Can ChatGPT Construct a Helpful WordPress Plugin That Really Works?

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 really develop a purposeful and helpful WordPress plugin with out having to put in writing code from scratch? And does the plugin meet finest coding practices?

Happily, WPMU DEV builds among the most sturdy WordPress plugins on this planet, so we have now loads of knowledgeable WordPress plugin builders who can put ChatGPT to the take a look at.

In actual fact, in the event you take a stroll round our firm’s digital corridors, you’ll be able to’t assist however stumble upon WordPress coders and builders. It appears everybody round right here can take a look at a WordPress plugin and see PHP the way in which Neo sees the Matrix’s digital rain code.

What PHP code appears to be like 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 want so as to add “immediate engineer” to my CV.

So, on this put up, we’ll discover how one can leverage the facility 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 Professional 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 certain 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 out there interface supplied by OpenAI.

Take #1…

Observe: My first try at utilizing ChatGPT to create a WordPress plugin from scratch was manner too formidable. I requested ChatGPT to construct me a easy WordPress time-travel dummy textual content producing plugin, utilizing the immediate under…

This immediate will certainly kick ChatGPT’s WordPress plugin improvement tyres.

As somebody who spends quite a lot of time writing WordPress tutorials, I typically want dummy content material to check plugins, create screenshots, and many others.

So, I believed it could be nice to mannequin my AI-generated dummy content material plugin on a plugin I typically use referred to as FakerPress.

ChatGPT pushed again on my request and let me know that creating a completely purposeful WordPress plugin with all of the options I requested was past the scope of a single response.

Nonetheless, it did provide to offer me with a fundamental template, information me on how one can implement among the options I discussed, and even gave me directions on how one can create a plugin listing and file…

Mmm…possibly my first try at making a WordPress plugin was too formidable!

At first, ChatGPT output code that appeared fairly spectacular…

To somebody who is aware of ‘zip’ about coding, the above code snippet positive appears to be like 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 means of every step of the plugin improvement course of.

With the plugin code output, the subsequent step was to add the plugin to my take a look at website 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 website 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 improvement profession!

Assuming that possibly I didn’t add the extra snippets that ChatGPT supplied appropriately, I went again and requested for all of the code to be supplied 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 the complete copy and paste code the primary time?

There was quite a lot of code to output, so each time the method got here to a standstill, I instructed ChatGPT to proceed…

ChatGPT generally simply wants somewhat mild encouragement to maintain going.

After repeating this course of a number of instances, ChatGPT output the complete code and even supplied some useful data.

After ready a complete 2 minutes…ChatGPT lastly output the entire plugin code!

I uploaded the plugin file with the brand new code to my take a look at website, 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 numerous fancy packing containers and fields…

Appears spectacular…however will it work?

However I couldn’t see a area to specify what number of posts or pages to create, so I merely ticked some packing containers, entered some values, and clicked on the “Save Modifications” button to see what occurs.

And now, for the second of reality…

And…completely nothing occurred!

The latest lowest level of my WordPress plugin improvement profession…a plugin that does nothing!

My fancy-ass plugin was all make-believe, similar to a type of kids’s playground spaceships that’s full of ineffective knobs you’ll be able to flip and buttons you’ll be able to press whereas pretending to be flying in outer house.

So, I reached out to one in all our builders through Slack and requested them to take 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 each 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 isn’t 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”
“Apart from all of the talked about points, there’s no validation in any respect, 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 fallacious with the plugin, that it could take quite a lot of work to repair it, they usually prompt I scrap the challenge.

At this level, nevertheless, I used to be too invested in my mission to easily abandon every little thing 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 supplied some useful insights into ChatGPT’s potential to carry out advanced coding duties (or, as somebody within the group put it, “you’ll be able to’t code utilizing ChatGPT with out having in depth coding data.”)

So, for “Take #2,” I made a decision to strive 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 recommend 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 favored the final suggestion, so I requested ChatGPT to generate the code for a purposeful content material duplicator plugin, and it instantly went to work.

That is what a license to print cash appears to be like like!

ChatGPT generated the next code for the plugin within the blink of a watch:

<?php
/*
Plugin Identify: Content material Duplicator
Description: Permits customers to duplicate posts, pages, or customized put up sorts with one click on.
Model: 1.0.0
Creator: Your Identify
Creator URI: https://yourwebsite.com
*/

// Add duplicate motion hyperlinks to put up row actions
operate content_duplicator_add_duplicate_link( $actions, $put up ) {
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 put up
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’ ) ) {
$put up = 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 put up
wp_redirect( admin_url( ‘put up.php?motion=edit&put up=’ . $new_post_id ) );
exit;
}
}
}
}
add_action( ‘admin_post_content_duplicator_duplicate_post’, ‘content_duplicator_duplicate_post’ );

It even supplied 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 website utilizing The Hub’s file supervisor.

There’s quite a lot of motion to unpack on this screenshot.

And created a dummy put up to check the plugin with…

Did the plugin duplicate this tacky put up? Let’s discover out!

Listed here are the put up’s menu choices earlier than activating the plugin…

A default put up with default choices.

After activating the plugin…

“Activate Content material Duplicator” – Seems like a line from a Star Trek film.

Success!

A gratuitous screenshot proving that the plugin efficiently activated.

The plugin activated. However did it really work?

Right here’s my take a look at put up 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 reproduction put up was created!

A replica of the unique put up.

Right here’s the desk of posts exhibiting entries for the unique and duplicated put up.

The unique put up 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 put up standing of the newly-duplicated put up to ‘draft’ as an alternative of publishing it, however ChatGPT delivered a easy WordPress plugin that labored. It was fundamental, nevertheless it did the job.

The final step was to ask somebody who codes WordPress plugins for a residing to scrutinize the code and get their opinion about utilizing a software like ChatGPT to code plugins.

Suggestions from Our Professional Plugin Builders

Shortly after importing the plugin to one in all our testing channels, I bought a ping from one in all our builders. Listed here are among the key factors supplied of their suggestions:

“ChatGPT et al are respectable at answering questions you already know the reply to.”
“I additionally used it up to now to construct a easy plugin for me, however so long as I used to be giving extra advanced prompts, it began to mess issues round, so finally I manually debug the given code to work, trigger else it’d take ages for it to truly debug it line by line.”
“Principally, it does what it says. Nonetheless, it does what it says very actually. As in, it would duplicate a put up and its corresponding postmeta (customized) fields. Nonetheless, it doesn’t appear to be it would propagate any taxonomies to the duplicated put up (the plugin ought to copy and assign the identical taxonomy phrases, comparable to classes or tags, from the unique put up to the duplicated put up).”
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 assume, 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 would, which may 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 vital to train warning and never blindly settle for ChatGPT-generated code as appropriate.

ChatGPT can present solutions, nevertheless it’s as much as the consumer to evaluate whether or not the reply is appropriate or not.
There’s a danger of receiving incorrect or nonsensical solutions from ChatGPT, each apparent and delicate.
It’s vital to train warning and never blindly settle for the generated code as appropriate.
ChatGPT’s output needs to be handled as autocomplete, making life simpler however requiring warning and verification.

The flexibility to discern good code from dangerous or nonsensical code, nevertheless, implies that…

2 – Customers ought to have enough data and understanding of WordPress plugin improvement to guage and modify the generated code as wanted.

ChatGPT can assist simplify and expedite the method of constructing easy customized WordPress plugins, generate code snippets, and supply explanations. Something extra advanced, nevertheless, requires plugin improvement expertise and coding abilities.
Utilizing ChatGPT with out enough data can result in unfavorable penalties or unreliable code.
Relying solely on ChatGPT with out crucial 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, comparable to WordPress documentation, tutorials, and group boards, alongside ChatGPT can present a extra complete understanding of WordPress plugin improvement.

As you discover the probabilities of utilizing ChatGPT for WordPress plugin improvement, it’s useful to have interaction with the WordPress group. Share your experiences, ask for suggestions, and search steerage from skilled builders. Taking part in boards, attending WordPress meetups, or becoming a member of on-line communities can present useful insights and provide help to refine your plugin improvement course of.
Moreover, think about following WordPress safety finest practices to safeguard your web site from potential vulnerabilities. ChatGPT can present suggestions on safety measures you’ll be able to implement to guard your plugin.
It’s additionally important to take care of a transparent understanding of your required performance and completely 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 when 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 prospects (take a look at our latest article on ways in which ChatGPT can assist you as a WordPress developer).

Whereas there are over 60,000 free WordPress plugins out there masking each kind of performance you’ll be able to think about, generally it’s possible you’ll want a customized answer to satisfy a shopper’s particular necessities.

Past the core performance of your plugin, it’s also possible to leverage ChatGPT to generate code for customized consumer interfaces. With its potential to know prompts and generate HTML, CSS, and JavaScript snippets, you’ll be able to create intuitive admin interfaces, front-end parts, and interactive components that can improve the consumer expertise and can help you ship a refined last product.

By using the language mannequin’s capabilities, you’ll be able to generate code snippets, optimize performance, and create user-friendly interfaces. Nonetheless, it’s essential to know the generated code, evaluation and refine it, and completely 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 challenge necessities. This requires a specific amount of coding data and abilities, as does optimizing the code and guaranteeing it follows WordPress coding pointers for higher maintainability.

The underside line:

Listed here are my findings after making an attempt to get ChatGPT to code me a plugin from scratch:

I couldn’t have gotten this finished with out the assistance of our skilled builders.
Utilizing ChatGPT to generate code with out coding data is de facto difficult – it helps to know what you’re doing 🙂
Whereas ChatGPT is a strong and useful software, it doesn’t appear to be AI will exchange expert coders any time quickly.

Eager about Growing WordPress plugins?

Try a few of our tutorials and articles on WordPress plugin improvement:

Getting Began with WordPress Plugin Improvement
A Fast and In-Depth Information to WordPress Hooks
Creating WordPress Plugins in An Object Oriented Method