app-ifiying wordpress: practical tips for using wordpress as an application platform

App-ifying WordPress: Practical Tips for

Using WordPress as an Application Platform

by Mandi Wise for WordCamp Vancouver 2014

WP as an AP WTF?

From The State of the Word 2013

From The State of the Word 2013

App vs. Website

Tasks vs. Content

Photo Credit: JD Hancock

Action-oriented vs. Information-oriented

Photo Credit: JD Hancock

Creation vs. Consumption

Photo Credit: JD Hancock

Many of us likely live here

App Site

What Makes an App?

Multi-Tier ArchitecturePresentation Tier

Application Tier

Database Tier

Platform vs. Framework

Why WordPress?Already known and loved.

Much of the work has been done for you.

Plenty of documentation and examples.

But Should you?

–Dr. Ian Malcolm

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

Who’s Already Doing It?

PressBooksTurn WP Multisite into a self-hosted

writing/publishing app by installing the PressBooks theme.

HappytablesCreate, host, and manage a website for your restaurant using the Happytables

website builder.

QuartzBackbone.js business up front, WordPress party in the back.

DMA FriendsAn app built with BadgeOS and a WordPress-

powered back-end to increase audience engagement at the Dallas Museum of Art.

AppPresserA plugin for creating native mobile apps by integrating PhoneGap with WordPress.

Different strokes for different folks.

Your WordPress Toolbox

Custom Post TypesThe world is your custom post type oyster.

Remember all the $args!

Custom TaxonomiesA powerful way to filter, sort and connect

your post types and their posts.

Metaboxes & SettingsAlmost inevitable you’ll end up using these…

Check out Custom Metaboxes and Fields on Github.

User Roles, Caps & MetaKey to customizing and controlling user

permissions in your app.

Admin ThemesThe WordPress admin area doesn’t have to look

like WordPress anymore.

The DashboardThere’s a good chance you won’t want the default dashboard widgets in your app.

TemplatingDrag and drop your way to templated bliss…

maybe.

Don’t Forget!Multisite

BuddyPress

And all of these other things…

HeartBeat API wp_mail, wp_Cron & wp_ajax

Custom Database Tables Posts 2 Posts Gravity Forms

eCommerce Plugins Membership Plugins (…You Get the Point)

That all sounds great, but what’s still missing?

Some APIs aren’t as user-friendly as they could be. I’m looking at you, Settings API.

Custom post statuses are only half-way there.

Customizing the 3.5+ media uploader can be tricky if you don’t have some Backbone chops.

Very real real-time limitations.

Some things don’t like to be messed with.

Things to think about

Theme or Plugin?

Get Organized

Photo Credit: Pietro Bellini

Protect Your Users

Photo Credit: JD Hancock

Take privacy protection seriously.

Look for easy backdoors.

SSL where it’s needed.

It’s 10pm. Do you know where your servers are?

Protect Yourself(Because unlike these guys, you don’t have a time machine.)

Malware and brute force attacks.

Custom database prefixes.

Data validation, sanitization, and escaping.

Use nonces.

Prepare and escape your custom SQL queries.

Make back-ups. Then back-up your back-ups.

Debug & test

Will it scale?

Hosting that can grow with you.

Caching and transients.

LEMP (nginx) vs. typical LAMP stack.

Minify scripts and styles, optimize images.

Localize your text strings for translation.

Extending & Maintaining

Borrowed from xkcd.com

The Road Ahead...

JSON REST APIPick your flavour: Jetpack or WP API (in 4.1 core)

JavaScript, Javascript, JavascriptThe Media Uploader was only the beginning…

More and More Front-EndDevelopment of a front-end editor for core is

well-underway at make.wordpress.org.

Metadata UI API?Still very alpha, but exciting to stalk on

make.wordpress.org and Github!

Finally, Some Resources:github.com/mandiwise/appifying-wp-resources

Thanks On Twitter and Github: @mandiwise