Processing form information in Wordpress

Niamh2

I have just started working my way through a book called Php and Mysql Web Development because I would like to design stuff for Wordpress. I did some c programming many years ago and enjoed it and reckon I could learn PHP.

I have hosting for a WP blog that has mysql. I copied the code from the book and created the page for the order form on a page in Wordpress. There is code for processorder.php and I'm lost as to where I need to put that using file manager. I know to create it in a text editor and then upload it to where? What else I need to do to get it to work.

Yes I'm failing from page 2!:o Stop 😃

bpat1434

Depends on what you're doing. If it's a Wordpress plugin, it goes in wp-content/plugins; otherwise it can go anywhere in wordpress that you want.

BuzzPHP

The easiest way to extend Wordpress is to use templates.

BTW: Dont confuse "templates" with "themes". They are two very different beasts.

Here is some reading for you:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Templates
http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/

Templates have the advantage of being

1) Simple to write. Only basic PHP skills are needed.
2) Compatible with the current Wordpress theme
3) Wordpress provides an easy to use API for accessing post/page information.

There is a simple example here:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Stepping_Into_Templates

Plugins tend to be more complex to write, so if you are a beginner, I wouldn't recommend it. Plugins tend to be extentions to Wordpress that many people will use, while templates are great for those "once off" site specific features.

Ive used templates to present post information in a format that isn't suported by Wordpress. Or, to present posts in a table with clickable links.

BuzzPHP

O, one last one. The Wordpress template API functions are here:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference

Simple stuff. Very similar to the ANSI C code you would have written.

Niamh2

Thank you very much for this. I will print this stuff off and study it next week. Plugins are a leap too far for me. 🙂