If you are

  • WordPress PlugIn Developer,
  • and just have created your very first Plugin,
  • and want to release that Plugin on WordPress.org

then this article is for you.


How to release own developed Plugin on WordPress.org ?



Creation of WordPress Plugin

To discuss all the points, an example of a live Wordress Plugin will be used here: Special Promotion and Support - https://wordpress.org/plugins/special-promotion-and-support/

Download it, and install it. all WordPress Plugins must be kept at this location always : 


  • www.example.com/wp-content/plugins
  • C:\xampp\htdocs\test\wp-content\plugins

 

Obviously a PlugIn may contain a lot of files and folders. But there must be two files at least:

  • filename.php,
  • readme.txt



here is the sample of a blank filename.php file:


<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Special Promotion and Support
Plugin URI: https://store.devilhunter.net/wordpress-plugin/special-promotion-and-support/
Description:  Only Plugin activation is enough! No need to use any short-code or to edit settings. See the change in your website
Version: 1.0
Author: Tawhidur Rahman Dear
Author URI: https://www.tawhidurrahmandear.com/
Text Domain: specialpromotionandsupport-by-tawhidurrahmandear
License: GPLv2 or later
 
 */
 
 // Prevent direct file access

if ( ! defined ( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
    exit;
}
//

WRITE CODE HERE


Plugin URI means you should have a personally hosted webpage highlighting your PlugIn. If you don't have any special page for this, leave it blank. Author URI means developer's homepage. It may be your company homepage like: https://store.devilhunter.net or even may be your own Facebook profile address.



here is the sample of a blank readme.txt file:


=== Special Promotion and Support ===

Contributors: tawhidurrahmandear (Your WordPress.org username)
Tags: special offer, marketing, new offer, support, woocommerce  (Maximum five keywords separated by comma)
Requires at least: 5.0   (Here 5.0 means WordPress 5.0 version)
Tested up to: 6.6   (Here 6.6 means WordPress 6.6 version)
Stable tag: 1.0   (The version of your own WordPress Plugin that you have just created)
Requires PHP: 7.0   (may be latest PHP version, if your Plugin works)
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Attract your audience instantly that you have a Special Offer for them (Type Introduction here)
== Description ==

<p><strong>A Paragraph in Bold</strong></p>

* Feature 1
* Feature 2
* Feature 2


<h3>Headline</h3>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOAS7mvQjRM

<ul>
  <li>List 1</li>
  <li>List 2</li>
  <li>List 3</li>
</ul>

<p>Little HTML is allowed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.example.com" style="text-decoration: none"><font color="#3366FF"><strong>TEXT</strong></font></a></p>

<br>

<p>Thank you</p>


== Installation ==

<p><strong>Download this free WordPress.org Plugin, and </strong></p>

Step 1. Open your WordPress Admin Dashboard, click "Add New" in Plugins section
Step 2. Click on "Upload Plugin"
Step 3. Select the downloaded package, now click on "Install Now"
Step 4. Click on "Activate Plugin" to activate the Plugin
Step 5.
Step 6.



== Changelog ==

= 1.0 - 2022-04-09 =
- Fix - Minor Change

= 0.9 - 2018-07-29 =
* Initial release



⚠️ Plugin name will be plugin slug ⚠️

Here  

  • Plugin name is   Special Promotion and Support, and 
  • the slug is   https://wordpress.org/plugins/special-promotion-and-support/

 

Although after approval, you can change the Plugin name to something else, but should be related. But the slug will always be the same.



Validate WordPress readme.txt file

WordPress.org offers to validate readme.txt file here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/developers/readme-validator and you should check it before Plugin submission.



 

Submit Plugin to WordPress.org for Review

Step 1 : Log-in to WordPress.org from https://login.wordpress.org
Step 2 : Submit your plugin for review from https://wordpress.org/plugins/developers and before doing that read instructions. There may be an important update, which you should know.
Step 3 : You will get upload link there. Open that webpage. Read from top to bottom, and upload and submit the Plugin. It must be zip folder just in the way you download other Plugins. 


If there is any problem, Plugin Review Team will inform you for corrections. Once the PlugIn is approved, you will be notified via email. Email subject should be like this: [WordPress Plugin Directory] Special Promotion and Support has been approved! Sender email should be plugins@wordpress.org 


This email will contain the SVN repository address. This is a publicly open address. Anyone can read from any computer without even log-in to WordPress. But only you can update it via SVN. Now just open with your browser to know how it looks  https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/special-promotion-and-support




Update WordPress Plugin via SVN

For the first time when Plugin Review Team approves the Plugin, it will be instantly available for download, but there will be no Icon or Banner image. You will have to upload it manually. These are called assets. Beside that every time you want to update the PlugIn, you can't use Web-based upload system. You will have to do it using a software.



Tortoise SVN

SVN, or Subversion, is a version control system similar to Git. It can be used via command line, or one of numerous GUI applications, such as Tortoise SVN, SmartSVN, and more. 

Download Tortoise SVN from https://tortoisesvn.net/downloads.html and install.



Asset Upload

See the Banner and Thumbnail below. After the Plugin approval from WordPress Plugin Review Team, you will have to upload the assets.

WordPress PlugIn Banner and Icon example

 

First copy the SVN URL of your PlugIn from your email, and after that, anywhere in your PC click the right button of you mouse. Now find "SVN Checkout". If the address is fine, click on "OK".

SVN Checkout


Click on "OK" again when it's finished.

SVN Checkout Finished

 

Now open the downloaded folder. You will get four folders

  • assets
  • branches
  • tags
  • trunk


Keep banners here inside assets folder, and file name must be: 

  • banner-772x250.png
  • banner-1544x500.png


also keep banners here, and file name must be:

  • icon-128x128.png
  • icon-256x256.png


You can create two different types of Banners or
you can create two different types of Icons for the Plugin. 

assets inside assets folder - WordPress Plugin update


Depending on window size, different Banner and Icon set will be displayed in the Web browser.

WordPress PlugIn Assets Update

 

Now select the assets folder (this is the assets folder where you just have kept your Banners and Icons.) Press right button of mouse, and find "SVN Commit". 

 

At this point, if you are not logged in already, it will prompt for authentication. Type your WordPress.org credentials. 

 

Tortoise SVN Authentication

After that the SVN Commit window will appear like below. Type a note in Recent message.

 

SVN Commit window

Click on "OK" again when it's finished. Your are done. Refresh your browser, and check your Banner and Icon. If you want to update the assets, process is same. 

 

For screenshots, you should keep all screenshots inside assets folder, and upload/update ins the same way. Screenshot files name must be like these: 

 

  • screenshot-1.png
  • screenshot-2.png
  • screenshot-3.png

 

 

Update Plugin

Process is almost same. Keep updated Plugin files inside Trunk folder. All files must be unzipped.  

  • Now select the Trunk folder (this is the Trunk folder where you just have kept your PlugIn files.) 
  • Press right button of mouse, and find "SVN Commit". 
  • After that the SVN Commit window will appear. Type a note in Recent message. 
  • Click on "OK" again when it's finished.  
 

WordPress Plugin Update by Tortoise

 

Your are done. Refresh your browser, and check your Banner and Icon.  

 


Major Update

If your update is a Major update, you must versionize/tag new release. 

 

  • Select the Trunk folde
  • Press right button of mouse, and find "Tortoise SVN". 
  • Then find "Branch/Tag" option. Open it 
 
If the last version is 1.0, you may upgrade to next level 2.0
 
 
WordPress Plugin Major Update by Tortoise

 
Carefully Type the address like this: /special-promotion-and-support/tags/2.0 

Be careful, your files are in trunk, and your destination is tags/2.0, please don't type trunk/2.0 and a lot of people make this mistake.

 
  • After that a window will appear. Type a note in Recent message. 
  • Click on "OK" again when it's finished. 



Minor Update

If your update is a Minor update, don't bother your Plugin users. For example, you are fixing a spelling mistake somewhere which is not even noticeable at all, then you 

 

  • update trunk folder.
  • delete present version from tags folder by repo browser,
  • then Branch/Tag the present version again. 


For example, if the present version is 1.0, then you will have to update trunk normally. Then open Repository Browser (or Repo-browser in short)

 

  • Press right button of mouse, and find "Tortoise SVN". 
  • Then find "Repo browser" option. Open it. It will take 1 or 2 minutes. 

Repo browser

  • Open Tags folder
  • Delete 1.0 version. Press Delete on keyboard. Type Recent message.
 
Repo-browser window

  • Click "OK" to close

 
Now simply versionize/tag 1.0 version again. 
 
If your update is a Minor update, don't bother your Plugin users
 


Congratulations! You have completed your "How to release own developed Plugin on WordPress.org?" course.