This repository hosts a number of plugins that target specific use cases for BackWpUp.
BackWpUp is known to be straight-forward and easy to use. However, sometimes a specific use case might require to alter its functionality.
The plugins in this repository provide solutions for some of the more common use cases that still seem too “edge case” to be included as options in BackWpUp user interface.
- Helper Plugins, like BackWpUp, require PHP 7.4+.
- Helper Plugins by design don’t have version numbers, because we don’t maintain them on a regular basis.
- Helper Plugins provide a sustainable way to customize BackWpUp behaviour, because they’re easier to spot than code snippets hidden in functions.php.
- All plugins from this repository require BackWpUp to be up and running on your WordPress site. If you don’t use BackWpUp on your WordPress site, don’t install any of these plugins.
- ☝️ Test before use! We don’t maintain all of these helper plugins actively at all times; some may target older versions of BackWpUp, or of other plugins. Some may even become outdated over time.
We use the term “Helper Plugin” to describe a simple WordPress plugin that customizes the behaviour of BackWpUp in some sort of way.
A Helper Plugin usually consists of 1 single PHP file, wrapped in a folder, downloadable and installable as a regular ZIP.
💡 The main idea of Helper Plugins is easy-to-spot customizations.
Other than code snippets dumped into functions.php files, customizations that come wrapped in a little plugin can be spotted at a glance.
Helper Plugins are for all types of BackWpUp users:
- People who just know how to upload a WordPress plugin
- Technically well-versed site owners
- Experienced developers
- Our own support crew
If you don’t write code on a daily basis, you may want to contact our support team before using any of these plugins. (That is, unless you had contacted us already, and we sent you here.)
For developers and other code-savvy folk, many of BackWpUp’s functions, filters and action hooks used in these plugins can be found in the BackWpUp GitHub repository.
Helper Plugins are not works of elaborate software development. They are certainly not OOP, nor even class-based—just simple, procedural functions.
Helper Plugins are not versioned, changelogged, or maintained in the usual sense. We don’t guarantee that all Helper Plugins work with all BackWpUp versions at all times; however, when a Helper Plugin gets published, or updated, it usually sports a basic “Last tested with” section in the README file.
Helper Plugins fall under the same minimum requirements as BackWpUp: PHP 7.4 or greater, and WordPress 4.9 or greater at the moment of this writing (late 2024).
- Each sub-folder in this repository contains at least 1 PHP file and 1 ZIP file.
- PHP files are for code-savvy people to take a look at what the plugin does.
- The ZIP file is the one you can download and install in WordPress.
💡 Need help with downloading?
Here’s an animated GIF on how to download a ZIP file from a GitHub repository._
- Download one of the ZIP files from this repository.
- Don’t unpack it! If your browser unpacks it automatically (can happen e.g. with Safari), you will have to re-ZIP it before proceeding.
- Install the ZIP file through your WordPress admin interface: Go to Plugins→Add new→Upload, upload the ZIP file and activate the plugin.
Feel free to use our support form!
💡 Folder names help grouping a folder in a list of other folders.
That’s why folder names for these Helper Plugins start with abackwpup- prefix, followed by feature and action keywords.
While file lists are not always sorted by name, it’s the default sort on GitHub and in many FTP clients.
Inside the WordPress plugin folder, a Helper Plugin should be listed next to BackWpUp itself, so a user or support agent can easily spot it.
💡 We use PHP namespaces to improve readability.
Replacing verbose function prefixes with a PHP namespace can make actual function names more comprehensive, and our code remains easy to read.
It’s easy to over-engineer naming conventions, so we stick to a pragmatic rule of thumb when in doubt:
- Namespaces should be unique and consistent.
- Function names should be descriptive.
We rely on one consistent namespace for all Helper Plugins, and descriptive subnamespaces for each plugin:
namespace BackwpupPlugin\Helpers\{subnamespace(s)}Or more specifically:
namespace BackwpupPlugin\Helpers\{feature}\{what_this_plugin_does}Example:
namespace BackwpupPlugin\Helpers\adminbar\show;
function show_in_admin_bar() {
// Show the plugin icon in the admin bar.
return true;
}
add_action( 'backwpup_is_in_admin_bar', __NAMESPACE__ . '\show_in_admin_bar' );There is one domain on the internet for the sole purpose of “illustrative examples in documents”: example.com
You can safely use it as anything you want:
https://example.com
http://example.com
https://sub-domain.example.com
[email protected]
ftp.example.com
💡 Placeholders must be replaced!
Whenever you seeexample.comin the code of a Helper Plugin, make sure you replace it with a custom value before you activate the plugin!
All plugins in this repository, like WordPress and BackWpUp, are licensed under GNU General Public License v2 or later.
Shoot us a message at: backwpup.com/contact/