[wp-docs] Writing a Plugin

[Michael D.Adams]

On Mar 8, 2005, at 6:58 PM, Owen Winkler wrote:
> It should be a referecne, but I doubt "quick" is the word, if only 
> because there are dozens of hooks to document.
>
> For many hooks it would be helpful to see the format of data that's 
> passed to and from the hook, so each should have an example.  For 
> many, like the template tag filters, a "See the X hook for an example" 
> would suffice.
Sounds very reasonable.  I guess I didn't see just how involved the API 
documentation is going to need to be as the API itself keeps getting 
more involved.

>> Speaking of keeping things clean, I'd like to eventually get rid of 
>> the following sections from [[Plugin API]]:
>> #General Guidelines for Plugin Authors
>> #Adding Submenus to the Admin Menu
>> #Plugin Metadata
>>
>> and put them on whatever top level Plugin Development article 
>> ([[Writing Plugins]], [[Plug in into Plugins]]...).
>
> The content of [[Hacking WordPress]] needs to retitle to [[Writing 
> Hacks]].  [[Writing Hacks]] needs to include information on writing 
> actual hacks (it currently does) and stuff like the cache plugin 
> constant.  A new page [[Writing Plugins]] would contain basic howtos 
> (a couple of sections of Carthik's page, but not the whole thing) and 
> links to the big sections that don't belong in [[Plugin API]].  
> [[Hacking WordPress]] then becomes an introduction into the methods of 
> altering the WordPress code to suit your needs, and a lead-in to the 
> [[Writing Hacks]] and [[Writing Plugins]] pages.
Excellent suggestion.  I like the hierarchy.

> We need a big developer function reference, too.  Not just for 
> formatting output, either.  There are a lot of useful functions in 
> WordPress that could obviate reinventing the wheel.
I've been dreaming about this for a long time now.  Database interface, 
query structures, other classes... I'm sure you can think of more stuff 
than I.

> All of these pages need to fall under a new umbrella from the home 
> page, [[Developer Documentation]].  Expect that the rules would be 
> slightly different here from the rest of Codex as you delve deeper 
> into it, since you're not going to be talking to the average user.  
> Hopefully, they'll realize they're lost and go back to the easily 
> found [[Plugins]], which isn't linked on the API page currently, and 
> should be.
[[Hacking WordPress]] should still be usable by casual users, even if 
what it links to gets too technical for most.  Otherwise, I agree.

>> And another thing.  If anyone's been following 
>> http://mosquito.wordpress.org/view.php?id=901
>> and can tell whether or not this new multiple parameter capability is 
>> stable enough to include yet, can you make sure the information gets 
>> in to [[Plugin API]]?
>
> That issue is insane.  This needs coverage badly.  It seems to me that 
> as far as the API reference is concerned this should be stable.
... Think you can tackle it?  :-)

Michael