Readings:
I’ve had some experience working with software developers and implementation specialists who have explained the benefits of an API. When I worked at Oracle as a Human Capital Management Account Representative, our selling point was Oracle’s open-API standard, or the fact that our applications could talk to virtually anything. In completing the readings from Free Code Camp and WordPress, I was able to get a better understanding of how APIs are used outside of the enterprise software sphere and are used every day by people like you and me. In the past, I’ve heard about REST APIs, but I don’t understand their importance? How would using a REST API on our WordPress site be beneficial to our page? Or, how would this practically translate to our final project?
Update on Final Project:
I’ve finally started working on my final project. It’s been intimidating to say the least. I’ve done all of my work on my local server and haven’t attempted to move anything to the Filezilla application. Should I be actively syncing these two together?
I’ve separately created a CSS file of tweaks that I want to make, but how do I incorporate this into the existing code? Should I create a separate CSS file within my child-theme and have it run last?
My biggest concern is updating the plugins that I wanted to incorporate. How do we do this? Is there a ‘how-to’ document that you’ve found particularly useful online that we should try to follow?
Additional overarching questions:
- If we are adding HTML, CSS, PHP, etc. to our WordPress site, do we create separate files for these? Where should we be updating the code?
As the final project approaches, I’m realizing how much more time I need to dedicate to the project. I’m starting to think that my final pitch post may have been over ambitious…only time will tell.
We’ll definitely be discussing APIs more in class on Wednesday. Learning about them is more for general information — not really for the project — because they’re so important in development.
You don’t need to be actively syncing the local and live sites, but I’d recommend doing it periodically to make sure there are no surprises.
If you have CSS modifications, you’ll want to include those in your child theme CSS.
“My biggest concern is updating the plugins that I wanted to incorporate.”
Which plugins do you want to update and how? Generally, you don’t want to modify existing plugins because that means you can’t update them, which is something to avoid.
“If we are adding HTML, CSS, PHP, etc. to our WordPress site, do we create separate files for these? Where should we be updating the code?”
It depends. For the most part, you’ll want to see if there’s something you need to override or add using a child theme or plugin. Generally, you won’t be including any HTML files. CSS should go where it needs to (e.g. in a child theme if it’s overriding a parent theme or in a plugin if it relates specifically to that plugin).