SWG Return Time Plugin
Written By: Shane Clark on July 23, 2020
I have been doing programming, web development, and digital marketing for the past 17 years. When I place a statement such as “past 17 years“, I now run the risk of becoming out-of-date every time an anniversary passes. I figured today would be the day I came up with a solution.
Coming Up With a Solution
I have decided to build a plugin that will return a numerical value based on a date parameter passed inside the shortcode. My first version is going to be super simple and now allow for any “non-year” returns. I will name my plugin SWG Return Time. I will pass in a value, and it will return the length of time directly into the WordPress page/post.
How the Plugin Works
In my beta-version, I have just one possibility for input/return with no error checking implemented. The format needed to pass inside the shortcode is SWGReturnTime year=”dd-mm-yyyy” (adding the shortcode brackets to call the function). The plugin calculates the current day (today) and returns years since the passed date, rounded down.
Examples of Practical Use:
“We have been open for 25 years now!”
By adding the “28“ inside the above sentence, I am passing July 21, 1998 (remember I am passing in day/month/year for my fellow Americans), which will be subtracted from today’s date.
By adding the above shortcode, what I see on my post or page will be
“We have been open for 25 years now!”. I no longer have to remember to update WordPress pages/posts based on length of years in service/business.
Expansion of the Plugin’s Capabilities
Just allowing for a return value to my WordPress page/post in a numerical format might be a bit of a limitation. I might want to return the years written out. An example of this would be one/two/three vs. 1/2/3. I will need to look for a function to change the returned value to “nine” instead of 9. So far, I have not seen a PHP function that does that. I might have to store the “decimal to text” relationship in a function array inside my plugin.
Another feature that would be cool is the option to return other formats such as days, weeks, and months. With the basic framework built, I am able to able to add features to enhance the output slowly.
Uploading My Plugin To WordPress.org
I am nowhere close to being ready to upload my plugin to the WordPress repository, but at some point will upload it for general public use. I will first optimize the code and make sure there is “error checking” in place. The process to upload to WordPress.org is pretty straightforward. Once a plugin is submitted, it is sent over for manual review that can take 1 – 10 business days.
Summary:
This plugin is a work in progress but satisfies a small but annoying need for my page/post content. I made a short video to demonstrate the current functionality. If you have questions, comments, or concerns about web development and business marketing, feel free to contact me.
