WordPress developers are used to starting with an out-of-the-box plugin and tailoring it to fit their needs, because standard plugins don’t always have the necessary functionality.
Why You Might Want to Customize WordPress Plugin
According to developer Justin Tadlock, in terms of WordPress plugin customization, you might want to:
- Add new functionality – perhaps to an existing SEO or comments plugin.
- Change or remove functionality – say for an out-of-the-box post type plugin.
- Filter out certain functionalities – leaving others, perhaps, in a taxonomy plugin.
Options for Safely and Securely Customize WordPress Plugin
Instead of adding your functionality directly to the plugin, you could:
- Contact the developer about your requested features.
- Create a new plugin that works alongside the out-of-the-box plugin.
- Rely on hooks and callbacks to get the functionality you need.
Creating Your Own Customize WordPress Plugin
If you just need to add functionality, one of the easiest methods can be to create your own custom WordPress plugin. This is the only solution if you don’t need to alter or remove any functionality from the plugin, but just add to it. Your plugin will run alongside the plugin, extending it’s functionality without altering it.
The benefit: with this approach, the developer’s plugin can still be updated with security patches and new features without your changes being lost or open to vulnerabilities.
Do share your requirement for WordPress Plugin customization. We will evaluate your requirement and viability before work starts.
Using Custom Hooks
If you need to make changes to the functionality of the plugin or remove a particular function, Dunn points out that you can use custom hooks to do so (assuming the developer included custom hooks in their code). Using custom hooks will allow a new plugin, written by you, to customize the functionality of the out-of-the-box plugin.
The benefit: you still haven’t altered the original plugin, but you have gained significant control over its functionality. You’ll still be able to apply updates to the original plugin.
We also provide customization for some well-known plugins like
WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, Contact Form 7, Gravity Form, Ninja Forms, Buddy press, Advanced Custom Fields, NextGen Gallery.
