[theme-reviewers] Tutorial: Incorporating the Settings API in WordPress Themes

Fri Feb 18 22:42:31 UTC 2011

Great feedback, Daniel; thanks!

I knew I was going to wind up with some inconsistencies (which I did try to
avoid, but my eyes went over it a few too many times).

I do actually hook register_setting() into admin_init (actually, I put all
of the Settings API bits - register_setting(), add_setting_field(),
add_setting_section(), the validation callback function - into a separate
file, and hook into admin_init the function in which I call that file), but
forgot to point that out in the post.  I'll fix that.

On settings_fields(): good catch! I'll fix that, also.

(update: fixed)

Chip

On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 4:18 PM, Daniel Tara <contact at onedesigns.com> wrote:

> Hey Chip,
>
>
>
> I just took the time to read your tutorial. (Yes I tweeted about it without
> reading)
>
>
>
> This was one piece on enlightenment, especially the settings sections part,
> which I didn’t know they work like hooks.
>
>
>
> If anyone complains about the length of the article they’re lazy. If you’re
> interested you can fly through it.
>
>
>
> Just a few minor observations:
>
>
>
> 1.       register_setting( 'theme_oenology_options',
> 'theme_oenology_options', 'oenology_options_validate' );
>
> This needs to be hooked to admin_init or it will return a “Call to
> undefined function” error. I would also put it somewhere at the beginning,
> where it makes more sense, since the whole article revolves around this
> call. You’re putting it on page 4, after you defined all the default
> options, settings sections and some settings page options.
>
> 2.       You said the argument in settings_fields must be the same as the
> option defined in register_setting(). It must actually be the same as the
> defined options group (you did call it $options_group). I would stress this
> however, since if they’re not the same it returns an “Options page not
> found” error and many grasp at it without knowing where this error came
> from.
>
> 3.       Your article pwnz
>
>
>
> Daniel
>
>
>
> *From:* theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org [mailto:
> theme-reviewers-bounces at lists.wordpress.org] *On Behalf Of *Rahul Bansal
> *Sent:* Friday, February 18, 2011 3:34 PM
> *To:* Chip Bennett
> *Cc:* theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
> *Subject:* Re: [theme-reviewers] Tutorial: Incorporating the Settings API
> in WordPress Themes
>
>
>
> Heading anchors, if it would be helpful for linking?
>
>
>
> That will be equally helpful!
>
> You can use any "table of content" plugin to automate it.
>
> There are many plugins, which parse h2/h3 tags to generate that.
>
>
>
> We provide file-upload for favicon & logo as of now.
>
> In a current theme (underdev) we used register settings for it but quality
> of our code is yet to be "certified" from theme review team!
>
> So we have decided to wait to publish articles about our methods till our
> next theme goes live here. ;-)
>
>
>
> --
> Rahul Bansal | Founder & CEO | rtCamp Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
> Skype: rahul286 | Twitter: @rahul286 | Web: http://rtcamp.com/
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 6:56 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
> wrote:
>
> I'll probably cross the "file upload" issue down the road - though, likely,
> *far* down the road (as my Theme currently has no need for any user-uploaded
> files). Maybe I'll add a "custom favicon" option (though my personal
> preference is for favicons to be Plugin territory, and not tied to a
> particular Theme).
>
>
>
> I love Justin Tadlock's Series Plugin; I've made some use of it in the
> past. The problem here was that I found it difficult to break the content up
> logically in a way that would facilitate separate Posts. So, I went with
> simple pagination instead.
>
>
>
> Now that it's done, perhaps I can go back and do some editorial work, and
> at least provide some Heading anchors, if it would be helpful for linking?
>
>
>
> And, I'm happy to take the time for something like this. I like to write
> posts like these, especially when I can document something as I'm learning
> how to do it - both for my own memory, and to pass on anything useful that I
> may have learned. It probably cost me the equivalent time away from
> performing some Theme reviews, but part of the mission of the Theme Review
> Team is also to provide an educational resource for Theme developers. So
> hopefully the review queue will forgive me. :)
>
>
>
> Chip
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 7:16 AM, Rahul Bansal <rahul.bansal at rtcamp.com>
> wrote:
>
> Length is worth the info. Didn't get time to read in detail till now.
>
>
>
> For ease of navigation, you may break articles into entirely different
> pages/posts and bind them using a series plugin.
>
> Other reason for this suggestion is that article in series will have their
> own URLs that will have advantages like:
>
>    - We can refer people to particular subtopic by sharing a unique post
>    article
>    - permalinks will contain keywords like "Register Settings and Define
>    Form Sections/Fields" etc. This wil give better search engine visibility. I
>    am less concerned about traffic gain that wil result, but my intention is to
>    indirectly help Google give better article so developers can avoid following
>    "wrong" article.
>
> Series creation may require 1-2 hours of extra time from you!
>
>
>
> On sidenote, after taking quick overview, I felt that the article missed
> information about "file upload" box. (I searched "upload" keyword on "all"
> article page to crosscheck". Many times I find
> developers complaining register_settings has issues with file-uploads.
>
>
>
> Thanks again for taking so much time to write something like this. :-)
>
>
> --
> Rahul Bansal | Founder & CEO | rtCamp Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
> Skype: rahul286 | Twitter: @rahul286 | Web: http://rtcamp.com/
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 6:27 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
> wrote:
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> I was worried about the length of the article, but it didn't seem to make
> sense to split it into multiple posts.
>
>
>
> Do you think it would be useful to do a more slimmed-down follow-up post,
> that leaves out some of the advanced topics, like Settings page tabs,
> contextual help, etc.?
>
>
>
> Chip
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 6:51 AM, Rahul Bansal <rahul.bansal at rtcamp.com>
> wrote:
>
> Great article... :-)
>
>
>
> Added to - http://make.wordpress.org/themes/about/resources/ (comments
> section)
>
>
>
> Timing is good as well! 10 pages gives a lot to explore on weekend! ;-)
>
>
> --
> Rahul Bansal | Founder & CEO | rtCamp Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
> Skype: rahul286 | Twitter: @rahul286 | Web: http://rtcamp.com/
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 9:11 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
> wrote:
>
> All,
>
>
>
> I have just published a tutorial: Incorporating the Settings API in
> WordPress Themes <http://bit.ly/hHjo6n>:
>
> While others such as *Otto*<http://ottopress.com/2009/wordpress-settings-api-tutorial/>
>  and *Ozh*<http://planetozh.com/blog/2009/05/handling-plugins-options-in-wordpress-28-with-register_setting/> have
> done yeomen's work in explaining how to implement the Settings API, I have
> not yet come across anything that really put everything together, and
> explained the process and implementation from beginning to end, in a way
> that even the less-experienced Theme developers (like me) could easily
> understand.
>
> This tutorial will attempt to fill that gap, by providing examples of
> current (as of the pending release of WordPress 3.1) best-practice
> implementation, not merely of the Settings API, but of Theme Options
> implementation as a whole, including:
>
> ·         Registering options in the database as a single options array
>
> ·         Initializing default options
>
> ·         Creating a single Theme Settings page (with tabs)
>
> ·         Defining settings page sections and fields
>
> ·         Validating and white-listing user-input form data
>
> ·         Adding Settings Page contextual help
>
> ·         Enqueueing custom CSS for the Settings page
>
> ·         Implementing settings in the Theme template files
>
> ·         Enqueueing front-end CSS
>
>
>
> Please give it a read; I hope it is helpful. Also, any feedback, comments,
> corrections, criticism, etc. is welcome, so please comment!
>
>
>
> Chip
>
>
>
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