Slide 1
Slide 1 text
The WordPress REST API
A game changer for WordPress @ #wcgva
Slide 2
Slide 2 text
27.1% of The Web
Now available in a RESTful way.
Slide 3
Slide 3 text
Silvan Hagen
Co-Founder & WordPress
Developer @wearerequired
@neverything
Slide 4
Slide 4 text
What is A REST API?
Trust me it’s easier than it sounds.
Slide 5
Slide 5 text
REpresentational State Transfer
- Not any smarter yet? Well me neither ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- It’s about resources & a little bit about verbs
- Uses HTTP methods in a specific way
Slide 6
Slide 6 text
REST: Let’s have a look
GET /friends => Returns a Collection of friends
GET /friends/joe => Returns a single friend
GET /friends/new => Could be a form to add a friend
Slide 7
Slide 7 text
The HTTP methods in REST
GET /friends => READ
POST /friends => CREATE
PUT /friends => UPDATE
DELETE /friends => DELETE
The famous CRUD
Slide 8
Slide 8 text
What about REST and WordPress?
GET /wp-json/wp/v2/posts => Collection of Posts
GET /wp-json/wp/v2/posts/ => Singular Post
GET /wp-json/ => Allows discovering the API
Slide 9
Slide 9 text
REST & WordPRESS
A little history lesson about the REST API.
Slide 10
Slide 10 text
How did we get here?
- Started as GSoC project in 2013 by Ryan McCue
- Infrastructure merged into WP 4.4 in 2015
- Content Endpoints merged into WP 4.7 in 2016
Slide 11
Slide 11 text
What’s in it?
There are a few more concepts in the WP REST API.
Slide 12
Slide 12 text
API Discovery via Response Header
- In the response header of a request:
Link: ;
rel="https://api.w.org/"
Slide 13
Slide 13 text
API Discovery via Element
- Added to the of your HTML:
Slide 14
Slide 14 text
API Feature Discovery - Authentication
- The API will tell you how to authenticate
Slide 15
Slide 15 text
API Feature Discovery - Extensions
- The API will tell you what namespaces exist:
Slide 16
Slide 16 text
API Feature Discovery - Combined
Slide 17
Slide 17 text
API Routes
Slide 18
Slide 18 text
API Routes
Slide 19
Slide 19 text
Linking using HAL
- Uses HAL (Hypertext Application Language) to link related
resources
Slide 20
Slide 20 text
Embed Related Resources
- Add ?_embed to any API Request URI
Slide 21
Slide 21 text
Relax:
The Crazy Part is over,
let’s look at Examples
Slide 22
Slide 22 text
What Can You Build?
A few examples and ideas.
Slide 23
Slide 23 text
In The WP-Admin
https://wordpress.org/plugins/dashboard-directory-size/
Slide 24
Slide 24 text
No content
Slide 25
Slide 25 text
In Your Theme
Slide 26
Slide 26 text
Standalone Web Apps/Sites
Slide 27
Slide 27 text
DATA Heavy Things
Slide 28
Slide 28 text
APPS APPS APPS
https://github.com/joehoyle/vienna
Slide 29
Slide 29 text
So are you ready for the WP
REST API?
Slide 30
Slide 30 text
Already Built Something?
Slide 31
Slide 31 text
Some more Ideas
- Mobile Apps
- Other technologies can consume WP in a standardised way
- New Admin Interfaces
- Meta Boxes in the backend
- All the lame admin-ajax.php stuff
- WP_List_Tables
- Customizer
- Data heavy widgets
- Comments (cool once comment type is merged)
- Links & more: https://goo.gl/N4RQ6N
Slide 32
Slide 32 text
Thanks for Having Me!
Questions?