Dewdrop makes writing complex WordPress plugins simpler by providing a sensible project layout and developer tools.

Dewdrop can be used in two contexts: stand-alone PHP applications and WordPress plugins. Depending upon which context you're working in, getting started varies slightly.

Step 1. Create a folder for your own WordPress plugin inside the plugins folder of your installation.

Step 2. Create a composer.json file that requires the "deltasystems/dewdrop" library.

{
    "autoload": {
        "psr-4": {
            "Model\\": "models/"
        }
    },
    "require": {
        "deltasystems/dewdrop": "dev-master"
    }
}

NOTE: If you will be contributing to Dewdrop, add the following structure to the JSON above so that Composer uses a Git clone for the Dewdrop dependency. Keep your work committed in branches other than develop and master to avoid losing work on Composer updates!

{
    "repositories": [
        {
            "type": "git",
            "url":  "git@github.com:DeltaSystems/dewdrop.git"
        }
    ]
}

Step 3. If you don't have Composer available, you will want to download it as described on Packagist (http://packagist.org/). Once installed run php composer.phar install --prefer-dist to install Dewdrop and its dependencies.

Step 4. After Composer has installed Dewdrop, you'll want to run a few commands to kick things off.

$ ./vendor/bin/dewdrop wp-init       # Create common folders for WordPress plugins
$ ./vendor/bin/dewdrop dbdeploy      # Create stock database tables used by Dewdrop
$ ./vendor/bin/dewdrop dewdrop-test  # Run the Dewdrop test suite to ensure everything is working as expected

Step 5. Dewdrop requires the installation of the WordPress Session Manager Plugin. You will need to install it.

Step 6. Proceed with your plugin development as described in the WordPress Codex.

Dewdrop may also be used as a standalone application, outside the context of a WordPress instance. To do so requires an additional dependency on Silex, a PHP micro-framework.

1. Add a .gitignore file in your project root directory that includes the /vendor directory, since we'll use Composer to install Dewdrop and its dependencies.

2. Add a composer.json file similar to the example below:

   {
       "autoload": {
           "psr-4": {
               "My\\": "src/My/"
           }
       },
       "require": {
           "deltasystems/dewdrop": "dev-master",
           "silex/silex": "~1.2"
       },
       "repositories": [
           {
               "type": "git",
               "url": "git@github.com:DeltaSystems/dewdrop.git"
           }
       ]
   }

3. Run composer install to install Dewdrop and its dependencies.

4. Add a dewdrop-config.php file similar to the example below:

   <?php
   
   // Change the configuration for your MySQL or PostgreSQL database as appropriate
   return [
       'bootstrap' => '\My\Bootstrap',
       'db'        => [
           'username' => 'dewdrop_pgsql',
           'password' => 'dewdrop_pgsql',
           'host'     => 'localhost',
           'name'     => 'dewdrop_pgsql',
           'type'     => 'pgsql',
       ],
   ];    

5. Add an application bootstrap class. In this example your bootstrap class would be located at src/My/Bootstrap.php and may resemble something like the following:

   <?php
   
   namespace My;
   
   use Dewdrop\Bootstrap\PimpleProviderInterface;
   use Dewdrop\Config;
   use Dewdrop\Db\Adapter as DbAdapter;
   use Dewdrop\Db\Driver\Pdo\Pgsql;
   use Exception;
   use PDO;
   use Silex\Application;
   
   class Bootstrap implements PimpleProviderInterface
   {
       /**
        * @var Application
        */
       protected $application;
   
       /**
        * @return Application
        */
       public function getPimple()
       {
           if (null === $this->application) {
   
               $this->application = new Application();
   
               $this->application['config'] = $this->application->share(
                   function () {
                       return new Config();
                   }
               );
   
               $this->application['db'] = $this->application->share(
                   function () {
   
                       if (!isset($this->application['config']['db'])) {
                           throw new Exception('Database configuration unavailable');
                       }
   
                       $dbConfig = $this->application['config']['db'];
   
                       $pdo = new PDO(
                           "pgsql:dbname={$dbConfig['name']};host={$dbConfig['host']}",
                           $dbConfig['username'],
                           $dbConfig['password']
                       );
   
                       $adapter = new DbAdapter();
   
                       new Pgsql($adapter, $pdo);
   
                       return $adapter;
                   }
               );
   
               $this->application['admin'] = $this->application->share(
                   function () {
                       $admin = new SilexAdmin($this->application);
   
                       $admin->setTitle('My Application');
   
                       return $admin;
                   }
               );
   
           }
   
           return $this->application;
       }
   }

6. Add a models directory to your project root.

7. Run vendor/bin/dewdrop dbdeploy to generate your project's database metadata files and supporting database schema.

8. Optionally run vendor/bin/dewdrop dewdrop-test to run the tests for Dewdrop itself.

9. Add a www directory to your project root and an index.php file similar to the following example:

   <?php
   
   define('PROJECT_ROOT', realpath(__DIR__ . '/../'));
   
   require_once PROJECT_ROOT . '/vendor/autoload.php';
   
   /* @var $silex \Silex\Application */
   $silex = \Dewdrop\Pimple::getInstance();
   
   $silex->get('/', function () use ($silex) {
       return 'Hello, world!';
   });
   
   $silex->run();

10. Serve the www directory with your favorite web server.

11. Check the operation of your web application with a GET request to the application root. You should see a response of "Hello, world!".

12. Explore more about Dewdrop, such as building administrative user interfaces with CRUD support.

If you'd like to contribute to Dewdrop, read this wiki page for information on how to get your development environment running smoothly:

https://github.com/DeltaSystems/dewdrop/wiki/Contributing

You can view our latest build results, including API documentation and test reports, at:

http://ci.deltasys.com/dewdrop/

Dewdrop is written by Delta Systems and distributed under the GPL license.