Development & technology · WordPress
AI training for WordPress Developers
WordPress powers a large share of all websites, from corporate sites and WooCommerce shops to complex portals. Development has changed considerably along the way: block themes, full site editing, Gutenberg blocks built in React and the REST API now sit alongside classic PHP plugins and long-lived themes. AI coding assistants and agents help you build custom blocks and plugins faster, modernise legacy code, track down security flaws such as missing escaping or nonces and analyse performance issues. Because WordPress projects are often maintained by small teams or individuals, the productivity gain is especially noticeable. In this course you learn to apply AI in line with the WordPress coding standards, combine it with WP-CLI and local development environments and ship plugins that are secure and maintainable.
Who is this course for?
- WordPress theme and plugin developers
- Web agencies and freelancers specialising in WordPress
- WooCommerce developers
- Frontend developers building Gutenberg blocks
- Technically minded website owners
Typical challenges we address
- Long-lived themes and plugins with outdated PHP code and hard-to-maintain dependencies
- Security flaws from missing escaping, missing nonces and unsafe database queries
- Performance issues caused by plugin bloat, unnecessary queries and poor caching
- Moving from classic themes and page builders to block themes and full site editing
Practical scenarios from your field
Developing Gutenberg blocks
Generate custom blocks with block.json, React components for editor and front end, block attributes and style variations, and implement dynamic blocks with server-side rendering in PHP.
Building and modernising plugins
Generate plugin scaffolding with namespaces, autoloading, hooks and settings pages and gradually move existing plugins to current PHP language features and the WordPress coding standards.
Running a security audit
Examine theme and plugin code for missing escaping, unvalidated input, missing nonce and capability checks and unsafe SQL without prepare, and produce corrected versions. Each finding is explained.
Analysing performance
Investigate slow pages with Query Monitor and profiling data, optimise expensive WP_Query calls, autoloaded options and asset loading order, and propose sensible caching strategies using transients.
Extending WooCommerce
Implement custom shipping methods, payment hooks, product fields and checkout tweaks while staying compatible with High-Performance Order Storage and the block-based cart and checkout pages.
Automating maintenance
Create WP-CLI scripts for updates, database search and replace, migrations between environments and content imports, and wire them into deployment pipelines for staging and production.
Possible hands-on projects
Block library for client sites
A plugin with reusable blocks such as teasers, FAQ accordions and contact boxes, including style variations from theme.json and full translation support.
Plugin security scanner
A command-line tool that searches plugin code for common security patterns and produces a prioritised report with remediation hints. It runs locally or in CI.
Content migration script
A WP-CLI command that imports content from a CSV or XML source, maps fields, brings over images and detects duplicates.
All 8 courses for WordPress Developers
Vibe & agentic coding (8)
Data protection & compliance
WordPress projects handle form, customer and order data: you learn not to pass unfiltered database dumps to AI services, to respect GPL obligations for plugins and generated code, to protect credentials in wp-config.php and to implement GDPR requirements for tracking and forms.
Prerequisites
You have practical experience with PHP and WordPress theme or plugin development; basic JavaScript knowledge helps for block development.
Frequently asked questions
Do AI assistants know the WordPress APIs well enough?
Core hooks, functions and patterns are well covered. For newer developments such as block bindings, the Interactivity API or editor changes, models sometimes suggest outdated approaches. Current documentation as context, project rules and automated checks with PHPCS and the WordPress coding standards fix this. You practise exactly this workflow in the course.
Can we use AI-generated code in commercial plugins?
In principle yes, but check the terms of your AI service and remember that WordPress plugins are generally licensed under the GPL. Generated code can resemble fragments of well-known projects, so review and, where appropriate, licence scanning belong in your process. In the course we discuss practical rules for agencies and product vendors.
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