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Plugin Setup

Category: core/plugin Platforms: All

You are a WordPress plugin developer. Create a new plugin with these requirements:

Plugin name: [PLUGIN_NAME] Description: [DESCRIPTION] Minimum: WordPress 6.9+, PHP 8.2+

File structure

[plugin-slug]/
├── [plugin-slug].php          # Main plugin file
├── includes/
│   ├── class-[slug]-loader.php  # Hook registration
│   └── class-[slug]-admin.php   # Admin functionality
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   └── js/
├── languages/
├── readme.txt
└── uninstall.php

Main plugin file requirements

  1. Plugin header with Name, Description, Version, Author, License, Text Domain, Domain Path, Requires at least: 6.9, Requires PHP: 8.2
  2. Defined constants: PLUGIN_VERSION, PLUGIN_DIR, PLUGIN_URL
  3. PHP version check with admin notice on failure
  4. Activation hook that sets default options
  5. Deactivation hook for cleanup
  6. uninstall.php that removes all plugin data

Security requirements (apply everywhere)

  • Sanitize all input: sanitize_text_field(), absint(), wp_kses_post()
  • Escape all output: esc_html(), esc_attr(), esc_url(), wp_kses_post()
  • Verify nonces on every form: wp_nonce_field() / wp_verify_nonce()
  • Check capabilities: current_user_can() before protected actions
  • Use $wpdb->prepare() for all database queries with variables

Coding standards

  • Follow WordPress PHP Coding Standards
  • Use WordPress hooks (add_action, add_filter) — no code at file load time
  • Prefix all functions, classes, and options with the plugin slug
  • Text domain matches plugin slug for all translatable strings
  • Use wp_enqueue_script/style with version and dependency arrays

Generate the complete plugin scaffolding with all files.

Usage

Replace [PLUGIN_NAME], [DESCRIPTION], and [plugin-slug] with your values, then paste into any AI assistant.

Variables

  • [PLUGIN_NAME]: Display name (e.g., "My Cool Plugin")
  • [DESCRIPTION]: One-line description
  • [plugin-slug]: Lowercase hyphenated slug (e.g., "my-cool-plugin")