How to Build a Pricing Table Plugin for WordPress
Posted on 18th June 2023
Introduction
Pricing tables are a great way to showcase the features and benefits of your product or service, and can be an effective tool for increasing conversions. If you’re a WordPress developer, you may be wondering how to create a pricing table plugin for your own site or for a client. In this article, we’ll show you how to build a pricing table plugin for WordPress step by step.
What You’ll Need
To follow this tutorial, you’ll need:
- A text editor such as Sublime Text or Atom
- A local development environment set up for WordPress
- Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and PHP
Step 1: Create the Plugin Folder and Files
The first step is to create a new folder for your plugin. For this tutorial, we’ll call it “pricing-tables”. Create this folder inside the “wp-content/plugins” folder of your WordPress site. Then, inside the “pricing-tables” folder, create two new files: “pricing-tables.php” and “styles.css”.
Step 2: Add the Plugin Header
Next, open the “pricing-tables.php” file in your text editor and add the following plugin header. This header is required for all WordPress plugins and is used to specify the plugin name, author, version, etc.
<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Pricing Tables
Plugin URI: https://example.com/
Description: A plugin to create pricing tables
Version: 1.0
Author: John Doe
Author URI: https://example.com/
License: GPLv2 or later
Text Domain: pricing-tables
*/
Step 3: Register the Plugin Settings
If your pricing table plugin will have any settings, you’ll need to register them using the register_setting() function. This function takes three arguments: the name of the setting, the name of the group that the setting belongs to, and an array of arguments for the setting. In the example below, we’re registering a setting called “pt_settings” in the “pt_settings_group” group. We’re also specifying that the setting should be sanitized using the “sanitize_callback” argument.
register_setting( 'pt_settings_group', 'pt_settings', array( 'sanitize_callback' => 'sanitize_callback' ) );
Step 4: Create the Plugin Admin Page
The next step is to create the plugin admin page. This page will be used to display the pricing table settings form to the user. To create the admin page, you’ll first need to add a new top-level menu item using the add_menu_page() function. This function takes a few arguments: the page title, the menu title, the capability required to view the page, the slug for the page, the callback function to display the page content, the icon URL, and the position of the menu item.
add_menu_page( 'Pricing Tables', 'Pricing Tables', 'manage_options', 'pricing-tables', 'pt_admin_page', 'dashicons-chart-line', 6 );
Next, you’ll need to create the callback function for the pt_admin_page function. This function will be responsible for outputting the HTML for the plugin admin page. In the example below, we’re using the settings_fields() and do_settings_sections() functions to output the WordPress settings fields and sections. We’re also using the submit_button() function to output the submit button for the form.
function pt_admin_page() {
?>
<div class="wrap">
<h1>Pricing Tables</h1>
<form method="post" action="options.php">
<?php
settings_fields( 'pt_settings_group' );
do_settings_sections( 'pricing-tables' );
submit_button();
?>
</form>
</div>
<?php
}
Step 5: Create the Plugin Settings Form
The next step is to create the plugin settings form. This form will be used to collect the user input for the pricing table settings. To create the form, you’ll first need to add a new section using the add_settings_section() function. This function takes a few arguments: the section ID, the section title, the callback function for the section, and the page that the section should be displayed on.
add_settings_section( 'pt_settings_section', 'Pricing Table Settings', 'pt_settings_section_callback', 'pricing-tables' );
Next, you’ll need to create the callback function for the pt_settings_section_callback function. This function will be responsible for outputting the HTML for the plugin settings section. In the example below, we’re using the wp_nonce_field() function to output a hidden nonce field for the form. We’re also using the esc_html() and submit_button() functions to output the section title and submit button for the form.
function pt_settings_section_callback() {
wp_nonce_field( 'pt_settings_section', 'pt_settings_nonce' );
?>
<h2><?php esc_html_e( 'Pricing Table Settings', 'pricing-tables' ); ?></h2>
<p><?php esc_html_e( 'Configure the settings for the pricing table.', 'pricing-tables' ); ?></p>
<?php
submit_button();
}
Next, you’ll need to add the settings fields for the form using the add_settings_field() function. This function takes a few arguments: the field ID, the field title, the callback function for the field, the page that the field should be displayed on, the section that the field should be displayed in, and an array of arguments for the field. In the example below, we’re adding a text field for the “pt_field_1” setting.
add_settings_field( 'pt_field_1', 'Field 1', 'pt_field_1_callback', 'pricing-tables', 'pt_settings_section', array( 'type' => 'text' ) );
Next, you’ll need to create the callback function for the pt_field_1_callback function. This function will be responsible for outputting the HTML for the plugin settings field. In the example below, we’re using the get_option() function to retrieve the value of the setting from the database. We’re also using the esc_attr() function to output the field value safely. Finally, we’re using the submit_button() function to output the submit button for the form.
function pt_field_1_callback( $args ) {
$value = get_option( 'pt_field_1', '' );
?>
<input type="<?php echo esc_attr( $args['type'] ); ?>" id="pt_field_1" name="pt_field_1" value="<?php echo esc_attr( $value ); ?>" />
<?php
submit_button();
}
