Getting started with WordPress
IntelliJ IDEA provides a dedicated interface for developing and running WordPress applications and provides WordPress-aware coding assistance, see WordPress-specific coding assistance. To get access to this functionality in a project, you need to download WordPress, register it in IntelliJ IDEA, and activate the WordPress integration within the current project.
Alternatively, you can download WordPress and create a stub of a WordPress-targeted project. In this case, the WordPress integration in the project will be activated automatically.
Whether you enable the WordPress integration in an existing project or create a stub of a WordPress application, IntelliJ IDEA checks if the development environment is configured properly for WordPress development. If the configuration does not meet the requirements, IntelliJ IDEA displays a popup with a Fix link.
Before you start
Make sure the PHP interpreter is configured in IntelliJ IDEA on the PHP page, as described in Configuring Local PHP Interpreters and Configuring Remote PHP Interpreters.
Make sure the PHP and WordPress Support plugins are installed and enabled.
The plugins are not bundled with IntelliJ IDEA, but they can be installed on the Settings/Preferences | Plugins page as described in Installing plugins from JetBrains repository. Once enabled, the plugins are available at the IDE level, that is, you can use them in all your IntelliJ IDEA projects.
Configure the PHP interpreter to use WordPress with, as described Configuring Remote PHP Interpreters. Note that WordPress requires PHP 5.3 or later.
Download and install WordPress
Download the WordPress.zip archive at https://wordpress.org/download/.
Extract the archive:
To have the possibility to run your WordPress application on a local Web server, store the extracted file to the document root of the server where the PHP interpreter is configured. For local development environment with the Apache HTTPD Web server, extract WordPress.zip to the htdocs folder.
To run your WordPress application on an in-place server, store the extracted file under the project root.
To run your WordPress application on a remote server, store the extracted files in your project and then configure automatic upload of them to the document root of the remote server.
Learn more about server access configurations, see Configure synchronization with a Web server. For information on configuring upload to the server, see Upload and download files.
If you are not going to run your WordPress application but just need to get coding assistance from IntelliJ IDEA, store the extracted files anywhere on your computer. In this case, you will have to configure the installation as an include path, see Configure include paths.
To run WordPress in the command line mode, you will need a set of command line tools, which you can acquire by installing the wp-cli/wp-cli package using the Composer dependency manager or by downloading the wp-cli.phar archive. For details, see WP-CLI command line tool.
Activate the WordPress installation in a project
Open the project for which you'd like to enable WordPress integration.
In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
On the Frameworks page that opens, expand the WordPress node and select the Enable WordPress integration checkbox.
In the WordPress installation path field, specify the folder where WordPress is installed. This folder should contain the wp-admin and wp-includes subdirectories.
Click Apply to save the WordPress registration and click PHP.
On the PHP reference page that opens, add the path to the WordPress installation folder to the Include Paths list: click the
button and specify the path to the installation folder in the dialog that opens. Learn more in Configure include paths.
Generate a WordPress application stub
During project creation, IntelliJ IDEA can generate a project stub for developing WordPress applications. The project structure is set up in accordance with the WordPress requirements.
Click Create New Project on the Welcome screen or select from the main menu. The New Project dialog opens.
In the left-hand pane, click PHP from the list, then choose WordPress Plugin in the right-hand pane, and then click Next.
On the second page of the wizard, specify the project name and the folder where it will be created.
In the WordPress Installation Path field, specify the folder where WordPress is installed. This folder should contain the wp-admin and wp-includes subdirectories. Click Finish to start the project stub generation.
If the newly created project is outside the WordPress installation folder, configure it as an external library by adding it to the list of included path.
In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), go to .
On the PHP reference page that opens, add the path to the WordPress installation folder to the Include Paths list: click the
button and specify the path to the installation folder in the dialog that opens. Learn more in Configure include paths.