To build this plugin I’m going to start with a new project, entirely from scratch. This means that I will be initially developing a normal application. Once we’re nearing the end, we’ll package the project up into a plugin. This post will cover the development of basic CRUD functionality so we can actually do something if we want.
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Wordpress is, by far, the most popular blogging framework on the Internet today and that popularity is not undeserved. It has an easy installation and is set up to cater to non-technical people. After installation, it simply works and people are up and running quickly. It has an active plugin community to extend it in any direction a user might need. In short, it’s a great solution to use pretty much anywhere.

However, it’s also not very nice to play with as a developer. The code is mostly based around PHP 4 (although that will probably change when 3.0 is released) and writing plugins and themes can occasionally be a nightmare. Security is, unfortunately, a constant problem since the ease-of-use is occasionally in tension with secure practices. Finally, while the self-contained aspect of Wordpress is great for a typical user who pretty much runs their entire site through Wordpress, integrating a Wordpress installation with an existing applicaiton — especially an application that has its own extensive user-management solution — is a daunting task.
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So, for the past year or so I have struggled in trying to figure out how best to incorporate Wordpress into a Symfony application. The conclusion I have come to? I’m really starting to wonder if it’s worth any of the trouble. So, I’m trying to figure out, for myself at least, what aspects of Wordpress I really appreciate; of those features, I really wonder whether or not building a new plugin (or extending sfSimpleBlogPlugin/sfBlogsPlugin) would not be a better idea.
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