Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
Demystifying the Black Box of WordPress Core
Search
Sponsored
·
SiteGround - Reliable hosting with speed, security, and support you can count on.
→
Evan Solomon
October 13, 2012
Technology
3.5k
1
Share
Embed
Copy iframe code
Copy JS code
Copy link
Start on current slide
Demystifying the Black Box of WordPress Core
Evan Solomon
October 13, 2012
More Decks by Evan Solomon
See All by Evan Solomon
JavaScript Beyond jQuery
evansolomon
1
530
WordCamp Las Vegas -- Make stuff that people want
evansolomon
2
2.9k
You Have No Idea What Your Users Want
evansolomon
1
530
You Don't Know People
evansolomon
2
860
Other Decks in Technology
See All in Technology
ブラウザ研修 2026
recruitengineers
PRO
6
990
FPGAが実現する遠方宇宙の高空間分解能天体撮影 -大型地上望遠鏡の視力を補正する「補償光学」とは?-
komei_mt
0
240
Genie Codeハンズオン基礎編
taka_aki
1
120
FDEの心得
noriakioji
4
5.7k
ラジオの科学
frievea
0
310
LanceDB入門
mocobeta
7
500
AWS ネットワーク構築でハマった(ハマりかけた) 5選とそこから得た教訓
nagisa53
4
210
Sets in Go
ramalho
1
640
Flutterをカメラで動かしたかった話
sony
1
140
DatadogのBits Chatが開発組織にもたらしたもの / What Bits Chat Has Brought Us
sms_tech
1
260
ハーレムエンジニアリング
kazuma777777
0
150
【Google Cloud Next Tokyo'26】Gemini Enterprise と Oracle AI Database で実現する、業務データ活用を実現する AI エージェント実装
shisyu_gaku
0
250
Featured
See All Featured
Information Architects: The Missing Link in Design Systems
soysaucechin
0
1.1k
Lightning talk: Run Django tests with GitHub Actions
sabderemane
0
230
Done Done
chrislema
186
16k
SEO in 2025: How to Prepare for the Future of Search
ipullrank
3
3.7k
Fight the Zombie Pattern Library - RWD Summit 2016
marcelosomers
234
17k
Max Prin - Stacking Signals: How International SEO Comes Together (And Falls Apart)
techseoconnect
PRO
0
410
実際に使うSQLの書き方 徹底解説 / pgcon21j-tutorial
soudai
PRO
201
75k
Sharpening the Axe: The Primacy of Toolmaking
bcantrill
46
2.9k
Darren the Foodie - Storyboard
khoart
PRO
3
3.6k
The Illustrated Guide to Node.js - THAT Conference 2024
reverentgeek
1
430
How to optimise 3,500 product descriptions for ecommerce in one day using ChatGPT
katarinadahlin
PRO
2
3.8k
Ethics towards AI in product and experience design
skipperchong
2
340
Transcript
Behind the scenes Demystifying The black box of WordPress Core
Evan Solomon Growth Engineer @ Automattic
“Core” n. The hard or fibrous central part of certain
fruits, such as the apple or pear, containing the seeds.
“Core” n. The hard or fibrous central part of certain
fruits, such as the apple or pear, containing the seeds. n. Those files you can download from WordPress.org.
Don’t hack core != Don’t read core
Reading Core != Here Be Dragons
If you are reading this document in earnest, you should
be comfortable reading documentation in code. So I won’t bother to copy and paste it here where it has little hope of staying current. ANDY SKELTON, AUTOMATTIC FIELD GUIDE
1. Startup
2. Files
3. Tools
4. Hooks
5. Use it
Startup /** * Front to the WordPress application. * This
file doesn't do anything, but loads * wp-blog-header.php which does and * tells WordPress to load the theme. * * @package WordPress */
index.php Everything starts here
index.php Everything starts here wp-blog-header.php Load WP environment
index.php Everything starts here wp-blog-header.php Load WP environment wp-load.php WordPress
bootstrap
index.php Everything starts here wp-blog-header.php Load WP environment wp-load.php WordPress
bootstrap wp-settings.php Load /wp-includes
index.php Everything starts here wp-blog-header.php Load WP environment wp-load.php WordPress
bootstrap wp-settings.php Load /wp-includes <?php wp(); ?> Parse the request
index.php Everything starts here wp-blog-header.php Load WP environment wp-load.php WordPress
bootstrap wp-settings.php Load /wp-includes <?php wp(); ?> Parse the request template-loader.php Load theme template
It’s impossible to know what WordPress is really doing without
understanding this
File structure -rw-r--r-- index.php -rw-r--r-- license.txt -rw-r--r-- readme.html -rw-r--r-- wp-activate.php
drwxr-xr-x wp-admin -rw-r--r-- wp-app.php -rw-r--r-- wp-blog-header.php -rw-r--r-- wp-comments-post.php -rw-r--r-- wp-config-sample.php drwxr-xr-x wp-content -rw-r--r-- wp-cron.php drwxr-xr-x wp-includes -rw-r--r-- wp-links-opml.php -rw-r--r-- wp-load.php -rw-r--r-- wp-login.php -rw-r--r-- wp-mail.php -rw-r--r-- wp-settings.php -rw-r--r-- wp-signup.php -rw-r--r-- wp-trackback.php -rw-r--r-- xmlrpc.php $ ls -l | awk '{print $1"\t"$9}'
File structure -rw-r--r-- index.php -rw-r--r-- license.txt -rw-r--r-- readme.html -rw-r--r-- wp-activate.php
drwxr-xr-x wp-admin -rw-r--r-- wp-app.php -rw-r--r-- wp-blog-header.php -rw-r--r-- wp-comments-post.php -rw-r--r-- wp-config-sample.php drwxr-xr-x wp-content -rw-r--r-- wp-cron.php drwxr-xr-x wp-includes -rw-r--r-- wp-links-opml.php -rw-r--r-- wp-load.php -rw-r--r-- wp-login.php -rw-r--r-- wp-mail.php -rw-r--r-- wp-settings.php -rw-r--r-- wp-signup.php -rw-r--r-- wp-trackback.php -rw-r--r-- xmlrpc.php $ ls -l | awk '{print $1"\t"$9}'
/wp-admin Mostly page/file relationships that make the wp-admin UI /wp-includes
Mostly discrete functionality not meant to be accessed directly
$ ls wp-includes SimplePie Text admin-bar.php atomlib.php author-template.php bookmark-template.php bookmark.php
cache.php canonical.php capabilities.php category-template.php category.php class-feed.php class-http.php class-IXR.php class-json.php class-oembed.php class-phpass.php class-phpmailer.php class-pop3.php class-simplepie.php class-smtp.php class-snoopy.php class-wp-admin-bar.php class-wp-ajax-response.php class-wp-customize- control.php class-wp-customize-manager.php class-wp-customize-section.php class-wp-customize-setting.php class-wp-editor.php class-wp-embed.php class-wp-error.php class-wp-http-ixr-client.php class-wp-theme.php class-wp-walker.php class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php class-wp.php class.wp-dependencies.php class.wp-scripts.php class.wp-styles.php comment-template.php comment.php compat.php cron.php css default-constants.php default-filters.php default-widgets.php deprecated.php feed-atom-comments.php feed-atom.php feed-rdf.php feed-rss.php feed-rss2-comments.php feed-rss2.php feed.php formatting.php functions.php functions.wp-scripts.php functions.wp-styles.php general-template.php http.php images js kses.php l10n.php link-template.php load.php locale.php media.php meta.php ms-blogs.php ms-default-constants.php ms-default-filters.php ms-deprecated.php ms-files.php ms-functions.php ms-load.php ms-settings.php nav-menu-template.php nav-menu.php option.php pluggable-deprecated.php pluggable.php plugin.php pomo post-template.php post-thumbnail-template.php post.php query.php registration-functions.php registration.php rewrite.php rss-functions.php rss.php script-loader.php shortcodes.php taxonomy.php template-loader.php template.php theme-compat theme.php update.php user.php vars.php version.php widgets.php wlwmanifest.xml wp-db.php wp-diff.php
Help! We need tools
GUI & CLI Tools
Debug Bar And friends
Debug Bar Console
Debug Bar Extender
Debug Bar Cron
die(); var_dump(); error_log();
something(); // Make sure this code actually runs die(); thing_i_care_about();
$ ack betterthangrep.com
I had to invent integral and differential calculus to figure
it out. ISSAC NEWTON, ON ELLIPTICAL ORBITS
$ fx $ action $ filter gist.github.com/3568555
$ fx get_user_by Magically opens the function definition wp-inclues/pluggable.php:135
A quick review of actions & filters
action An alert that something just happened or is about
to happen filter A similar alert, with the added responsibility to manipulate data
function es_alert_me() { send_the_alert( 'evan' ); } add_action( 'sound_the_alarm', 'es_alert_me'
); /** * Some other code runs... */ do_action( 'sound_the_alarm' ); // es_alert_me() runs add_action()
// Always turn sirens to bells function es_set_alert( $alert )
{ return ( 'bell' == $alert ) ? 'siren' : $alert; } add_filter( 'alert_type', 'es_set_alert' ); /** * Some other code runs... */ $alert = 'bell'; $alert = apply_filters( 'alert_type', $alert ); // Now $alert is 'siren' add_filter()
None
function add_action( /* arguments */ ) { return add_filter( /*
same arguments */ ); } wp-includes/plugin.php
Use it!
Links are boring
I like oEmbed, I wish it worked in my comments,
too. ME, SOME TIME IN AUGUST
Maybe comments get filtered. $ ack apply_filters wp-includes/ | ack
comment
Maybe comments get filtered. $ ack apply_filters wp-includes/ | ack
comment TOO. Many. Results. 140!
How does TwentyEleven use comments? <div class="comment-content"> <p>Comment!</p> </div>
Where does that come from? $ ack comment-content wp-content/ themes/twentyeleven
--php wp-content/themes/twentyeleven/functions.php 562: <div class="comment-content"><?php comment_text(); ?></div>
Where does that come from? $ ack comment-content wp-content/ themes/twentyeleven
--php wp-content/themes/twentyeleven/functions.php 562: <div class="comment-content"><?php comment_text(); ?></div>
This function looks promising $ fx comment_text function comment_text( $comment_ID
= 0 ) { $comment = get_comment( $comment_ID ); echo apply_filters( 'comment_text', get_comment_text( $comment_ID ), $comment ); }
This function looks promising $ fx comment_text function comment_text( $comment_ID
= 0 ) { $comment = get_comment( $comment_ID ); echo apply_filters( 'comment_text', get_comment_text( $comment_ID ), $comment ); }
I bet this changes comments function es_comment_text( $comment_text ) {
return $comment_text . 'I SHOULD SEE THIS'; } add_filter( 'comment_text', 'es_comment_text' );
I bet this changes comments function es_comment_text( $comment_text ) {
return $comment_text . 'I SHOULD SEE THIS'; } add_filter( 'comment_text', 'es_comment_text' ); Fatal error!
Let’s see why it breaks function es_comment_text( $comment_text ) {
error_log( var_export( $comment_text, true ) ); return $comment_text; } add_filter( 'comment_text', 'es_comment_text' );
Let’s see why it breaks function es_comment_text( $comment_text ) {
error_log( var_export( $comment_text, true ) ); return $comment_text; } add_filter( 'comment_text', 'es_comment_text' ); array ( 0 => 'comment text here...', )
Use the array function es_comment_text( $comment_text ) { $comment_text[ 0
] += " I SHOULD SEE THIS"; return $comment_text; } add_filter( 'comment_text', 'es_comment_text' );
Use the array function es_comment_text( $comment_text ) { $comment_text[ 0
] += " I SHOULD SEE THIS"; return $comment_text; } add_filter( 'comment_text', 'es_comment_text' ); It works!
There’s probably an oEmbed filter $ ack add_filter wp-includes/ |
ack oembed wp-includes/class-oembed.php:54: add_filter( 'oembed_dataparse', array(&$this, '_strip_newlines'), 10, 3 ); wp-includes/media.php:1058: add_filter( 'the_content', array(&$this, 'autoembed'), 8 );
Test the simplest usage first add_filter( 'comment_text', array( $wp_embed, 'autoembed'
) );
Test the simplest usage first add_filter( 'comment_text', array( $wp_embed, 'autoembed'
) ); Nope, just a link
I know what makes automatic links $ ack add_filter wp-includes/
| ack comment_text | ack make_clickable wp-includes/default-filters.php: 151: add_filter( 'comment_text', 'make_clickable', 9 );
Try going earlier add_filter( 'comment_text', array( $wp_embed, 'autoembed' ), 8
); It works!
Videos are cool
Finished Plugin wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ oembed-in-comments/ github.com/evansolomon/ wp-oembed-in-comments &
class ES_oEmbed_Comments { function __construct() { add_action( 'init', array( $this,
'init' ) ); } function init() { if ( ! is_admin() ) $this->oembed_in_comments(); } function oembed_in_comments() { $clickable = has_filter( 'comment_text', 'make_clickable' ); $priority = ( $clickable ) ? $clickable - 1 : 10; add_filter( 'comment_text', array( $this, 'oembed_filter' ), $priority ); } function oembed_filter( $comment_text ) { global $wp_embed; add_filter( 'embed_oembed_discover', '__return_false', 999 ); $comment_text = $wp_embed->autoembed( $comment_text ); remove_filter( 'embed_oembed_discover', '__return_false', 999 ); return $comment_text; } } new ES_oEmbed_Comments; Finished Plugin