
‘post_type’ => $post->post_type,
‘post_status’ => $post->post_status,
‘post_parent’ => $post->post_parent,
‘post_author’ => get_current_user_id(),
);
$new_post_id = wp_insert_post( $args );
if ( $new_post_id ) {
// Duplicate meta fields
$meta_fields = get_post_custom( $post_id );
foreach ( $meta_fields as $key => $values ) {
foreach ( $values as $worth ) {
add_post_meta( $new_post_id, $key, $worth );
}
}
// Redirect to the duplicated submit
wp_redirect( admin_url( ‘submit.php?motion=edit&submit=’ . $new_post_id ) );
exit;
}
}
}
}
add_action( ‘admin_post_content_duplicator_duplicate_post’, ‘content_duplicator_duplicate_post’ );
It even offered a set of directions after producing the code.
The code not solely comes with directions, however ChatGPT even says “Please”!
I then uploaded the brand new plugin file to the wp-content > plugins listing of my take a look at web site utilizing The Hub’s file supervisor.
There’s numerous motion to unpack on this screenshot.
And created a dummy submit to check the plugin with…
Did the plugin duplicate this tacky submit? Let’s discover out!
Listed below are the submit’s menu choices earlier than activating the plugin…
A default submit with default choices.
After activating the plugin…
“Activate Content material Duplicator” – Feels like a line from a Star Trek film.
Success!
A gratuitous screenshot proving that the plugin efficiently activated.
The plugin activated. However did it truly work?
Right here’s my take a look at submit once more (notice that the plugin added a brand new “Duplicate” merchandise to the menu after activation). I then clicked on “Duplicate” to see what occurs…
ChatGPT even added a “Duplicate” menu merchandise tooltip to the code!
And a replica submit was created!
A replica of the unique submit.
Right here’s the desk of posts exhibiting entries for the unique and duplicated submit.
The unique submit and its cloned model.
I’m positive that with higher immediate engineering and a few code tweaking, the plugin may have been considerably improved. For instance, I would favor if the plugin set the submit standing of the newly-duplicated submit to ‘draft’ as an alternative of publishing it, however ChatGPT delivered a easy WordPress plugin that labored. It was primary, however it did the job.
The final step was to ask somebody who codes WordPress plugins for a dwelling to scrutinize the code and get their opinion about utilizing a instrument like ChatGPT to code plugins.
Suggestions from Our Knowledgeable Plugin Builders
Shortly after importing the plugin to certainly one of our testing channels, I bought a ping from certainly one of our builders. Listed below are among the key factors offered of their suggestions:
“ChatGPT et al are respectable at answering questions you already know the reply to.”
“I additionally used it previously to construct a easy plugin for me, however so long as I used to be giving extra complicated prompts, it began to mess issues round, so ultimately I manually debug the given code to work, trigger else it’d take ages for it to truly debug it line by line.”
“Mainly, it does what it says. Nonetheless, it does what it says very actually. As in, it’ll duplicate a submit and its corresponding postmeta (customized) fields. Nonetheless, it doesn’t look like it’ll propagate any taxonomies to the duplicated submit (the plugin ought to copy and assign the identical taxonomy phrases, corresponding to classes or tags, from the unique submit to the duplicated submit).”
If I used to be to be super-nitpicky about this, I’d additionally point out that it’s not L10n-ready – there gained’t be an choice to translate this plugin. However, that’s simply being very nitpicky – I don’t actually suppose, nor would I anticipate, a prompt-generated plugin to be generic sufficient to be needing one thing like that in any respect. To me, it’s extra of a “very particular downside area” form of a factor, together with the language used. On the finish of the day, it does do what it says it’ll, which could be very good.”
Along with analyzing the WordPress plugin code generated by ChatGPT and offering suggestions as proven above, our builders additionally agreed with the next key factors after assessing ChatGPT’s present capabilities to generate code:
1 – It’s essential to train warning and never blindly settle for ChatGPT-generated code as appropriate.
ChatGPT can present solutions, however it’s as much as the person to evaluate whether or not the reply is appropriate or not.
There’s a threat of receiving incorrect or nonsensical solutions from ChatGPT, each apparent and refined.
It’s essential to train warning and never blindly settle for the generated code as appropriate.
ChatGPT’s output ought to be handled as autocomplete, making life simpler however requiring warning and verification.
The power to discern good code from unhealthy or nonsensical code, nonetheless, implies that…
2 – Customers ought to have adequate data and understanding of WordPress plugin growth to guage and modify the generated code as wanted.
ChatGPT may help simplify and expedite the method of constructing easy customized WordPress plugins, generate code snippets, and supply explanations. Something extra complicated, nonetheless, requires plugin growth expertise and coding abilities.
Utilizing ChatGPT with out adequate data can result in damaging penalties or unreliable code.
Relying solely on ChatGPT with out vital pondering is just like blindly copying the primary reply from Stack Overflow (Stack Overflow threads present extra context, a number of solutions, and suggestions from different customers, making it a extra dependable useful resource, however Stack Overflow threads are usually extra generic, whereas ChatGPT can present particular solutions to particular person queries).
3 – Using different assets, corresponding to WordPress documentation, tutorials, and neighborhood boards, alongside ChatGPT can present a extra complete understanding of WordPress plugin growth.
As you discover the chances of utilizing ChatGPT for WordPress plugin growth, it’s helpful to have interaction with the WordPress neighborhood. Share your experiences, ask for suggestions, and search steering from skilled builders. Taking part in boards, attending WordPress meetups, or becoming a member of on-line communities can present helpful insights and assist you refine your plugin growth course of.
Moreover, take into account following WordPress safety greatest practices to safeguard your web site from potential vulnerabilities. ChatGPT can present suggestions on safety measures you possibly can implement to guard your plugin.
It’s additionally important to keep up a transparent understanding of your required performance and totally evaluation and take a look at the generated code and safe your customized plugins earlier than deploying them to a manufacturing atmosphere.
Can ChatGPT Flip You Right into a WordPress Plugin Developer?
On this article, we’ve explored how one can make the most of ChatGPT to construct easy customized WordPress plugins, even in case you have restricted coding expertise.
In different articles, we’ve seen that AI-powered instruments like ChatGP can streamline your workflow, increase productiveness, and unlock new potentialities (take a look at our latest article on ways in which ChatGPT may help you as a WordPress developer).
Whereas there are over 60,000 free WordPress plugins obtainable masking each kind of performance you possibly can think about, typically chances are you’ll want a customized answer to satisfy a consumer’s particular necessities.
Past the core performance of your plugin, you can too leverage ChatGPT to generate code for customized person interfaces. With its means to know prompts and generate HTML, CSS, and JavaScript snippets, you possibly can create intuitive admin interfaces, front-end parts, and interactive parts that may improve the person expertise and mean you can ship a sophisticated last product.
By using the language mannequin’s capabilities, you possibly can generate code snippets, optimize performance, and create user-friendly interfaces. Nonetheless, it’s essential to know the generated code, evaluation and refine it, and totally take a look at your customized plugins earlier than deploying them to your reside web site.
The generated code can also require changes to align with coding requirements, naming conventions, or particular undertaking necessities. This requires a specific amount of coding data and abilities, as does optimizing the code and making certain it follows WordPress coding tips for higher maintainability.
The underside line:
Listed below are my findings after attempting to get ChatGPT to code me a plugin from scratch:
I couldn’t have gotten this achieved with out the assistance of our skilled builders.
Utilizing ChatGPT to generate code with out coding data is admittedly difficult – it helps to know what you’re doing 🙂
Whereas ChatGPT is a strong and helpful instrument, it doesn’t look like AI will substitute expert coders any time quickly.
Serious about Growing WordPress plugins?
Try a few of our tutorials and articles on WordPress plugin growth:
Getting Began with WordPress Plugin Improvement
A Fast and In-Depth Information to WordPress Hooks
Creating WordPress Plugins in An Object Oriented Means
Subscribe to MarketingSolution.
Receive web development discounts & web design tutorials.
Now! Lets GROW Together!