A lightweight WordPress plugin boilerplate built using Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), PSR-4 autoloading, and a service container pattern.

This project is designed as a learning-focused plugin architecture that demonstrates how to organize WordPress plugins using modern PHP practices.

Features

• Object-Oriented Plugin Structure
• PSR-4 Composer Autoloading
• Service Loader Pattern
• WordPress Admin Menu Page
• Asset Enqueuing (CSS & JavaScript)
• Plugin Activation Hook
• Plugin Deactivation Hook
• Plugin Uninstall Cleanup
• Easy to Extend and Maintain

Project Structure

dummy-plugin/
│
├── assets/
│   ├── myscript.js
│   └── mystyle.css
│
├── templates/
│   └── admin.php
│
├── inc/
│   ├── Base/
│   │   ├── Activate.php
│   │   ├── Deactivate.php
│   │   └── Enqueue.php
│   │
│   ├── Pages/
│   │   └── Admin.php
│   │
│   └── Init.php
│
├── vendor/
│
├── uninstall.php
├── composer.json
└── dummy-plugin.php

How It Works

The plugin follows a Service Loader architecture.

Instead of manually initializing every class, a central Init class loads and registers all services automatically.

DummyPlugin\Init::register_services();

Flow:

Plugin Loads
      ↓
Init::register_services()
      ↓
Get All Services
      ↓
Instantiate Classes
      ↓
Call register()
      ↓
Plugin Starts Working

Service Loader

The Init class acts as the plugin manager.

Register Services

public static function get_services()
{
    return [
        Pages\Admin::class,
        Base\Enqueue::class,
    ];
}

Load Services

public static function register_services()
{
    foreach (self::get_services() as $class) {

        $service = self::instantiate($class);

        if (method_exists($service, 'register')) {
            $service->register();
        }
    }
}

Admin Page

The Admin service creates a custom WordPress admin menu.

add_menu_page(
    'DummyPlugin',
    'Dummy Case',
    'manage_options',
    'dummy_plugin',
    array($this, 'admin_index')
);

Result:

Dashboard
    ↓
Dummy Case

Asset Loading

CSS and JavaScript are loaded through the Enqueue service.

wp_enqueue_style(
    'mypluginstyle',
    PLUGIN_URL . 'assets/mystyle.css'
);

wp_enqueue_script(
    'mypluginscript',
    PLUGIN_URL . 'assets/myscript.js'
);

Activation Hook

Runs when the plugin is activated.

Activate::activate();

Purpose:

flush_rewrite_rules();

This refreshes WordPress rewrite rules and URL structures.

Deactivation Hook

Runs when the plugin is deactivated.

Deactivate::deactivate();

Purpose:

flush_rewrite_rules();

This removes stale rewrite rules.

Uninstall Process

When the plugin is deleted, uninstall.php runs.

Responsibilities:

• Delete Custom Post Type data
• Remove orphaned metadata
• Remove orphaned taxonomy relationships

Example:

DELETE FROM wp_posts
WHERE post_type = 'book'

Constants

PLUGIN_PATH

Physical server path.

define(
    'PLUGIN_PATH',
    plugin_dir_path(__FILE__)
);

Example:

C:\xampp\htdocs\demo\wp-content\plugins\dummy-plugin\

Used for:

require_once PLUGIN_PATH . 'templates/admin.php';

PLUGIN_URL

Public URL for assets.

define(
    'PLUGIN_URL',
    plugin_dir_url(__FILE__)
);

Example:

http://localhost/demo/wp-content/plugins/dummy-plugin/

Used for:

wp_enqueue_style();
wp_enqueue_script();

Installation

Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/dummy-plugin.git

Install Dependencies

composer install

Generate Autoloader

composer dump-autoload

Activate Plugin

WordPress Dashboard
      ↓
Plugins
      ↓
Dummy Plugin
      ↓
Activate

Learning Goals

This project demonstrates:

• Namespaces
• Composer Autoloading
• OOP in WordPress
• Service Container Pattern
• WordPress Hooks
• WordPress Admin Pages
• Activation & Deactivation Hooks
• Plugin Uninstall Logic
• File & URL Constants

Future Improvements

• Custom Post Types
• Custom Taxonomies
• Settings API
• AJAX Integration
• REST API Endpoints
• Gutenberg Blocks
• Shortcodes
• Widget Support
• Database Tables
• Admin Settings Pages

Requirements

• PHP 8.0+
• WordPress 6.x+
• Composer 2.x+

License

GPL v2 or later

Author

Aashish Pathak

Built as a learning-focused WordPress plugin boilerplate using modern PHP and WordPress development practices.