Professional WordPress: Design and Development

THE BOOK for Web Devs
In the past 2 or 3 years I have reviewed and read so many books by “WordPress Aficionados” that are nothing but fluff and contain no useful information for professional programmers seeking the hidden gateway into the maze that is WordPress that just the thought of those books makes my stomach churn.This is THE BOOK for programmers. I’m only 5 chapters into it and, as a professional software engineer, I am completely enthralled by it. Literally every page answers questions that I have always had about WordPress. I’ve been working with WordPress for years – mostly on previously built sites and have managed to muddle my way through theme modifications and functionality enhancements (without hacking the core!) with successful results, but I have never had a level of comfort working in WordPress, from a developer perspective that I’ve desired, but which I am now achieving, compliments of this book.These authors have done a SPECTACULAR JOB of presenting the information critically needed by software developers in a logical and precise manner that not only renders instant value, but opens the doors and exposes paths to gain further knowledge by demystifying the Codex and providing alternatives.Brad Williams, David Damstra, and Hal Stern – Kudos to you all! Thank you, truly, for writing such a wonderful book on WordPress!

Great Intermediate WordPress Guide
I came to this book as a programmer who has some WordPress sites but have never looked at WordPress internals. The book filled in a lot of missing details about how WordPress works.The beginning chapters discuss the Core functionality of WordPress and why developing locally may make sense. Middle chapters go more in depth on the database, posts, and plugins. The later chapters cover some more advanced functionality I was not even aware existed such as Multi-site features.The authors have a great perspective on WordPress and are fully aware that WordPress gets a bad reputation sometimes. Chapter 13 took an in depth look at security on WordPress and explains clearly why WordPress is secure. Many of the “hacked” WordPress sites were by people who never upgraded their WordPress. The authors state explicitly when some security feature is option or whether it is mandatory.WordPress was put in perspective well and the authors tell you which plugins are recommended. There were good high level overviews backed up by lower level details.The book reads consistently throughout as the three authors were able to find one voice. If you are interested in learning more about the WordPress ecosystem and internals, this book is an excellent choice.

This is a good book, but it’s a lot to read. Some chapters are practical and detailed while a few others are rather high level and very theoretical. Still it’s a solid ressource !

Libro molto utile per chi vuole sviluppare in WordPress. Tratta tutti gli argomenti in modo dettagliato e spiega perfettamente il funzionamento di ogni singola parte del CMS fornendo la chiave per personalizzare ogni sezione. Sconsigliato ai beginners, questo libro tratta l’argomento in maniera tecnica ed avanzata, infatti presuppone una conoscenza dei linguaggi: HTML, CSS, PHP, MYSQL.Nella nostra realtà professionale, come Agenzia Web, Neting.it, operiamo nella realizzazione di siti web professionali e pur avendo un’ottima esperienza come svilupatori devo ammettere che questo libro è stato molto utile per capire in profondità molti aspetti di WordPress e lo considero un ottimo aiuto per chi vuole personalizzare ogni aspetto, creare Plug-in e Template. Diventa ancora più utile se lo si usa come strumento di lavoro e in maniera empirica, leggendo il libro e provando subito le modifiche al codice consigliate mentre si è davanti allo schermo. Questa è infatti la maniera in cui consiglio di utilizzare questo libro, poco teorico e molto pratico!Vivamente consigliato a tutti coloro che vogliono sviluppare siti web professionali in WordPress, avere una visione completa dell’intera logica e, infine, creare i propri Template, Plug-in, Web Page senza dover contare su risorse esterne gratuite o a pagamento.