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WordPress Web Application Development
WordPress Web Application Development

WordPress Web Application Development: Everyone it seems loves WordPress and this is your opportunity to take your existing design and development skills to the next stage. Learn in easy stages how to speedily build leading-edge web applications from scratch.

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WordPress Web Application Development

Chapter 2. Implementing Membership Roles, Permissions, and Features

The success of any web application or website depends heavily on its user base. There are plenty of great web applications that go unnoticed by many people due to the lack of user interaction. As developers, it's our responsibility to build simple and interactive user management processes, as visitors decide whether to stay on or leave a website by looking at the complexity of initial tasks such as registration and login.

In this chapter, we will be mainly concentrating on adapting existing user management functionalities into typical web applications. In order to accomplish our goal, we are going to execute some tasks outside the box to bring user management features from the WordPress core to WordPress themes.

While striving to build a better user experience, we will also take a look at advanced aspects of web application development such as routing, controlling, and custom templating.

In this chapter, we...

Introduction to user management

Usually, other popular PHP development frameworks such as Zend, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, and Laravel don't provide built-in user modules. Developers tend to build their own user management modules and use them across many projects of the same framework. WordPress offers a built-in user management system to cater to common user management tasks in web applications. Such things include:

  • Managing user roles and capabilities
  • Built-in user registration
  • Built-in user login
  • Built-in forgot password

Developers are likely to encounter these tasks in almost all web applications. On most occasions, these features and functions can be effectively used without significant changes to the code. However, web applications are much more advanced, and hence we might need various customizations on these existing features. It's important to explore the possibility of extending these functions so that they are compatible with advanced application requirements. In the upcoming...

Getting started on user roles

In simple terms, user roles define the types of users in a system. WordPress offers built-in functions for working with every aspect of user roles. In this section, we are going to look at how we can manage these tasks by implementing the user roles for our application. We can create a new user role by calling the add_role function. The following code illustrates the basic form of user role creation:

$result = add_role( 'role_name', 'Display Name', array(
  'read' => true,
  'edit_posts' => true,
  'delete_posts' => false,
) );

The first parameter takes the role name, which is a unique key to identify the role. The second parameter will be the display name, which will be shown in the admin area. The final parameter will take the necessary capabilities of the user role. In this scenario, read, edit_posts, and delete_posts will be the capabilities, while true and false are used to enable and disable status...

Understanding user capabilities

Capabilities can be considered as tasks that users are permitted to perform inside the application. A single user role can perform many capabilities, while a single capability can be performed by many user roles. Typically, we use the term access control for handling capabilities in web applications. Let's see how capabilities work inside WordPress.

Creating your first capability

Capabilities are always associated with user roles, and hence we cannot create new capabilities without providing a user role. Let's look at the following code for associating a custom capability with a follower user role created in the Creating user roles for a application section:

public function add_application_user_capabilities(){
  $role = get_role( 'follower' );
  $role->add_cap( 'follow_developer_activities' );
}

First, we need to retrieve the user role as an object using the get_role function. Then, we can associate a new or existing capability...

Registering application users

The administration panel is a built-in WordPress framework that allows us to login through the admin screen. Therefore, we have a registration area which can be used effectively to add new users by providing a username and e-mail. In web applications, registration can become complex compared with the simple registration process in WordPress. Let's consider some typical requirements of a web application registration process in comparison with WordPress:

  • A user-friendly interface: Applications can have different types of user roles. Until the registration is complete, everyone is treated as a normal application user with the ability to view public content. Typically, users are used to seeing fancy registration forms inside the main site rather than a completely different login area like WordPress. Therefore, we need to explore the possibilities of adding the WordPress registration to the frontend.
  • Requesting detailed information: Most web applications will...

Implementing the frontend registration

Fortunately, we can make use of the existing functionalities to implement registration from the frontend. We can use regular HTTP requests or AJAX-based techniques for implementing this feature. In this book, I am going to focus on a normal process instead of using AJAX. Our first task is creating the registration form on the frontend.

There are various ways to implement such forms on the frontend. Let's look at some of the possibilities as described in the following sections:

  • Shortcode implementation
  • Page template implementation
  • Custom template implementation

Now let's look at the implementation of each of these techniques.

Shortcode implementation

Shortcodes are the quickest way of adding dynamic content to your pages. In this situation, we need to create a page for registration. Therefore, we need to create a shortcode that generates the registration form as shown in the following code:

add_shortcode( "register_form", "display_register_form...

Introduction to user management


Usually, other popular PHP development frameworks such as Zend, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, and Laravel don't provide built-in user modules. Developers tend to build their own user management modules and use them across many projects of the same framework. WordPress offers a built-in user management system to cater to common user management tasks in web applications. Such things include:

  • Managing user roles and capabilities

  • Built-in user registration

  • Built-in user login

  • Built-in forgot password

Developers are likely to encounter these tasks in almost all web applications. On most occasions, these features and functions can be effectively used without significant changes to the code. However, web applications are much more advanced, and hence we might need various customizations on these existing features. It's important to explore the possibility of extending these functions so that they are compatible with advanced application requirements. In the upcoming sections...

Getting started on user roles


In simple terms, user roles define the types of users in a system. WordPress offers built-in functions for working with every aspect of user roles. In this section, we are going to look at how we can manage these tasks by implementing the user roles for our application. We can create a new user role by calling the add_role function. The following code illustrates the basic form of user role creation:

$result = add_role( 'role_name', 'Display Name', array(
  'read' => true,
  'edit_posts' => true,
  'delete_posts' => false,
) );

The first parameter takes the role name, which is a unique key to identify the role. The second parameter will be the display name, which will be shown in the admin area. The final parameter will take the necessary capabilities of the user role. In this scenario, read, edit_posts, and delete_posts will be the capabilities, while true and false are used to enable and disable status.

Creating user roles for a application

As planned...

Understanding user capabilities


Capabilities can be considered as tasks that users are permitted to perform inside the application. A single user role can perform many capabilities, while a single capability can be performed by many user roles. Typically, we use the term access control for handling capabilities in web applications. Let's see how capabilities work inside WordPress.

Creating your first capability

Capabilities are always associated with user roles, and hence we cannot create new capabilities without providing a user role. Let's look at the following code for associating a custom capability with a follower user role created in the Creating user roles for a application section:

public function add_application_user_capabilities(){
  $role = get_role( 'follower' );
  $role->add_cap( 'follow_developer_activities' );
}

First, we need to retrieve the user role as an object using the get_role function. Then, we can associate a new or existing capability using the add_cap function. We...

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Key benefits

  • Develop powerful web applications rapidly with WordPress
  • Practical scenario-based approach with ready-to-test source code
  • Learning how to plan complex web applications from scratch

Description

Developing WordPress-powered websites is one of the standout trends in the modern web development world. The flexibility and power of the built-in features offered by WordPress has made developers turn their attentions to the possibility of using it as a web development framework. This book will act as a comprehensive resource for building web applications with this amazing framework. "WordPress Web Application Development" is a comprehensive guide focused on incorporating the existing features of WordPress into typical web development. This book is structured towards building a complete web application from scratch. With this book, you will build an application with a modularized structure supported by the latest trending technologies. "Wordpress Web Application Development" provides a comprehensive, practical, and example-based approach for pushing the limits of WordPress for web applications beyond your imagination. This book begins by exploring the role of existing WordPress components and discussing the reasons for choosing WordPress for web application development. As we proceed, more focus will be put into adapting WordPress features into web applications with the help of an informal use-case-based model for discussing the most prominent built-in features. While striving for web development with WordPress, you will also learn about the integration of popular client-side technologies such as Backbone, Underscore, and jQuery, and server-side technologies and techniques such as template engines, RSS feeds, Open Auth integration, and more. After reading this book, you will possess the ability to develop powerful web applications rapidly within limited time frames with the crucial advantage of benefitting low-budget and time-critical projects.

Who is this book for?

This book is intended for WordPress developers and designers who have the desire to go beyond conventional website development to develop quality web applications within a limited time frame and for maximum profit. Experienced web developers who are looking for a framework for rapid application development will also find this to be a useful resource. Prior knowledge with of WordPress is preferable as the main focus will be on explaining methods for adapting WordPress techniques for web application development rather than explaining basic skills with WordPress.

What you will learn

  • Adapt existing WordPress features and functions into web applications
  • Develop extendable plugins with cutting-edge codes
  • Build and customizing themes beyond conventional web layouts
  • Integrate the latest trending web development technologies into WordPress
  • Use third-party plugins and libraries to simplify application development
  • Master tips and tricks using existing WordPress features
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Publication date : Nov 18, 2013
Length: 376 pages
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Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783280759
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Edition : 1st
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ISBN-13 : 9781783280759
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Languages :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

12 Chapters
1. WordPress As a Web Application Framework Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Implementing Membership Roles, Permissions, and Features Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Planning and Customizing the Core Database Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. The Building Blocks of Web Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Developing Pluggable Modules Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Customizing the Dashboard for Powerful Backends Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Adjusting Themes for Amazing Frontends Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Enhancing the Power of Open Source Libraries and Plugins Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Listening to Third-party Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Integrating and Finalizing the Portfolio Management Application Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
A. Configurations, Tools, and Resources Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
(3 Ratings)
5 star 100%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Matt R. Christensen Mar 06, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
As the title implies it covers using WordPress as your application framework. I highly recommend this book even if you are not building a web app. The author does a great job of breaking down complex development techniques that are useful regardless of how you plan to use WordPress. I found learning about how to use built in functions the most helpful. Did not realize how much WordPress provides for you as far as development goes.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
ir-johanbun Jan 31, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
If you want to build a web application, you need to consider WordPress as a framework because WordPress and its numerous plugins may provide you with many useful built-in functionalities. If you want to build a web application based on WordPress, you definitely need to read this book.The book has provided me with a guide to build a complete web application using WordPress as a framework; from user management, data manipulation, through back-end and front-end user interfaces. The resulting application will not be a toy application, but an industrial-strength application.The book taught me advanced techniques with the emphasis of a good design. The author thoughtfully discussed about the issues of usability (good user interfaces), code reusability, performance, etc. as any large application would require.However, the book is not for a beginner. Despite the author's best intention to explain the basics, I was stuck as early as in Chapter 2 because I lacked the knowledge of WordPress Core. Only after I had read another excellent book (WordPress Design and Development by Brad Williams, et.al.), I could continue with this book (WordPress Web Application Development by Ratnayake). This is understandable because Ratnayake's book contains so much advanced information about building a large application. It simply has no enough room to cater more basic knowledge.I have finished with this book, and I am glad that now I have the confidence to build a complete WordPress web application.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
zipdizzy Jan 20, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I needed a detail source of information regarding WordPress Web Application Development and this is it. The book is a handy resource as I hone my web development skills. I highly recommend this for individuals who want a deep understanding of WordPress.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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