Php Scripts Together With Wordpress Enables You To Add Additional Functions To Your Web-Site That Are Not Included In Themes Or Plugins. If You Wish To Have Your Personalized Forms, Data Processors, Or Any Other Functionality, Inserting The PHP Scripts Would Help Enable You To Carry Out These Changes In WordPress. This Tutorial Will Explain To You How To Incorporate Php Scripts Into Your WordPress Site And Learn Some Useful Tips.

Step 1: Know The Fundamentals Of PHP And WordPress

As A Prerequisite For Integration, One Needs To Have At Least A Rudimentary Knowledge Of PHP As Well As How WordPress Functions. WordPress Is A PHP Platform, And Most Of Its Files Including Core, Themes, And Plugins Are Written In PHP And Used To Communicate With The Database And Create Dynamic Content. Some Of The Basics Of WordPress Include Functions, Hooks, And Actions To Which You Will Need To Pay Most Of Your Attention When Inserting PHP Scripts.

Step 2: Select The Location For Your PHP Script

It Is Very Important To Know Where To Put Your PHP Script In The Wordpress File System. There Are Three Main Options:

Functions. Php: This File Is An Elements Of The Site’s Theme And It Is Here That You Can Include Additional Php Codes. If Your Script Is Associated With Your Theme’s Functionalities, It Is Here Best To Begin With.

Custom Plugin: If You Have A PHP Script That Has A Specific Function, That You Wish To Be Separate From The Theme, Then The Best Solution Is To Create A New Plugin. This Is Important To Continue Having An Active Script Even If You Switch From One Theme To Another.

Page Templates: If PHP Script Should Be Run On Particular Pages You Can Embed Your Script In The Page Template Of The Specific Page.

Step 3: Adding The PHP Script To The Selected Location

Now That You Have An Understanding Of Where To Use Your PHP Script, It Is High Time That You Input It.

Using Functions. Php:

To Do That, Go To The Appearance And Select The Theme File Editor In Your Wordpress Dashboard.

Open The Functions. PHP File.

If You Have Your PHP Script Ready Insert It At The End Of The File Before Any Other Code And Always Wrap It With Proper WordPress Hooks Or Functions If Any.

Creating A Custom Plugin:

To Begin With, Let’s Generate A New Directory In The WP-content/plugins Directory With A New Unique Name.
In This Folder, You Should Create A PHP File And Name It In The Same Way As The Folder’s Name.
Copy The Plugin Header Into The File As The First Lines, And Put Your Php-Script Under It.
To Use This Plugin, You Need To Activation From The WordPress Plugin Section.

Modifying A Page Template:

You Can Go To Appearance And Then Theme File Editor, And Choose The Page Template That You Have To Edit.
Place Where You Insert Your PHP Script Should Be Within The Template File At The Positions Where You Want It To Work.
Save Your Changes.

Step 4: To Test The PHP Script You Have Created, Type In The Following URL On Your Browser’s Address Bar.

Using This Test Will Help You Know Whether A PHP Script You’re Working On Will Affect Your Site Or Not. After Adding Your Script:

Go To The Part Of The Site Where The Script Is To Be Implemented.
This Is Usually Seen By Inspecting The Browser Console And The WordPress Debug Log Files.
Make Sure That The Script Can Work With WordPress Functions Correctly And Do Not Interfere With The Work Of Other Plugins/themes.

Step 5: Protect Your PHP Script

Security Should Always Be A Focus Of Anyone Who Is Going To Develop Custom PHP Scripts To Be Used With WordPress. Ensure Your Script Is Secure By:

Validating And Sanitizing Input: To Disarm And Validate The User’s Input, You Should Use WordPress Functions, Such As Sanitize_text_field(), Esc_html(), And Wp_verify_nonce(). 
Limiting Script Access: To Guarantee Your Script Can Only Be Called By The Authorized User You Should Use Such Current_user_can().

Keeping Wordpress Updated: It Is Also Important To Update Your Wordpress, Your Themes, And All Other Plugins From Time To Time To Fix Compatibility Issues And To Secure Your Site From Hackers.

Step 6: Improve The Website’s Performance

As We All Know, Working With PHP Scripts Usually Affects The WordPress Site. To Optimize Performance:

Minimize Script Execution: Limit Running The Script By Using Conditional Statements That Enable The Running Of The Only Needed Part Of The Script.
Cache Results: Where Possible Try To Write Your Script In A Way That The Output Can Be Cached So That The Server Can Be Relieved Of The Burden Of Processing The Same Result Many Times.
Profile Your Script: Tools That Can Be Used In Fixing Performance Issues Within Your Script Include; Query Monitor.

Conclusion

PHP Scripts Can Be Embedded In WordPress And Using This Method, A Lot Of Functions And Features Can Be Added In The Website. If You Follow This Guide Below, You Will Be Able To Add PHP Scripts On Your WordPress Site Securely And Efficiently, Without Compromising The Site’s Speed. No Matter Whether You Are Creating New Forms, Setting Up An Automated System, Or A Special Type Of Content Display, Using Php Scripts Is A Way To Enhance WordPress To The Personally Suitable For You.