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manifest / integrations / course-sync-dashboard

Course Sync Dashboard

A WordPress plugin that synchronizes external course data from a REST API into a custom post type.

by Marcelo Takano · github.com/marcelo-takano/course-sync-dashboard · website

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Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/marcelo-takano/course-sync-dashboard/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Readme

Course Sync Dashboard

A WordPress plugin that synchronizes external course data from a REST API into a custom post type and provides a frontend course listing via shortcode.

This project was developed as part of a technical assessment, following WordPress best practices with a focus on clean architecture, maintainability, and separation of responsibilities.

Features

  • Custom Post Type: Course
  • Admin dashboard
  • Synchronize courses from an external REST API
  • Create and update existing courses
  • Store external course metadata
  • Frontend course listing via shortcode
  • Responsive frontend layout
  • WordPress Coding Standards
  • Secure admin actions with capability and nonce validation

External API

The plugin consumes data from:

https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts

Mapping:

API Field WordPress
title Course Title
body Course Description
id External Course ID
userId Stored as metadata

Installation

  1. Upload the plugin to:

wp-content/plugins/

  1. Activate the plugin.

  2. Access:

Dashboard → Course Sync

  1. Click Sync Courses.

  2. Create a page and insert:

[courses_list]

Frontend

The shortcode displays all synchronized courses.

[courses_list]

Each course includes:

  • External Course ID
  • Course title
  • Course excerpt
  • Link to the single course page

Project Structure

course-sync-dashboard/

assets/
    css/
        courses-list.css

includes/
    class-csd-admin.php
    class-csd-api.php
    class-csd-action.php
    class-csd-course-post-type.php
    class-csd-shortcode.php
    class-csd-sync.php

templates/
    courses-list.php

course-sync-dashboard.php

Architecture

The plugin follows a modular architecture where each class has a single responsibility.

CSD_Course_Post_Type

Registers the custom post type.

CSD_API

Handles communication with the external REST API.

CSD_Sync

Processes synchronization and creates or updates WordPress posts.

CSD_Action

Handles admin actions securely.

CSD_Admin

Builds the administration interface.

CSD_Shortcode

Registers and renders the frontend shortcode.

Technical Decisions

Some implementation decisions were made to improve maintainability and performance:

  • Single Responsibility Principle
  • WordPress native APIs
  • Nonce validation
  • Capability validation
  • Rewrite rules flushed only once after activation
  • CSS loaded only when the shortcode is used
  • Template separated from business logic
  • Efficient course lookup using an external ID map
  • Output escaping following WordPress standards

Future Improvements

Possible future enhancements include:

  • Scheduled synchronization (WP-Cron)
  • Incremental synchronization
  • Search and filtering
  • Pagination
  • Gutenberg block
  • Settings page for API endpoint
  • Internationalization files
  • WP-CLI command support

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.x+
  • PHP 8.x

Author

Marcelo Takano

Web Developer & Web Specialist

Brazil

Read the full README on GitHub →