Step-by-step guide

Open WordPress Playground

Go to playground.wordpress.net in Chrome or Edge. WordPress loads in a few seconds — you'll see the admin dashboard.

Choose your plugin idea

Not sure what to build? Browse the plugin ideas for inspiration, or pick one from the prompts page — those prompts are already written for you.

Write your prompt and generate the code

Open your AI tool (ChatGPT, Claude, Le Chat, etc.) in a new tab. Use the prompt template from the preparation page, fill in your plugin idea, and send it.

You'll get PHP code back — that's your plugin. Copy all of it.

Install your plugin

Choose one of the two methods:

Easiest Option A — Plugin Editor (no file needed)

1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Plugin Editor
2. In the dropdown (top right), select Hello Dolly
3. Select all the existing code and delete it
4. Paste your generated PHP code
5. Click "Update File"

If available Option B — Upload a zip (if your AI created one)

Some AI tools generate a downloadable zip file. If yours did:

1. Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
2. Choose the zip from your downloads folder
3. Click "Install Now"

Activate your plugin

Go to Plugins. Find your plugin — it shows the name you gave it in the plugin header — and click "Activate".

Test your plugin

Click "Visit Site" at the top of the admin and navigate to a post or page. Does your plugin do what you expected?

Iterate

Something not working, or want to improve it? Go back to your AI tool and be specific about the problem:

• "The plugin is activated but nothing appears. Here is the code: [paste]"
• "PHP error: [paste error message]. Can you fix this?"
• "It works — can you make the text gray and slightly smaller?"

Copy the new code, go back to the Plugin Editor, replace the old code and save again.

Start your WordPress site in LocalWP

Open LocalWP. If you haven't created a site yet, click "Create a new site" and follow the steps with default settings. Once your site is listed, click "WP Admin" to open the dashboard.

Choose your plugin idea

Not sure what to build? Browse the plugin ideas for inspiration, or pick one from the prompts page — those prompts are already written for you.

Write your prompt and generate the code

Open your AI tool in a new tab. Use the prompt template from the preparation page, fill in your plugin idea, and send it. You'll get PHP code back — that's your plugin.

Save and install your plugin

Choose the method that suits you best:

Recommended Option A — Text editor

1. Open Notepad (Windows), TextEdit (Mac), or any plain text editor
   • Mac TextEdit only: go to Format → Make Plain Text first, or it saves as RTF which won't work as PHP.
2. Paste your generated PHP code and save the file as plugin-name.php (e.g. reading-time.php)
3. In LocalWP, right-click your site and choose "Open site folder"
4. Navigate to app/public/wp-content/plugins/
5. Create a new folder with the same name as your file (e.g. reading-time)
6. Move your .php file into that folder

Alternative Option B — Upload a zip via WP Admin

Use this if your AI generated a downloadable zip, or if you'd rather not navigate the file system.

If your AI gave you a zip: go straight to step 4.

To create a zip yourself:

1. Put your .php file in a folder with the same name
2. Compress it:
   • Mac: right-click the folder → "Compress"
   • Windows: right-click → "Send to" → "Compressed (zipped) folder"
   • Linux: right-click → "Compress" or run zip -r plugin.zip folder/

To upload:

4. In WP Admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
5. Choose your zip file and click "Install Now"

Activate your plugin

Go to Plugins in WP Admin. Your plugin should appear in the list. Click "Activate".

Plugin not appearing? Check that the folder name and PHP filename match, and that the plugin header block (/* Plugin Name: ... */) is at the very top of the file.

Test your plugin

Click "Open site" in LocalWP, or use "Visit Site" in WP Admin. Navigate to a post or page and check if your plugin behaves as expected.

Iterate

Something not working? Go back to your AI tool and describe the issue clearly:

• "The plugin is activated but nothing appears. Here is the code: [paste]"
• "PHP fatal error: [paste]. Can you fix it?"
• "Works great — can you add a settings page to change the reading speed?"

Copy the new code, open your PHP file in the editor, replace everything, save. Reload the page in WordPress — no reactivation needed.