Create Your Own WordPress Plugin Using Cursor
Write, test and ship a real plugin without being a developer — then understand every line of what you built.
About this build
Building a WordPress plugin used to mean knowing PHP well. It still helps — but the floor has dropped a long way.
We build a working plugin end to end, with an AI editor doing the typing and you doing the deciding. You'll finish with something installable and an understanding of what each file is for.
What you'll be able to do afterwards
- Structure a plugin the way WordPress expects
- Use hooks and filters without memorising them
- Add a settings page that saves properly
- Test locally before anything touches a live site
- Read AI-written PHP well enough to catch the bad parts
Before you start
- A local WordPress environment (I show the setup)
- Cursor, or any AI code editor
- Some curiosity about code — not experience with it
WordPressCursorLocalWPPHP
Never develop against a live site
Plugin errors can take a whole site down, and a half-saved activation hook can leave your database in a strange state. Build locally. Test locally. Upload only what works.
Chapters
- 0:00
What we're building
A small plugin that does one useful thing.
- 8:30
Local setup
Getting a safe place to break things.
- 22:00
The main plugin file
Headers, structure, activation.
- 41:15
Hooks and filters
The concept everything else depends on.
- 1:02:40
A settings page
Options API, done correctly.
- 1:24:00
Reviewing the AI's code
What to look for, and what to reject.
- 1:38:20
Packaging it
A zip you can install anywhere.
Terms explained in the Knowledge Base
Watch next
The Friday email
One email a week. The thing I'd tell you over coffee.
What changed in WordPress and AI that week, what I'd actually use, and what I'd ignore. Written by me, not summarised by a tool.
- New tutorials the moment they're published
- Honest verdicts on tools — including the ones I dropped
- No sequences, no upsells, one click to leave
Free, forever, no signup
Pick a starting point. Have something real by tonight.
Every tutorial is free, complete, and built in real time — including the bits that break. Start where you are, not where a course thinks you should be.