Title: how to begin plugin-development
Last modified: August 31, 2016

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# how to begin plugin-development

 *  [MaWe4585](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mawe4585/)
 * (@mawe4585)
 * [10 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-begin-plugin-development/)
 * hi there!
 * i already read throug beginner guides for plugin development so i know a few 
   basics.
    now i would like to do it a little more professional. so first thing
   before i start is to ask people who already know things.
 * what i want:
    – maintainable code – separate user-interface from logic – don’t
   change the theme (want be able to install updates without losing my changes)
 * so in my plugin i’ll have several entities, for example countries, towns, persons
   and homes.
    some of them i could manage with custom-post-types(countries, towns,
   persons) and fill them with meta-data. others i think i can’t manage with custom
   post types (homes) there i think i would need to create a custom table and add
   the fields i need to store.
 * so when i have these i would create the views for the front-end.
    one that lists
   all countries and let’s me filter them and the same for towns and persons. one
   for a country where i would like to see all information about the country as 
   well as a list off all the towns in the country. similar views for towns and 
   persons as well.
 * now the question is: how would i create these views. i would like to separate
   it from the logic by using a template engine like smarty or twig.
 * can you provide me with an example of a plugin that works like this?

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [Bob Cristello](https://wordpress.org/support/users/gntmidnight/)
 * (@gntmidnight)
 * [10 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-begin-plugin-development/#post-7229309)
 * There is a template I use all the time, especially when I am using custom post
   types in my plugin.
 * [http://www.yaconiello.com/blog/how-to-write-wordpress-plugin/](http://www.yaconiello.com/blog/how-to-write-wordpress-plugin/)
 * There is a list of examples at the bottom of this article:
 * [https://codex.wordpress.org/Writing_a_Plugin](https://codex.wordpress.org/Writing_a_Plugin)
 * Welcome to the world of plugin programming.
 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [10 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-begin-plugin-development/#post-7229316)
 * You can create views that appear like the admin area list tables by extending
   the WP_List_Table class. Existing examples such as WP_Posts_List_Table can be
   referenced for details on how this is done. These are intended for use in the
   admin area. I’m not sure how well they would work on the front end. You will 
   probably need to explicitly include or require specific supporting admin files.
 * Perhaps you’ve already seen this, but here’s another good plugin reference: [https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/](https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/)
 *  Thread Starter [MaWe4585](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mawe4585/)
 * (@mawe4585)
 * [10 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-begin-plugin-development/#post-7229337)
 * Thanks a lot for your tips. I’ll definitely take a look into these.
 * I also stumbled upon an interesting plugin called “Piklist” [https://wordpress.org/plugins/piklist/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/piklist/)
   do you know it? It seems pretty easy to handle custom-post-types and fields with
   it. Can you think of any pros/contras it may have?
 *  [Steve Bruner](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sbruner/)
 * (@sbruner)
 * [10 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-begin-plugin-development/#post-7229345)
 * [@mawe4585](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mawe4585/)– I’m one of the lead
   developers for Piklist. Happy to answer any questions you may have. Feel free
   to post them on our [support forum](https://piklist.com/support/forum/piklist/).

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘how to begin plugin-development’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Hacks](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/plugins-and-hacks/hacks/)
 * 4 replies
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [Steve Bruner](https://wordpress.org/support/users/sbruner/)
 * Last activity: [10 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-begin-plugin-development/#post-7229345)
 * Status: not resolved

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