In WordPress: Creating Custom Widgets and Plugins, Drew Falkman teaches PHP developers how to create custom functionality for WordPress 2.0 through 3.0 using widgets and plugins. This course starts by installing and setting up WordPress 3.0 on both Mac and Windows, then provides an in-depth look at tasks related to these WordPress add-ons: installing and administering, building and customizing, creating editable options and database tables, working with posts and pages, and utilizing jQuery and AJAX. There are also tutorials dedicated to promoting a widget or plugin, adding security, and localizing the interface. Exercise files are included with the course.

Build your own blog network with unlimited users and blogs, forums, photo galleries, and more!
Design, develop, secure, and optimize a blog network with a single installation of WordPress
Add unlimited users and blogs, and give different permissions on different blogs
Add social networking features to your blogs using BuddyPress
Create a bbPress forum for your users to communicate with each other
Part of Packt's Beginner's Guide Series, with step-by-step, detailed instructions for building a blog network from scratch

Follow along as you work to build a variety of sites-all using WordPress. While this book isn’t designed for beginners, those with even an intermediate knowledge of WordPress will be able to get these sites up and running in no time. Also, since each chapter is devoted to the design of a different site, there’s no need to read the book in any particular order. Instead, you can pick and choose the blueprints that are of the most interest to you and dive right in.