What is WordPress Plugin

A WordPress plugin is a small application that extends the features and functions of a WordPress site. It is made up of PHP code and includes other files such as images, CSS, and JavaScript. Plugins are what make WordPress so great. There is a plugin for everything.
WordPress is designed to extend by other developers. The WordPress plugin API offers lots of hooks and filters. Developers can modify existing functionality or add a new one using this API.
WordPress plugin can be a simple plugin like Hello Dolly or a complex ecommerce plugin like WooCommerce.

Prerequisites for this Tutorial

If you want to follow this series, you need to have some knowledge of PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Writing a plugin

To make a plugin here is what you need to do.

• Go to the plugins directory of your site (yoursite.com/wp-content/plugins).
• Create a folder called my-plugin.
• In the my-plugin folder, create a my-plugin.php file. The name of the folder and file has to be the same. And my-plugin.php is the entry point of your plugin.
• Open the my-plugin.php file and write the code below

  <?php
  /**
  * Plugin Name: My Plugin
  */
  

Now, if you go to the plugin menu of your site, you will see the My Plugin plugin.

That is all you need to do to list your plugin in the Plugins menu.