Professional WordPress Design and Development

Plugin Packaging ❘ 125If your code should echo the translatable string to the browser you’ll want to use the _e() function asshown here: <?php _e(’Howdy Neighbor!’,’gmp-plugin’); ?>This function works exactly the same as _ _(); the only difference is that the value is echoed to thebrowser. These translation functions are used throughout this chapter in the example code.Placeholders need special consideration when internationalizing your plugins and themes. As anexample, look at an error message you want to make translatable: Error Code 6980: Email is a required fieldThe obvious, but incorrect, way to attempt to split a string into translatable parts is to separate the fieldname, error number and descriptive string:: <?php $error_number = 6980; $error_field = \"Email\"; $error = _ _(’Error Code ‘,’gmp-plugin’) .$error_number. ’: ‘ .$error_field ._ _(’ is a required field’,’gmp-plugin’); echo $error; ?>This is actually the wrong way to include dynamic values in your translatable string because your trans-latable string is cut into two parts. These two parts may not work independently in another language.This could also seriously confuse the translator viewing a bunch of cryptic phrases that mean nothingwhen separated. The proper way is shown here: <?php $error_number = 6980; $error_field = \"Email\"; printf(_ _(’Error Code %1$d: %2$s is a required field’,’gmp-plugin’), $error_number, $error_field); ?>As you can see this uses the PHP printf function, which outputs the formatted string. Your twovariables are passed to printf and inserted into the string in the designated spots. In this example adeveloper translating your plugin messages into another language would see the line as \"Error Code%1$d: %2$s is a required field\" and know it’s possible to move around the error number and fieldvalues to make sense in the target language. Splitting the strings leads to split translations and possiblyunintentionally funny translated grammar. Alternatively you could use the PHP sprintf function ifyou want to store the error message value in a variable prior to displaying it.Plurals also need special consideration when defining your translatable strings. Say you need to translatea string like: <?php $count = 1; printf(_ _(’You have %d new message’,’gmp-plugin’), $count); ?>This works great if you have one new message, but what if you have more than one new message?Luckily, WordPress contains a function you can use to handle this problem called _ _ngettext. Thefollowing code shows it in action:

126 ❘ CHAPTER 7 PLUGIN DEVELOPMENT <?php $count = 34; printf(_ _ngettext(’You have %d new message’, ‘You have %d new messages’, $count,’gmp-plugin’), $count); ?> This function accepts four parameters: the singular version, the plural version, the actual number, and the domain text for your plugin. The _ngettext function uses the number parameter ($count in the example) to determine whether the singular or plural string should be returned. WordPress also features a translation function you can use to add comments to your translatable strings. This is helpful if you have a string set up for translation that might have multiple meanings. To do this you use the _c function as shown in the following code: <?php echo _c(’Editor|user role’,’gmp-plugin’); echo _c(’Editor|rich-text editor’,’gmp-plugin’); ?> As you can see you use _c just as you would _ _, except you add a pipe to the end of your translatable text with your comment directly after. Everything after, and including, the pipe will be ignored and not displayed. This allows you to add custom comment messages that the translator can read to explain the context of your text to be translated. Now that you’ve prepared your plugin for translation you must load the localization file to do the translation. To do so you execute the load_ plugin_textdomain function as shown here: <?php add_action(’init’, ‘gmp_init’); function gmp_init() { load_ plugin_textdomain(’gmp-plugin’, false, plugin_basename(dirname(_ _FILE_ _).’/localization’)); } ?> The first parameter you pass is the domain text name that you’ve used to identify all of your translatable strings. The second parameter is the path relative to the ABSPATH variable; however, this parameter is now deprecated in favor of the third parameter. The final parameter is the path to your translation files from the /plugins directory. To store these files you should create a folder inside your plugin directory called /localization . You use the plugin_basename and dirname functions to retrieve the path to your localization folder. You can learn more about the process of creating translation files in the WordPress Codex at http://codex.wordpress.org/I18n_for_WordPress_Developers. Directory Constants When creating WordPress plugins you will often need to reference files and folders throughout the WordPress installation. Since WordPress 2.6, users have had the ability to move this directory anywhere they want. Because of this you should never use hardcoded paths in a plugin. WordPress has defined a set of PHP constants to store the path to the wp-content and plugins directories. You can use these

Know Your Hooks: Actions and Filters ❘ 127 constants in your plugins to verify that any paths you are referencing are correct regardless of where the actual directory might exist on the server: ➤ WP_CONTENT_URL: Full URL to wp-content ➤ WP_CONTENT_ DIR: The server path to the wp-content directory ➤ WP_ PLUGIN_URL: Full URL to the plugins directory ➤ WP_ PLUGIN_ DIR: The server path to the plugins directory ➤ WP_LANG_ DIR: The server path to the language directory These constants were added in WordPress 2.6, so any version older than that will not have these set. However, if you want to maintain backward compatibility you can create these constants with just a few lines of code: <?php // pre-2.6 compatibility if ( !defined( ‘WP_CONTENT_URL’ ) ) define( ‘WP_CONTENT_URL’, get_option( ‘siteurl’ ) . ‘/wp-content’ ); if ( !defined( ‘WP_CONTENT_ DIR’ ) ) define( ‘WP_CONTENT_ DIR’, ABSPATH . ‘wp-content’ ); if ( !defined( ‘WP_ PLUGIN_URL’ ) ) define( ‘WP_ PLUGIN_URL’, WP_CONTENT_URL. ‘/plugins’ ); if ( !defined( ‘WP_ PLUGIN_ DIR’ ) ) define( ‘WP_ PLUGIN_ DIR’, WP_CONTENT_ DIR . ‘/plugins’ ); if ( !defined( ‘WP_LANG_ DIR’) ) define( ‘WP_LANG_ DIR’, WP_CONTENT_ DIR . ‘/languages’ ); ?> Notice how you are verifying that the constant has not been defined before setting it. If the constant already exists you don’t want to overwrite its value. By placing this code in your plugin you can be certain that your plugin will work with these constants regardless of the user’s WordPress version.KNOW YOUR HOOKS: ACTIONS AND FILTERS One of the most important features for extending WordPress is called a hook. Hooks are simply a standardized way of ‘‘hooking’’ into WordPress. Using hooks you can execute functions at specific times in the WordPress process, allowing you to alter how WordPress functions and the expected output. Hooks are the primary way plugins interact with your content in WordPress. Up to this point we’ve focused on the structure and format of plugins, but now we’re actually going to make a plugin do something. A hook is simply a PHP function call with various parameters that can be sent. Following is an example showing a properly formatted Action hook call: <?php add_action( $tag, $function_to_add, $priority, $accepted_args ); ?>Actions and Filters Two types of hooks can be used: Actions and Filters. Action hooks are triggered by events in Word- Press. For example, an Action hook is triggered when a new post is published. Filter hooks are used to

128 ❘ CHAPTER 7 PLUGIN DEVELOPMENT modify WordPress content before saving it to the database or displaying it to the screen. For example, a Filter hook is available for the content of the post or page. This means you can alter that content after it is retrieved from the database, but before it is displayed in your browser. Look at an example of a Filter hook in action. Remember that Filter hooks modify content, so this example modifies the post content: <?php add_filter(’the_content’, ‘my_function’); ?> The add_filter function is used to execute a Filter action. You are using the Filter called the_content, which is the Filter for your post content. This tells WordPress that every time the content is displayed it needs to pass through your custom function called my_function. The add_filter function can accept four parameters: ➤ filter_action (string): The filter to use. ➤ custom_filter_function (string): The custom function to pass the filter through. ➤ priority (integer): The priority in which this filter should run. ➤ accepted args (integer): The number of arguments the function accepts. Here’s an example of the_content Filter in action: <?php function profanity_filter($content) { $profanities = array(\"sissy\",\"dummy\"); $content=str_ireplace($profanities,’[censored]’,$content); return $content; } add_filter(’the_content’, ‘profanity_filter’); ?> The profanity_filter function will replace the words ‘‘sissy’’ and ‘‘dummy’’ with [censored] automat- ically on all posts and pages on your web site. We are using the str_ireplace PHP function to handle the replace. This function will replace some characters in a string with other characters in a string. The str_ireplace function is also case-insensitive. Because you are using a Filter hook the content isn’t actually modified in the database; instead it’s modified during processing of the_ post(), before being displayed, when this filter is invoked. The content in the database is not affected so the words ‘‘sissy’’ and ‘‘dummy’’ will still exist in your content, and if you ever disable or change the plugin those words will appear in the displayed text. Filter hooks always receive data, in this case the $content variable is passed to your function and contains your post content. Also notice the last line of your function returns the $content variable. Remember that you must always return the content you are modifying or else it returns empty and therefore displays nothing. Now that you’ve seen the Filter hook in action, take a look at the Action hook and what it can do. The Action hook is triggered by events in WordPress. WordPress doesn’t require any return values from your Action hook function; the WordPress Core just notifies your code that a specific event has taken place. The Action hook is structured exactly like a Filter hook, as you can see in the following code: <?php add_action(’hook_name’, ‘your_function_name’ [,priority] [,accepted_args] ); ?>

Know Your Hooks: Actions and Filters ❘ 129 The add_action function accepts four parameters just like the add_filter function. Here you can set the hook name you want to hook into, the custom function name you are going to execute when the event is triggered, and the priority and the number of accepted args. Here’s a real example using an Action hook: <?php function email_new_comment() { wp_mail(’[email protected]’, _ _(’New blog comment’, ‘gmp-plugin’) , _ _(’There is a new comment on your website: http://example.com’,’gmp-plugin’)); } add_action(’comment_ post’, ‘email_new_comment’); ?> Notice you are using the comment_ post Action hook. This Action is triggered whenever a new comment is posted in WordPress. As you can see the email_new_comment function will send an e-mail anytime a new comment is created. Also notice you are not sending in any variables to your function, or returning any values out of your function. Action filters don’t require this, but if needed you can pass values into your function.Popular Filter Hooks More than 1,000 different hooks are available in WordPress, which is a bit overwhelming at first. Luckily, a handful of them are used much more often than the rest. This section explores some of the more commonly used hooks in WordPress. Some of the more common Filter hooks are: ➤ the_content: Applied to the content of the post or page before displaying. ➤ the_content_rss: Applied to the content of post or page for RSS inclusion. ➤ the_title: Applied to the post or page title before displaying. ➤ comment_text: Applied to the comment text before displaying. ➤ wp_title: Applied to the page <title> before displaying. ➤ get_categories: Applied to the category list generated by get_categories. ➤ the_ permalink: Applied to the permalink URL. Let’s look at some of the more popular Filter hooks in WordPress, starting with a more practical example than our profanity filter using the_content Filter hook. This hook allows you to alter the content for posts and pages prior to it being displayed in the browser. By using this hook you can add your custom content either before, in the middle, or after the content: <?php function SubscribeFooter($content) { if(is_single()) { $content.= ‘<h3>’ ._ _(’Enjoyed this article?’, ‘gmp-plugin’) . ‘</h3>’; $content.= ‘<p>’ ._ _(’Subscribe to our

130 ❘ CHAPTER 7 PLUGIN DEVELOPMENT <a href=\"http://example.com/feed\">RSS feed</a>!’, ‘gmp-plugin’). ‘</p>’; } return $content; } add_filter (’the_content’, ‘SubscribeFooter’); ?> In this example you are adding your subscribe text to the bottom of your content. Notice you are also using the is_single conditional tag to verify that your subscribe text is added only on a single post page. The $content variable stores all of the post or page content, so by appending your subscribe text you are adding it to the bottom of your content. This is the ideal way to add content to the bottom of all posts because you aren’t actually modifying the post. In the future if you decide to change this message you can change it in one place, rather than updating every post in your web site. Another powerful Filter hook is the_title. This hook is used for changing the post or page title prior to being displayed. Here’s an example using this Filter: <?php function custom_title($title) { $title .= ‘ - ‘ ._ _(’By Example.com’, ‘gmp-plugin’); return $title; } add_filter(’the_title’, ‘custom_title’); ?> This example adds ‘‘ - By Example.com’’ to all of your post and page titles. Remember, this doesn’t actually modify the title in the database, but instead modifies the display of the title to the end user. The default_content Filter hook is useful for setting the default content for your post and pages. This is helpful if you have a set format for all of your posts and can save valuable writing time: <?php function my_ default_content($content) { $content = _ _(’For more great content please subscribe to my RSS feed’, ’gmp-plugin’); return $content; } add_filter(’default_content’, ‘my_ default_content’); ?> Filter hooks are exceptionally powerful for inserting your own processing into a variety of points in the Loop processing of each post. Realizing the full power of the WordPress plugin system means also using action hooks to fire your own code in response to events within the WordPress core. Popular Action Hooks Some of the more common Action hooks are: ➤ publish_ post: Triggered when a new post is published. ➤ create_category: Triggered when a new category is created.

Know Your Hooks: Actions and Filters ❘ 131 ➤ switch_theme: Triggered when you switch themes. ➤ admin_head: Triggered in the <head> section of the admin dashboard. ➤ wp_head: Triggered in the <head> section of your theme. ➤ wp_footer: Triggered in the footer section of your theme usually directly before the </body> tag. ➤ init: Triggered after WordPress has finished loading, but before any headers are sent. Good place to intercept $_GET and $_ POST HTML requests ➤ admin_init: Same as init but only runs on admin dashboard pages. ➤ user_register: Triggered when a new user is created. ➤ comment_ post: Triggered when a new comment is created.One of the most commonly used Action hooks is the wp_head hook. Using the wp_head hook you caninsert any custom code into the <head> section of the WordPress theme. Here’s an example: <?php function custom_css() { ?> <style type=\"text/css\"> a{ font-size: 14px; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; } a:hover { font-size: 14px color: #FF0000; text-decoration: underline; } </style> <?php } add_action(’wp_head’, ‘custom_css’); ?>This code will drop anything inside your custom_css function into the header of the WordPress theme,in this case your custom CSS script.The wp_footer hook is also a very commonly used Action hook. Using this hook you can insert anycustom code in the footer of the WordPress theme. This is a great method for adding analytic trackingcode to your web site: function site_analytics() { ?> <script type=\"text/javascript\"> var gaJsHost = ((\"https:\" == document.location.protocol) ? \"https://ssl.\" : \"http://www.\"); document.write(unescape(\"%3Cscript src=’\" + gaJsHost + ‘google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E\")); </script>

132 ❘ CHAPTER 7 PLUGIN DEVELOPMENT <script type=\"text/javascript\"> var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(\"UA-XXXXXX-XX\"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); </script> <?php } add_action(’wp_footer’, ‘site_analytics’); In the preceding example you can see how you can easily insert your Google Analytics tracking code to the footer of every page on your web site, something we discuss more in Chapter 11. The admin_head Action hook is very similar to the wp_head hook, but rather than hooking into the theme header, it hooks into the admin dashboard header. This is useful if your plugin requires custom CSS on the admin dashboard, or any other custom header code. The user_register Action hook is executed when a new user is created in WordPress. This user can be created by an admin or by the new user. This is a useful hook if you want to set some default values for a new user or to e-mail your new members thanking them for joining your web site. Hooks are probably one of the most under-documented features in WordPress. It can be a real challenge finding the correct hooks to use for the job. The first resource to use is always the Codex. Here you can find the Filter Reference (http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Filter_Reference) and Action Reference (http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Action_Reference) sections helpful in tracking down appropriate hooks. Another highly recommended reference is the Plugin Directory (http://wordpress.org/extend/ plugins/) on WordPress.org. Sometimes the best way to figure something out is to see how other developers accomplished a similar task. Find a plugin in the directory that is similar in functionality to what you want to build. Most likely the plugin author will have already dug up the correct hooks for WordPress that you will be using. It never hurts to learn by example, and published plugins are the perfect examples in this case! PLUGIN SETTINGS Most plugins feature a settings page. This helps users configure the plugin to act in different ways without actually modifying the code behind the plugin by saving various option settings. The first step in this process is saving and retrieving options in WordPress. Saving Plugin Options Chances are when building a plugin you will need to save some options for your plugin. WordPress features some very easy-to-use functions to save, edit, and delete options. Two functions are available for creating options: add_option and update_option. Both functions create options, but update_option also updates the option if it already exists. Here’s an example of adding a new option: <?php add_option(’gmp_ display_mode’, ‘Christmas Tree’); ?> The first parameter you send to the add_option function is the name of your option. This is a required field and must be unique from all other options saved in WordPress, including from other plugins.

Plugin Settings ❘ 133 The second parameter is the option value. This is also a required field and can be a string, an array, an object, or a serialized value. You can also use update_option to create new options. This function checks whether the option exists first, and if not creates it. If, however, the option already exists it updates the value with the new option value you are sending in. You call the update_option function exactly as you did when adding an option like so: <?php update_option(’gmp_ display_mode’, ‘Christmas Tree’); ?> Generally the update_option function is used for both adding and updating options in plugins. It’s much easier to stay consistent with one function call for both rather than calls to different functions for adding and updating your plugin options. Retrieving an option value is just as easy. To retrieve any option use the get_option function as shown here: <?php echo get_option(’gmp_ display_mode’); ?> The only required field for get_option is the name of the option you want to retrieve. If the option exists it is returned to display or stored in a variable. If the option doesn’t exist the function returns FALSE. Options can be deleted as easily as they are created. To delete an option use the delete_option func- tion. The only parameter is the option name that you want to delete: <?php delete_option(’gmp_ display_mode’); ?> A good rule of thumb is to start all of your option names with the same prefix, like gmp_ in the preceding examples. This is useful for a couple of reasons: uniqueness and readability. Using a prefix will help validate the uniqueness of your option names. If you have a number of options, it is a smart idea to store them in an array (see the next section). This also makes it much easier to follow your code logic when there is a set naming convention used on variables, functions, and so on. Options in WordPress are not reserved for just plugins. Themes can also create options to store specific theme data. Many of the themes available today offer a settings page, enabling you to customize the theme through settings rather than code.Array of Options Every option you create in WordPress adds a new record to the wp_options database table. Because of this it’s a smart idea to store your options in an array, thus creating fewer records in the database and fewer update_option calls you need to make. <?php $gmp_options_arr=array( \"gmp_ display_mode\"=>’Christmas Tree’, \"gmp_ default_browser\"=>’Chrome’, \"gmp_favorite_book\"=>’Professional WordPress’, ); update_option(’gmp_ plugin_options’, $gmp_options_arr); ?>

134 ❘ CHAPTER 7 PLUGIN DEVELOPMENT In this code you are creating an array to store your plugin option values. So rather than call update_option three times, and save three records in the database, you only need to call it once and save your array to the option named gmp_ plugin_options. This is a small example but imagine a collection of plugins that store 50 options to the database’s options table. That would really start to clutter up your options table and would most likely slow down your web site load speeds due to the repeated database query options to fetch or set those options individually. To retrieve the array of options you use the same get_option function as before: <?php $gmp_options_arr = get_option(’gmp_ plugin_options’); $gmp_ display_mode = $gmp_options_arr[\"gmp_ display_mode\"]; $gmp_ default_browser = $gmp_options_arr[\"gmp_ default_browser\"]; $gmp_favorite_book = $gmp_options_arr[\"gmp_favorite_book\"]; ?> The next section discusses how to create a menu for your plugin settings page. Create a Menu and Submenus WordPress features two different ways to create a custom menu for your plugin. The first thing you’ll want to decide is where to locate your options page. The options page link can be located in its own top-level menu (My Plugin Settings), or as a submenu item of an existing menu (Settings ➪ My Plugin Settings). This section explores both methods and how to configure each. Creating a Top-Level Menu The first method you’ll explore is creating a new top-level menu. Using a top-level menu is useful if your plugin has multiple setting pages that need to be separate. To create your own top-level menu you’ll use the add_menu_ page function as shown here: <?php add_menu_ page(page_title, menu_title, capability, handle, function, icon_url); ?> Here’s a breakdown of the parameters allowed: ➤ page_title: Text used for the HTML title (between <title> tags) ➤ menu_title: Text used for the menu name in the Dashboard ➤ capability: Minimum user capability required to see menu (or user level) ➤ handle/file: PHP file that handles display (_ _FILE_ _ is recommended, as that is the path to the plugin file) ➤ function: Displays page content for the menu settings page ➤ icon_url: Path to custom icon for menu (default: images/generic.png) You can also create submenu items for your new menu. You use the add_submenu_ page function to create additional submenu items: add_submenu_ page(parent, page_title, menu_title, capability required, file/handle, [function]);

Plugin Settings ❘ 135Create a custom menu for a plugin with multiple submenu items as shown inFigure 7-2. <?php // create custom plugin settings menu add_action(’admin_menu’, ‘gmp_create_menu’);function gmp_create_menu() { //create new top-level menu FIGURE 7-2: add_menu_ page(’GMP Plugin Settings’, ‘GMP Settings’, Custom top-level’administrator’, _ _FILE_ _, ‘gmp_settings_ page’, menuplugins_url(’/images/wordpress.png’, _ _FILE_ _)); //create three sub-menus: email, template, and general add_submenu_ page( _ _FILE_ _, ‘Email Settings Page’, ‘Email’, ’administrator’, _ _FILE_ _.’_email_settings’, ‘gmp_settings_email’); add_submenu_ page( _ _FILE_ _, ‘Template Settings Page’, ‘Template’, ’administrator’, _ _FILE_ _.’_template_settings’, ‘gmp_settings_template’); add_submenu_ page( _ _FILE_ _, ‘General Settings Page’, ‘General’, ’administrator’, _ _FILE_ _.’_general_settings’, ‘gmp_settings_general’); } ?>First you call the admin_menu Action hook. This hook is triggered after the basic admin panel menustructure is in place. Once triggered you execute your custom function gmp_create_menu to build yourmenu.To create your menu you call the add_menu_ page function. The first two parameters set your page titleand menu title. You also set the capability level to administrator, so only an admin will see this newmenu. Next you set the handle/file to _ _FILE_ _, which is the unique local path to your plugin file.Your custom menu function name is next, in this case gmp_settings_ page. Remember that you haven’tcreated this function yet so when viewing the settings page you will get a PHP warning. Finally, you setthe custom icon location to display the WordPress logo.Now that you’ve created your top-level menu you need to create your submenu items. In thisexample you are creating three submenu items: Email, Template, and General. To do this you use theadd_submenu_ page function.The first parameter you send is the handle/file of the top-level menu you want this to fall under. Remem-ber you set this to _ _FILE_ _, which is the unique local path to your plugin file. Next you set the pagetitle and menu title just like before. You also set the access level for viewing to administrator. Youalso have to create a unique handle for your submenu items; in this example you concatenate the valueusing _ _FILE_ _ and _email_settings (where email is the submenu item). The final value is the customfunction to build the settings page for each submenu.Adding To An Existing Menu Next you’ll explore how to add a submenu item to an existing menu in WordPress. Most plugins only have one options page and therefore do not require an entirely separate top-level menu. To accomplish this you can add a plugin option page to any existing menu in WordPress. Add a menu to the Setting menu:

136 ❘ CHAPTER 7 PLUGIN DEVELOPMENT <?php add_options_ page(’GMP Settings Page’, ‘GMP Settings’, ’administrator’, _ _FILE_ _, ‘gmp_settings_ page’); ?> WordPress features multiple functions to make adding submenus extremely easy. To add your GMP Settings submenu you use the add_options_ page function. The first parameter is the page title followed by the submenu display name. Like your other menus you set the access level to administrator. Next you set the unique menu handle to _ _FILE_ _. Finally, you call your custom gmp_settings_ page func- tion to build your options page. The preceding example adds your custom submenu item GMP Settings at the bottom of the settings menu. Following is a list of the available submenu functions in WordPress. Each function can be used exactly as the preceding example; just swap out the function name called with one of the functions listed here: ➤ add_ dashboard_ page: Adds menu items to the Dashboard menu ➤ add_ posts_ page: Adds menu items to the Posts menu ➤ add_media_ page: Adds a menu item to the Media menu ➤ add_links_ page: Adds a menu item to the Links menu ➤ add_ pages_ page: Adds a menu item to the Pages menu ➤ add_comments_ page: Adds a menu item to the Comments menu ➤ add_theme_ page: Adds a menu item to the Appearance menu ➤ add_users_ page: Adds a menu item to the Users page (or Profile based on role) ➤ add_management_ page: Adds a menu item to the Tools menu ➤ add_options_ page: Adds a menu item to the Settings menu Now that you’ve created your menu and submenu items you need to create an options page to display your plugin configuration. Create an Options Page WordPress 2.7 introduced a new Settings API that you will be using for all of the option methods you use in this section. The Settings API is a powerful set of functions to help make saving options in WordPress easy and secure. One of the major benefits of the Settings API is that WordPress handles the security checks, meaning you don’t need to include a nonce in your form. The first option page method you’ll explore is creating a unique option page for your top-level menu. Remember that when using the add_menu_ page and add_submenu_ page functions you defined your menu item function name to display your options page. To create an options page you need to create this function to display your options. First set up your plugin menu: <?php // create custom plugin settings menu add_action(’admin_menu’, ‘gmp_create_menu’); function gmp_create_menu() {