I recently spoke at WordCamp US 2016 about the WordPress REST API that just got its main content endpoints merged in WordPress 4.7.
There is a hype surrounding the REST API these days. People focus on how it will change the future of WordPress, allow developers to expand the range of projects they can build, make WordPress popular outside its own bubble.
As a project manager working for a company heavily invested in the development of the REST API, I felt a lot of pressure to understand what it is, how it will change things for developers, clients, and – well, me. You see, I’ve been building WordPress sites for the past 4 years, with almost non-existent development skills. Was the REST API going to change that? What would it mean for small agencies? What would it mean for theme shops?
We rarely talk about are the challenges presented by the REST API, especially for non-developers, mostly because the only people who talk about the REST API are developers.
This talk provides a short guide to the WordPress REST API from a non-developer perspective: what is it, how it will change WordPress development, combined with some thoughts on the impact it will have on projects created with WordPress and the people creating them.
Don’t want to watch the video? You can read the post or view the slides instead.
I’d like to thank Siobhan McKeown, Ryan McCue, Nikolay Bachiyski and Joe Hoyle for their help and support during the prep of this talk. It was a real challenge for me as a non-developer and a great example of how preparing to talk to others about a subject you don’t know a lot about can make you dig in, learn a lot and find a way to translate something into terms everyone could grasp.
I would also like to say a special “Thank you!” to Scott Evans for designing poor burnout Wapuu to help me illustrate my point.
Learn more about the WordPress REST API:
Event:
A Day of REST Boston is coming up on March 9th with workshops on March 8th and March 10th. A Day of REST is a developer conference all about the WordPress REST API. The event brings together industry experts who are using the API and members of the team who have built it. It’s an amazing opportunity to learn from the source and up your dev game in just three days. Don’t miss it.
Read:
- Talking to 25% of The Web: A comprehensive guide to the WordPress REST API by Tom Willmot, Joe Hoyle, and Siobhan McKeown
- Official documentation — https://developer.wordpress.com/docs/api/
- Scott Taylor: The Live Coverage platform of the NY Times
Listen:
Watch:
- Ryan McCue: Introduction to the WordPress REST API
- Joe Hoyle: The Building Blocks of a REST API project
- Kathleen Vignos: Should I Use the WordPress REST API?
- K.Adam White: WordPress as an external component in a Node.js application
- Jack Lenox: Theming with the REST API: A Developer’s Tale
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