What is GitHub? The Ultimate Guide for WordPress Users and Developers
GitHub has become an essential tool and online community for the open source software world, including WordPress developers. As of 2023, GitHub is the most popular code hosting service, with over 83 million developers and organizations using it to store, manage, and collaborate on their programming projects.
For WordPress, you‘ll find thousands of plugins, themes, and tools hosted on GitHub. It enables developers to easily share their work and collaborate with others. And it allows WordPress site owners to find cutting-edge plugins and themes that aren‘t available in the official WordPress directories.
In this in-depth guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know about using GitHub for WordPress development and site building. You‘ll learn:
- What GitHub is and how it works
- The benefits of using GitHub for WordPress projects
- How to find and install WordPress plugins and themes from GitHub
- Best practices for collaborating on GitHub as a developer
- New and notable GitHub features as of 2023
- Much more
By the end, you‘ll have a solid understanding of GitHub and how to leverage it effectively in your WordPress work, whether you‘re a developer or site owner. Let‘s jump in!
What is GitHub?
At its core, GitHub is a cloud-based hosting service for version-controlled code repositories. It uses Git, an open source version control system created by Linus Torvalds in 2005.
Git allows developers to keep track of all the changes made to their code over time. They can create different versions, collaborate with others, and roll back to previous versions if needed. Git takes care of merging all the code changes and dealing with any conflicts.
While Git runs locally on a developer‘s computer, GitHub hosts the Git repositories in the cloud and adds many extra collaboration and project management features on top. A repository (or "repo") is what GitHub calls a project hosted on its platform.
Any GitHub user can create or contribute to public repos for free. They can also have unlimited private repos with up to three collaborators for free. Larger teams and enterprises can pay for more advanced plans.
Key benefits of using GitHub for WordPress development include:
- Reliable and secure cloud hosting for your code
- Built-in version control to manage changes and collaborate
- Easy forking (copying) of repos to test or build upon
- Pull requests to submit and review code changes
- Issues and project boards for managing tasks and bugs
- Wikis and pages for documenting your project
- Integrations with popular developer tools and services
- A huge community of open source developers to learn from
Now that you have a high-level understanding of what GitHub is, let‘s take a closer look at how you can use it with WordPress specifically.
Using GitHub to Find and Install WordPress Plugins and Themes
One of the most common ways WordPress users leverage GitHub is to find plugins and themes that aren‘t available in the official WordPress.org directory. Developers may choose to host their projects on GitHub initially before submitting to WordPress.org, or they may simply prefer GitHub‘s flexibility and community aspects.
To find WordPress plugins and themes on GitHub, you can either:
Search directly on GitHub.com for keywords like "WordPress plugin" or "WordPress theme" plus the functionality you need. For example, "WordPress plugin SEO".
Use a GitHub-focused search engine like GitHunt that lets you filter results by programming language, stars, forks, and more.
Browse curated lists of awesome WordPress GitHub projects, like this one.
Once you find an interesting plugin or theme repo, be sure to check a few things before using it on your live site:
- When was the last commit made? Is it actively maintained?
- How many stars, forks, and watchers does it have? This indicates its popularity.
- What do the issues and pull requests reveal about its development?
- Is there documentation on how to install and configure it?
- Does the developer offer any support or guarantee its compatibility?
You may want to test the plugin or theme on a staging site first before deploying to production.
To install a WordPress plugin or theme from GitHub:
Visit the repo and click the "Code" button, then "Download ZIP".
In your WordPress dashboard, go to "Plugins" → "Add New" or "Appearance" → "Themes".
Click "Upload Plugin" or "Upload Theme" and select the ZIP file you downloaded.
Install and activate the plugin or theme as usual.
Keep in mind that plugins and themes installed from GitHub won‘t receive automatic updates like those from WordPress.org. You‘ll need to keep an eye on the GitHub repo and manually update when new versions are released. Some developers may offer an update script or service to automate this.
Tips for Collaborating on GitHub as a WordPress Developer
If you‘re a WordPress developer using GitHub to host and collaborate on your plugins, themes, or other projects, here are some best practices to keep in mind:
Use a clear and detailed README file.
Your repo‘s README.md file is like the front page of your project. Use it to explain what your project does, why it‘s useful, how to install and use it, and how others can contribute. Include links to key resources and your preferred support channels. Keep it up to date as your project evolves.
Create contribution guidelines.
To attract more contributors to your open source project, create a CONTRIBUTING.md file with specific instructions on how you‘d like others to help. Outline what types of contributions you‘re looking for, any coding style or testing requirements, and how to submit pull requests. Be friendly and encouraging!
Use descriptive commit messages.
Instead of vague commits like "fix bug", write clear and concise summaries of what changed in each commit. Use imperative voice, like "Fix mobile nav bug" or "Add WooCommerce integration". Aim for around 50 characters. You can add more details in the extended commit description.
Create and manage issues.
Encourage your users to submit bug reports, feature requests, and other feedback via GitHub issues. This keeps these discussions attached to your code and makes your development more transparent. Label issues appropriately and reference them in your commits and pull requests using special keywords.
Keep your branches organized.
Use a consistent branching strategy to manage the development of new features and bug fixes. For example, you might have a main branch for stable releases, a develop branch for work in progress, and feature branches for specific tasks. Consider using Git flow or a similar model.
Write unit tests and set up continuous integration.
To maintain the quality and reliability of your code, write unit tests that automatically check key functionality. Tools like PHPUnit integrate well with WordPress. Then set up continuous integration on GitHub using free services like Travis CI or GitHub Actions to run your tests on every push or pull request.
Take advantage of GitHub project management features.
GitHub has evolved into a powerful project management tool, not just for code. Make use of built-in kanban boards, milestones, task lists, wiki pages, and other features to organize your plugin or theme development. Integrate with tools your team already uses like Slack, Trello, or Asana.
New and Notable GitHub Features for WordPress as of 2023
GitHub is constantly evolving and adding new features to improve the experience for developers. Here are a few notable updates in recent years that may be useful for WordPress projects:
Discussions
GitHub Discussions is a new way for repo maintainers and the community to have conversations outside of issues and pull requests. It works like a forum with threaded comments and reactions. Use it to have open-ended discussions, Q&As, and more.
Codespaces
Codespaces lets you develop entirely in the cloud using a web-based version of Visual Studio Code. It‘s deeply integrated with GitHub so you can easily code, build, test, debug, and deploy. Simply open any GitHub repo or pull request in a codespace to start coding instantly.
Dependency graph
The dependency graph shows you all the libraries and packages your GitHub repo depends on (and their dependencies). It highlights any security vulnerabilities and makes it easy to update to more secure versions. This is especially useful for WordPress plugins with multiple JavaScript front-end dependencies.
Automatic security fixes
When GitHub discovers a vulnerability in one of your dependencies, it automatically creates a pull request to update it to a secure version. This saves you time monitoring and manually updating dependencies.
Code scanning
GitHub Advanced Security includes a feature called code scanning that automatically detects common security vulnerabilities in your code. It supports WordPress and PHP, as well as JavaScript, Python, and other languages. It scans on every git push and shows alerts in pull requests and the Security tab.
Improved mobile experience
GitHub‘s mobile app for iOS and Android has significantly improved, making it easier to triage notifications, manage issues and pull requests, and even review and merge simple code changes on the go. You can sign up for push notifications for issues, releases, and discussions you‘re watching.
While not all of these features are necessary for every WordPress project, they demonstrate GitHub‘s continued commitment to supporting open source software development. By staying up to date with the latest GitHub offerings, you can decide which tools may benefit your WordPress plugins, themes, and workflows.
Conclusion
GitHub has become an indispensable platform for WordPress development and open source collaboration. It provides robust version control, easy code sharing and forking, issue tracking, project management features, and a thriving global community.
For WordPress users, GitHub opens up a whole world of plugins, themes, and tools beyond the official directories. Just be sure to evaluate the quality and activity of a repo before using it in production.
For WordPress developers, GitHub is the place to host and manage your projects, collaborate with other programmers, and build your reputation in the open source ecosystem. Follow coding and community best practices to get the most out of the platform.
Whether you‘re a developer, designer, marketer, or writer, GitHub likely has a place in your WordPress toolbox. Install the GitHub desktop and mobile apps, browse some WordPress repos, and start exploring all the possibilities. Happy coding!
){kind=link}