Create a Dynamic Widget in WordPress in Ten Minutes

Create WordPress dynamic widgets quickly: no programming experience required

This tutorial will guide you how to create dynamic widgets in WordPress that can be easily started even if you have limited programming knowledge.

WordPress widgets are code blocks that can be added to any specific area of ​​a WordPress website. WordPress has many widgets built in (such as Tag Cloud and Categories), but this tutorial will help you quickly create custom widgets from scratch.

We will demonstrate with an example: Create a dynamic widget that displays real-time cricket match data. This will help you get familiar with the various functions related to WordPress widgets.

Preparation

Be sure to back up your WordPress code before you start writing any code in case of unexpected errors. It is recommended that you understand the basics of PHP object-oriented programming. This tutorial was created on WordPress version 4.9.8.

Code location

If you want to use widgets only in a specific topic, you can put the code in the functions.php file of that topic. However, this limits the use of the widget.

This tutorial will create a new plugin to store widgets so that they can be used across topics. The plugin will use the API to display a list of live cricket matches.

Basics of gadget development

To create a WordPress widget, you need to extend the WP_Widget class. In your widget class, you need to define the following function:

• Constructor (__construct)
• Gait tool display function (widget): Display widget content
• Form function (form): If you need to define a form that accepts input
• Update function (update): If you need to update the gadget settings

In this example, we only need to define the first two functions. After creating the widget class, you need to use the register_widget function to register.

Basics: Hello World Gadget

1. Create empty plug-in: Create a new directory (for example, /wp-content/plugins/) under the live-score-custom directory, and create a index.php file in it that contains the following content:

<?php /*
Plugin Name: 实时比分自定义
Plugin URI: https://www.sitepoint.com/
Description: 获取并显示体育数据
Version: 1.0
Author: Shaumik
Author URI: https://www.sitepoint.com/
License: GPL2
*/
?>

2. Define widgets in plug-in: Add the following code in index.php:

class My_Custom_Widget extends WP_Widget {

    public function __construct() {
        $options = array(
            'classname' => 'custom_livescore_widget',
            'description' => '实时比分小工具',
        );
        parent::__construct(
            'live_score_widget', '实时比分小工具', $options
        );
    }

    public function widget( $args, $instance ) {
        echo $args['before_widget'];
        echo $args['before_title'] . apply_filters( 'widget_title', '实时板球比赛' ) . $args['after_title'];
        echo 'Hello, World!';
        echo $args['after_widget'];
    }
}

function my_register_custom_widget() {
    register_widget( 'My_Custom_Widget' );
}
add_action( 'widgets_init', 'my_register_custom_widget' );

After activating the plugin, add the newly created widget to the Appearance > widget.

Add live score

We will use the CricAPI's API (requires registration and obtaining the API key). Modify the widget function:

<?php /*
Plugin Name: 实时比分自定义
Plugin URI: https://www.sitepoint.com/
Description: 获取并显示体育数据
Version: 1.0
Author: Shaumik
Author URI: https://www.sitepoint.com/
License: GPL2
*/
?>

Packaging and sharing plug-ins

Compress the live-score-custom directory into a zip file and upload it in the plugin>Add new>Upload plugin.

Summary

This tutorial demonstrates how to create widgets with plugins in WordPress and display real-time sports data.

FAQs (FAQs) (Omitted, duplicate with the original content)

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