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![Clean Input
if ( ! empty( $_POST['option'] ) ) {
update_post_meta( $post_id, 'option_key', true );
} else {
delete_post_meta( $post_id, 'option_key' );
}
update_post_meta( $post_id, 'key_name', sanitize_text](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/best-practices-wordpress-190504073255/85/Best-Practices-for-Building-WordPress-Applications-36-320.jpg)
![Nonces
<form>
<?php wp_nonce_field( 'prefix-form-action', 'nonc
...
</form>
if ( empty( $_POST['nonce_field'] ||
wp_verify_nonce( $_POST['nonce_field'], 'prefix-
form-action' ) {
return false;
}](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/best-practices-wordpress-190504073255/85/Best-Practices-for-Building-WordPress-Applications-39-320.jpg)
![Clean Input
if ( ! empty( $_POST['option'] ) ) {
update_post_meta( $post_id, 'option_key', true );
} else {
delete_post_meta( $post_id, 'option_key' );
}
update_post_meta( $post_id, 'key_name', sanitize_text](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/best-practices-wordpress-190504073255/75/Best-Practices-for-Building-WordPress-Applications-36-2048.jpg)
![Nonces
<form>
<?php wp_nonce_field( 'prefix-form-action', 'nonc
...
</form>
if ( empty( $_POST['nonce_field'] ||
wp_verify_nonce( $_POST['nonce_field'], 'prefix-
form-action' ) {
return false;
}](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/best-practices-wordpress-190504073255/75/Best-Practices-for-Building-WordPress-Applications-39-2048.jpg)
Uploaded byTaylor Lovett
Best Practices for Building WordPress Applications
This document provides best practices for WordPress applications, covering topics like caching, database reads/writes, search queries, maintainability, security, third-party code, teams, and workflows. It recommends tools and techniques to optimize performance, including using Redis for caching, Elasticsearch for complex queries, feature plugins, documentation, testing, linting, and managing dependencies with Composer.
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Best Practices for Building WordPress Applications
- 1.
- 2. Who Am I? •My name is Taylor Lovett • VP of Engineering at 10up • WordPress plugin creator and core contributor • Open source community member @tlovett12
- 3.
- 4.
- 5. C A CH I N G
- 6. Redis as aPersistent Object Cache • WP lets you drop in a custom object cache. • Redis lets you store things in memory for fast read/writes • Redis offers built in failover features that make it easier to scale than Memcached https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-redis/
- 7. Page Caching • Pagecaching is the act of caching entire rendered HTML pages. • Pages can be stored in the object cache avoiding database queries entirely. https://wordpress.org/plugins/batcache/
- 8. Fragment Caching • Alloutput involving a database read on the front end should be fragment cached aside from the main WP query. • For example, generated HTML from a feature post carousel should be cached since it uses a WP_Query
- 9. Remote Calls • Remoteblocking calls can be a huge performance bottleneck • Cache remote calls as long as possible • Utilize non-blocking remote requests wherever possible
- 10. Prime Cache Asynchronously • Don’tmake the user wait for a cache to be primed. • Re-prime after invalidation • Cleverly prime cached data asynchronously (async transients, cron, non-blocking AJAX, job queue, etc.) https://github.com/10up/Async-Transients
- 11. admin-ajax.php • Admin-ajax.php isfor admin use only. It is not cached as aggressively as the front end. Page caching will not work.
- 12. Off the ShelfCaching Plugins • Can be difficult to install and even more difficult to remove. • Created for the general public and often bloated with features. • Keep it simple.
- 13. D A TA B A S E R E A D S A N D W R I T E S
- 14. Avoid Front EndWrites • Database writes are slow • Avoid race conditions • Page caching makes them unreliable.
- 15. Understand WP_Query Parameters • 'no_found_rows'=> true: Tells WordPress not to pass SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS to the database query. • 'update_post_meta_cache' => false: useful when post meta will not be utilized. • 'update_post_term_cache' => false: useful when taxonomy terms will not be utilized. • 'fields' => 'ids': useful when only the post IDs are needed. Avoids lots of extra preparation.
- 16. Understand WP Query Parameters •‘posts_per_page’ => ‘…’: Sets the query limit to something other than -1 • ‘post__not_in’: Tells MySQL to run a NOT IN query which is inherently slow. Try to avoid.
- 17. Understand WP Query Parameters newWP_Query( array( 'no_found_rows' => true, 'fields' => 'ids', 'update_post_meta_cache' => false, 'update_post_term_cache' => false, 'posts_per_page' => 100, ) );
- 18. Autoloading Options • update_option()and add_option() take a 3rd parameter $autoload. • If you don’t need an option on every request, specify false for $autoload.
- 19. Job Queues forHeavy Lifting • For intense database or remote call activity such as a generating reports, expensive API calls, ingesting content, etc, use a job queue. • WP Minions - https://github.com/10up/wp- minions
- 20. S E AR C H A N D C O M P L E X Q U E R I E S
- 21. Elasticsearch/ElasticPre ss • ElasticPress empowersyou to execute complex queries fast. • E.g. multidimensional taxonomy queries, multidimensional meta queries, etc. • On large databases, these types of queries are not feasible in MySQL. https://github.com/10up/ElasticPress
- 22. Elasticsearch/ElasticPre ss • ElasticPress isalso a toolbox for vastly improving the search experience. • E.g. searching associated terms/meta, author search, autosuggest, geolocation, custom weightings, etc. https://github.com/10up/ElasticPress
- 23. M A IN T A I N A B I L I T Y A N D S T A B I L I T Y
- 24. Maintainable Code Improves Stability •Easily maintainable and extendible code bases are less susceptible to bugs. • Bugs in maintainable code are solved quicker • New features are more easily created in maintainable code. • Happy engineers are more productive (often overlooked).
- 25. Modern PHP Design Patterns •WordPress core is backwards compatible with PHP 5.2.4 (WP 5.2 will up minimum version to 5.6) • Your project does not need to be constrained by incredibly outdated software • Traits, composer, namespaces, etc.
- 26. Don’t Obsess Over MVCPHP • MVC (model, view, and controller) is a great pattern in many situations. • WordPress is inherently not object oriented. We find that forcing MVC with tools like Twig ultimately leads to more confusing code that is harder to maintain.
- 27. Feature Plugins • Groupdistinct pieces of functionality into plugins as much as possible. • This separation simplifies deployments and enables you to reuse functionality on other projects. • Opt-in to functionality through usage of hooks
- 28. Documentation • Properly documentedcode is more quickly fixed and iterated upon • Make documentation a part of your code review process • PHP Documentation Standards: https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/best- practices/inline-documentation-standards/php/ • JS Documentation Standards: https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/best- practices/inline-documentation-standards/javascript/
- 29. Wrapping Wrappers • WordPresshas a very rich, easy to use API with ways to create posts, send HTTP requests, create metaboxes, etc. • Creating wrappers around these core APIs more often than not just results in a layer of confusing code and another library to memorize.
- 30. Write Tests • Unittests • WP Mock - https://github.com/10up/wp_mock • Acceptance Tests • WP Acceptance - https://github.com/10up/wpacceptance • Tests improve quality and stability through identification of issues. Decrease regression
- 31. Linting • Enforce lintingrules. This keeps your code clean and makes it more maintainable. • PHPCS Rules - https://github.com/10up/phpcs- composer • ESLint Config - https://github.com/10up/eslint- config
- 32. Manage Dependencies with Composer •Manage plugins, themes, and WordPress with composer when possible. • This forces updates to be more deliberate and ensures everyone is running the same versions of dependencies. • Disable plugin install/updates in the WP dashboard. • See https://10up.github.io/Engineering-Best- Practices/structure/#dependencies
- 33. Manage Dependencies with Composer |-composer.json _________ # Define dependencies |- wp-config.php _________ # WordPress configuration |- wp/ ___________________ # Composer install WordPress here |- wp-content/ ___________ # Composer dependencies | |- themes/ ____________ # Themes directory | |- plugins/ ___________ # Plugins directory
- 34. S E CU R I T Y
- 35. Clean Input • Validate/sanitizedata being inserted into the database to strip anything harmful.
- 36. Clean Input if (! empty( $_POST['option'] ) ) { update_post_meta( $post_id, 'option_key', true ); } else { delete_post_meta( $post_id, 'option_key' ); } update_post_meta( $post_id, 'key_name', sanitize_text
- 37. Secure Output • Escapedata that is printed to the screen • Escape data as late as possible • Check out the esc_* functions in the codex. https://codex.wordpress.org/Validating_Sanitizing_and_Escaping_User_Data
- 38. Nonces • Ensure intentof important actions (database modifications) by associating them with a nonce • wp_create_nonce(), wp_verify_nonce(), wp_nonce_field()
- 39. Nonces <form> <?php wp_nonce_field( 'prefix-form-action','nonc ... </form> if ( empty( $_POST['nonce_field'] || wp_verify_nonce( $_POST['nonce_field'], 'prefix- form-action' ) { return false; }
- 40. Limit Login Attempts •Limit max number of login attempts to prevent password guessing.
- 41. Require Strong Passwords • Weakpasswords are one of the most common ways attackers exploit websites. • Require your users create strong passwords. There are a few great plugins that do this automatically.
- 42. T H IR D P A R T Y C O D E
- 43. Review Code Over 40,000community plugins • Plugins reviewed before submission • Plugin revisions not reviewed • Review guidelines not geared for high traffic
- 44. Review Code Thousands ofcommunity themes • More stringent review guidelines than plugins • Review guidelines not geared for high traffic • Performance not measured
- 45. T E AM S
- 46. Workflows • Keeping trackof code history with version control is critical. At 10up, we use GitLab. • https://gitlab.com • Mandate workflow at the start of project to keep everyone on the same page. • 10up’s workflow in detail: https://10up.github.io/Engineering-Best- Practices/version-control/#workflows
- 47. Internal Code Reviews •Code reviews help ensure performance, security, maintainability, and scalability • Engineers improve skills by reviewing and receiving reviews. • All code should be reviewed by someone who didn’t write it.
- 48. Continuous Integration • At10up we use GitLab and a variety of tools for continuous integration. • When merge requests are opened against master, those changes are tested automatically (unit tests, acceptance tests, syntax error checks, vulnerability database comparison, virus scan, etc.)
- 49. WP Snapshots • WPSnapshots is a tool that empowers teams to share codebases (database and files) quickly. It makes on boarding new engineers much faster. • https://github.com/10up/wpsnapshots
- 50. Q U ES T I O N S ? @ T L O V E T T 1 2 T A Y L O R . L O V E T T @ 1 0 U P . C O M