David Pullin

<p>A WordPress plugin to provide general tools to assist with WordPress development and maintenance. Each tool within this collection is pluggable, allowing you full control, over which ones are loaded.</p>
<p>Main features include:-</p>
<ul>
<li>Internal Developer Log (database table with viewer) that can be called from code to log message, debug details etc.</li>
<li>Send A Test Email</li>
<li>List Cookies (client side)</li>
<li>Clear WordPress’ Core Updater Lock & Increase PHP execution time to assist with timeout issues</li>
</ul>
<h3>Deactivation</h3>
<p>When deactivating this plugin from WordPress’ Plugins maintenance any option relating to deactivating will be adhered to even if that tool is disabled (as<br />
long as the tool’s physical file is still present).</p>
<p>For example, even if you disable the loading of the Development Logging Support tool, when this plugin is deactivated, if the Logging Support’s tool option to drop the log table on deactivation is set, the database table will still be deleted.</p>
<h3>Pluggable</h3>
<p>Each tool is in itself pluggable and can be removed or disabled from your WordPress installation.</p>
<p>You may wish to do this to limit which tools are available on your live site.</p>
<p>There are two different methods of disabling a tool.</p>
<h4>Removing via Administration Options</h4>
<p>On the main general settings screen you are able to choose which tools are active.  By default tools are active and by default any new tools in<br />
future updates of this plugin will default to active. You can also change this behaviour by turning off the option to activate new tools by default.</p>
<h4>Removing via Physical File Deletion</h4>
<p>Each tool exists within the tools\ sub-directory.  You can disable a tool simply by deleting the file or rename it so it is no longer prefixed with zhu_dt_.</p>
<p>Please note, if you apply an update to this plugin the removed file will be placed back as part of the update process.  Upon restoring the file it will be treated as a newly detected tool which may be enabled depending on the option to activate new tools by default.  You can find this option on the general settings screen.</p>
<h3>The Tools</h3>
<ol>
<li>Tool Activator & Client Development Toolbar</li>
<li>Generic development log database table</li>
<li>Quick email test</li>
<li>Cookie viewer</li>
<li>Update Assist</li>
</ol>
<h3>1. Tool Activator & Client Development Toolbar</h3>
<p>This tool provides UI support on the general settings screen to allow you to enable and disable other tools.</p>
<p>You cannot disable this tool via the UI but like the other files in the tool directory you can remove the file zhu_dt_activator.class.php to disable UI support.</p>
<h3>Client Development Toolbar</h3>
<p>Some tools provide features to be available on the client side (i.e. your website not the admin area of WordPress). If there are no tools enabled that provide client side features the toolbar will not be displayed.</p>
<p>To prevent the toolbar being displayed for everyone, i.e. public, it is also restricted to the specified user as per its settings.  This however, will only work when that user is logged into WordPress and viewing their site.</p>
<p>However, there may be times, when you wish to use these tools when visiting your site as a member of the public and therefore you will not be logged into WordPress.  To achieve this, the toolbar has an option to create a browser cookie containing an Activation ID.  This ID is then matched with the ID that you will need to enter into the tool’s settings.  If matched then the toolbar is rendered on the system with the matching cookie value.</p>
<p>The toolbar hooks into WordPress wp_body_open action to inject required HTML. wp_body_open was introduced into WordPress 5.2.0 which should be triggered via your theme after the open body html tag.  As such, if your theme does not support this then the client toolbar will not be displayed.</p>
<h3>2. Generic development log database table</h3>
<p>Tool filename: zhu_dt_log.class.php</p>
<p>Provides a public function to call via your code to record a log into the database</p>
<pre><code>public function zhu_log(    string $content) {}
E.g. zhu_log(‘testing my feature ‘ . $mode);
</code></pre>
<p>This function records, with a date a time stamp, into the database table [wp]_zhu_log.  Where [wp] is your site’s database table prefix.  Entries in this table can be viewed via this plugin’s log viewer which is accessible from the Administration Menu.</p>
<p>The log can be truncated at anytime via the truncate button found on this plugin’s options page.</p>
<p>In the event that this tool has been disabled or zhu_dt_log.class.php has been removed any calls to zhu_log() within your own code will <em>not</em> fail. However no logging will take place as zhu_log() simply becomes a do nothing function.  This allows you to keep your logging code in place, if required, and enable/disable the actual recording to the database by enabling and disabling this tool as required.</p>
<h3>3. Email Test</h3>
<p>Tool filename: zhu_dt_send_test_email.class.php</p>
<p>Provides, within this plugin’s options screen, a quick test to send an email using WordPress’ wp_mail() function.</p>
<p>The email address, subject and body of the email are remembered for next time. If an error is detected its details are displayed on screen.</p>
<h3>4. Cookie Viewer</h3>
<p>Tool filename: zhu_dt_cookie_viewer.class.php</p>
<p>When enabled, this tool adds an icon to the main site’s floating toolbar. The feature allows you to view cookies used by the site.  Detection is performed bia locally running JavaScript.</p>
<p>This pop-up viewer also provides an easy method of deleting individual cookies.</p>
<h3>5. Update Assist</h3>
<p>Tool filename: zhu_dt_cookie_viewer.class.php</p>
<p>This tool provides a simple button to remove WordPress’s Core Updater Lock. This will remove WordPress’s internal “lock” that is used by WordPress to indicate that a core update is taking place.  Whan a core update fails, for example, due to a timeout issue when downloading, the lock may still be present.  As such, when you try again WordPess displays the message “Another Update in Progress”.</p>
<p>This tool also allows you to set the value of PHP’s max_execution_time.  This may assist with timeout issues when downloading updates.  After enabling this option and pressing save the tool will inform you as best it can with the results of applying the change.  Please note, that some hosting providers configure their systems so changing this value has no effect even even if PHP reports the change was successful.</p>


Zhu Development Tools for WordPress

A WordPress plugin to provide general tools to assist with WordPress development and maintenance. Each tool within this collection is pluggable, allow …

WordPress.org

David Perez

Evan Herman

Dion Hulse

Gustavo Bordoni

Alex Sanford

Francisco Torres

<p>Plugin Check is a tool for testing whether your plugin meets the required standards for the WordPress.org plugin directory. With this plugin you will be able to run most of the checks used for new submissions, and check if your plugin meets the requirements.</p>
<p>Additionally, the tool flags violations or concerns around plugin development best practices, from basic requirements like correct usage of internationalization functions to accessibility, performance, and security best practices.</p>
<p>The checks can be run either using the WP Admin user interface or WP-CLI:</p>
<ul>
<li>To check a plugin using WP Admin, please navigate to the <em>Tools > Plugin Check</em> menu. You need to be able to manage plugins on your site in order to access that screen.</li>
<li>To check a plugin using WP-CLI, please use the <code>wp plugin check</code> command. For example, to check the “Hello Dolly” plugin: <code>wp plugin check hello.php</code>
<ul>
<li>Note that by default when using WP-CLI, only static checks can be executed. In order to also include runtime checks, a workaround is currently necessary using the <code>--require</code> argument of WP-CLI, to manually load the <code>cli.php</code> file within the plugin checker directory before WordPress is loaded. For example: <code>wp plugin check hello.php --require=./wp-content/plugins/plugin-check/cli.php</code></li>
<li>You could use arbitrary path or URL to check a plugin. For example, to check a plugin from a URL: <code>wp plugin check https://example.com/plugin.zip</code> or to check a plugin from a path: <code>wp plugin check /path/to/plugin</code></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The checks are grouped into several categories, so that you can customize which kinds of checks you would like to run on a plugin.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that this plugin is not a replacement for the manual review process, but it will help you speed up the process of getting your plugin approved for the WordPress.org plugin repository, and it will also help you avoid some common mistakes.</p>
<p>Even if you do not intend to host your plugin in the WordPress.org directory, you are encouraged to use Plugin Check so that your plugin follows the base requirements and best practices for WordPress plugins.</p>


Plugin Check (PCP)


I found a problem in the plugin and created a new issue in the repo. They fixed it and released a new version in less than 24hs! Very responsive team 👏


Speedy feedback by the team


That a great tool! Thank you guys. It can help us quickly identify some issues with our code that might otherwise be overlooked. 



I hope it gets better by the time and save time to a lot of people :)


Thanks for this


Great tool. It will probably save a lot of time for those who are waiting for their plugins to be reviewed, and would probably get a lot of homework to do.



Great initiative. Well done!



Hopefully it will make new plugins to get an approval faster. 🤞


Must have for any plugin developer


Unfortunately, one of the most dangerous PHP functions shell_exec is required and this is not specified anywhere from what I can see.


shell_exec is required


Awesome plugin to learn and improve code and myself. Thank you!


Must-have for any developer!


Wonderful plugin.Looking forward to more features.


Now you can be closer to Wordpress development standards


A great way to validate plugins against WordPress ecosystem standards. Yet another useful tool.


That's a great start


We always use this plugin before submit to Wordpress plugin repository


Great Plugin


DevTools for WordPress is an essential toolkit for WordPress plugin developers, providing a comprehensive suite of features to simplify and accelerate the development process. This plugin is designed to enhance your coding efficiency, improve testing workflows, and ensure seamless integration of your custom plugins into WordPress environments.


Useful plugin for plugin Developer


This tests for a ton of different aspects of plugins. A must have for developers


A must have for plugin development!


Thanks, it is useful to find security issues like missed escape function or sanitization even if you do not plan on submitting the plugin to wordpress.org.


Useful to find security issues


I am very impressed with this plugin. I am in the final steps of submitting a new plugin and through the approval process this has helped speed up the process.



I am developing a script that will install this plugin if not already installed then run the cli tool to create a report. Eventually this will be a step in the CI/CD pipeline.



cli usage can be found on the project's GitHub project under docs/CLI.md



I got some ideas for this plugin to make it more friendly for GitHub, starting that convo with the contributors next.


This is awesome! WP-CLI supported!!!


Run it on any plugin, including popular ones like Woo and you'll see tons of nonsense "Error" messages about inescaped output. This doesn't help anyone. These so-called error messages appear even for static text or well trusted data. 



Just a random example from Woo:The plugin reports "WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput.ExceptionNotEscaped" for this:throw new \Exception( sprintf( __( 'Could not find classname for order ID %d', 'woocommerce' ), $order_id ) );$order_id is already int, ensured by the function, and additionally %d ensures it cannot output anything dangerous. You have to either make this smart enough to find real issues or remove these nonsense messages entirely.How is this helping anyone?






Tons of false positives


This tool is a must for every WordPress plugin developer. You can use phpcs with WordPress standards and other useful tools, but this is an essential step to check your plugin, not only if your intention is to publish to WordPress public repo. Accomplish these standards is a must for everyone who works as plugin developer.



Thanks, plugin team, for this powerful tool. Now our developer lives are easier.


The best tool for WordPress plugin developers


This plugin is excellent for catching common mistakes before submission. It significantly saves time by reducing the back-and-forth process. I used it for the first time, and I really liked how efficiently it worked.


Very useful , Thanks !!


This plugin is extremely helpful for developers and is indispensable for reviewing and refining code before release. Thank you to the WordPress team for developing such a truly useful plugin.



I have a suggestion regarding the code inspection feature—it would be beneficial to integrate function call analysis. For example, when source code calls intermediary functions that handle nonce verification, sanitization, and other input validations within shared classes, it may result in false positives. This could potentially impact the efficiency of the plugin review process.



Overall, this plugin is fantastic for me! Many thanks to the WordPress Team!



Warm regards,


Essential Plugin for Developers


Simple and effective plugin check tool, there is room for improvement and adding more functionality with AI, but overall it currently still gets the job done.


Simple and effective tool for quick plugin checks


By it's nature this is going to flag false positives - potential issues that you've dealt with in different ways, or issues that don't necessarily apply to your particular case - and it does. But it's a really useful tool to run a quick check and uncover little omissions or improvements to be made.


Helpful

Plugin Check is a WordPress.org tool which provides checks to help plugins meet the directory requirements and follow various best practices.

Zhu Development Tools for WordPress vs Plugin Check (PCP)