I wrote a plugin for WordPress!
It’s one of the most challenging yet most fulfilling things I’ve done and my only real contribution to WordPress (and calling it that is a stretch!).
I’m not a developer nor do I think like one all the time. The first language I was taught was Java. I was scared of it but we managed ok and I ended up with a strong B in the class.
Recently I was doing some work with a friend and it hit me: I needed to learn a language, any language. I’m fluent in SQL and HTML (but HTML isn’t really a language; it’s markup), but that wasn’t going to help me. I picked PHP. It’s an object oriented scripting language…that, I’m sure you knew. It’s similar to Java as well as C, C++, and other OOP languages. Pieces began to click and I began writing forms with PHP and HTML. One thing led to another and I wanted to take a shot at a plugin. I picked something kind of simple. I wanted to add Open Graph Meta data to my header.
I was aware there were other plugins, but I didn’t care. I thought they were all stupidly written with bloated code that frankly didn’t make a damn bit of sense. Seriously.
Because my plugin is simply written and a simple concept, its appropriately named Simple OpenGraph.
Open Graph Goodness!
So I found a few tutorials for guidance and went at it. A few hours later, version 0.1 was done and was mostly working! It had kinks but I got it figured out.
Now, a little over a month later, it’s up to version 2.1 (I version fast) and in the WordPress plugin directory. It’s a great feeling and to know that others (600 something) are using my plugin feels even better.
I’d challenge anyone to do it whether you’ve ever developed before or not. You wont regret it.
You can see the full plugin details as well as report bugs and submit feature requests on the official page.
