How to Create a Custom WordPress Plugin

by Jay Dee AndolaSoft

Custom WordPress Plugin act as add-ons with additional functionalities or extending any existing functionality to a website without modifying the core files. It helps the installation of future updates without losing any core functionalities or customizations.

Why would you want to create a plugin?

All WordPress themes contain a functions.php file, which includes code that adds all the functionalities to your site. It operates very similarly to the way a plugin works. you can add the same code to either a plugin or functions.php file, and both will work for you.

Consider this scenario.

You have decided to change the look and feel of the website so you need to change the theme, the custom code that you have added will no longer work since it was there in the previous theme. On the other hand, plugins are not dependent on a specific theme, which means that you can switch themes without losing the plugin’s functionalities. Using a plugin instead of a theme also makes the functionality you want to create easier to maintain and it will not be impacted during the theme updates.