Slides for my presentation on WP-CLI for the Mauritian Developers Conference 2016 - http://devconmru.org

1. A better WordPress
workflow with WP-CLI
By Rikesh Ramlochund

2. WP-CLI
› WP-CLI is a set of command-line tools for managing
WordPress installations
› Install a WordPress website
› Update WordPress core, plugins, and themes
› Automate repetitive tasks
› Make your own commands
› ssh on your server and run the commands

3. WP-CLI Installation
› Installation and upgrade: https://wp-cli.org/
› Download the wp-cli.phar file
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/
wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar
› Check if the file works
php wp-cli.phar —-info

4. WP-CLI Installation
› To be able to type just wp, instead of php wp-cli.phar, you
need to make the file executable and move it to
somewhere in your PATH.
› chmod +x wp-cli.phar
› sudo mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp
› wp —-info

5. WP-CLI Installation
› WP-CLI can also be installed via Composer or Homebrew
› Debian and Ubuntu users can install WP-CLI via a .deb
package
› WP-CLI can also be installed on Windows
› Read more about WP-CLI Installation: https://wp-cli.org/
docs/installing/

6. WP-CLI Command Anatomy
› wp plugin install jetpack
› wp: All WP-CLI commands start with wp
› plugin: command
› install: subcommand
› jetpack: options/parameters (here it is a plugin name)

7. Node.js Wrapper
› npm install wp-cli
Node wrapper for Wordpress CLI with functionality
matching the WP-CLI API.
Learn more: https://www.npmjs.com/package/wp-cli

8. Installing WordPress using WP-CLI
› Download the WordPress core:
wp core download
or
wp core download —-locale=fr_FR

9. Installing WordPress using WP-CLI
› Generate the wp-config.php file
wp core config --dbname=devconwp
--dbuser=devcon --dbpass=somePassword
› Create the database file (dbname value from command
above)
wp db create

10. Installing WordPress using WP-CLI
› Run the WordPress installation process
wp core install —-prompt
› Installation done :)
› Note: ——prompt is a global parameter of WP-CLI, and it
prompts the user to enter values for all command
arguments

11. Installing WordPress using WP-CLI
› Recap:
› wp core download
› wp core config --dbname=devconwp
--dbuser=devcon —-dbpass=somePassword
› wp db create
› wp core install —-prompt

12. WordPress Core commands
› Check for update via Version Check API
wp core check-update
› Update WordPress
wp core update and wp core update-db
› Verify WordPress files against wordpress.org checksums
wp core verify-checksums
› Display the WordPress version
wp core version

13. Plugin Management
› List all plugins
wp plugin list
› List plugins with pending updates
wp plugin list —-update=available
› Plugin Installation
wp plugin install advanced-custom-fields
wp plugin install jetpack —-version=“3.6”
wp plugin install my-plugin.zip

14. Plugin Management
› Install premium plugins via zip file.
› Advanced Custom Fields Pro allows you to download a zip
file using your private key
› wget -v -O acf-pro.zip “http://
connect.advancedcustomfields.com/index.php?
p=pro&a=download&k=YOUR_ACF_PRO_KEY”
› wp plugin install acf-pro.zip --activate
› rm acf-pro.zip

15. Plugin Management
› Some plugins like Jetpack also implement WP-CLI
commands.
› For example:
wp jetpack status
wp jetpack module list
wp jetpack module activate carousel

16. Plugin Management
› Activate a plugin
wp plugin activate jetpack
› Deactivate a plugin
wp plugin deactivate jetpack
› Update all plugins
wp plugin update --all

17. WordPress Maintenance
› Keeping WordPress up to date
› wp core update
› wp core update-db
› wp plugins update --all
› wp theme update --all
› Don’t forget to backup your files before doing updates!

18. WordPress Backups
› Export WordPress database via WP-CLI
wp db export
› Compress the WordPress directory
tar -vczf backup.gz .

19. Database Migration
› Moving a WordPress installation to another server (eg.
staging to production)
› Step 1: Export staging database
wp db export
› Step 2: Move database to production and import
wp db import
› Step 3: Update URLs from staging to production
wp search-replace “http://
staging.example.com” “http://example.com”

20. Managing Options
› Read option value
wp option get blogname
› Update option value
wp option update blogname “Awesome WP”
› Delete option
wp option delete optional
› List options
wp option list

21. Useful Commands
› Regenerate thumbnails
wp media regenerate
› Generate x posts, using some Lorem Ipsum text
curl http://loripsum.net/api/5 | wp post
generate --post_content --count=x
› Run a query saved in a file
wp db query < debug.sql
› Command helper
wp help plugin install

22. Useful Commands
› Import WXR file
wp import posts.xml
› Bulk importing images as attachments
Import all JPGs from the user’s Pictures directory
wp media import ~/Pictures/**/*.jpg
› Import a specific image and assign it as post thumbnail for
that post
wp media import ~/Downloads/image.png --
post_id=123 --title="A downloaded picture"
--featured_image

23. Useful Commands
› Delete all transients
wp transient delete-all
› Delete all expired transients
wp transient delete-expired
› List registered post types
wp post-type list

24. Useful Commands
› Update user password
wp user update 1 —-user_pass=newpass
› List all posts
wp post list
› List all users
wp user list

25. Scaffolding
› _s Theme scaffolding
wp scaffold _s devconmru --theme_name="The
Devconmru Theme" —-author=“Devconmru”
—-sassify
› New post type
wp scaffold post-type books —-theme
› Create a child theme
wp scaffold child-theme devconmru-child --
parent_theme=devconmru —-theme_name=‘Child
Theme'

26. WP-CLI Internal API
› Extend WP-CLI with new command
WP_CLI::add_command()
› Execute callbacks for a specific hook
WP_CLI::do_hook()
› Displaying messages
WP_CLI::line()
WP_CLI::success()
WP_CLI::error() //script exited after this one

27. Custom WP-CLI Commands
› Extend WP-CLI with your own commands
› No performance issues since the code is only loaded
when accessed through WP-CLI
if ( defined('WP_CLI') && WP_CLI ) {
require __DIR__ . '/wp-cli-command.php';
}

28. Custom WP-CLI Commands
›
function post_count_callback(){
//Write code here
}
WP_CLI::add_command('post-count',
'post_count_callback');
› New command available!
wp post-count
Demo code: https://github.com/rrikesh/wp-cli-
post-count

29. Thank you!
› Questions?
› If you have any questions after the presentation:
Tweet me at @rrikesh
Mail me on r@paperboat.io