VIP Scanner: A powerful tool to improve the quality of WordPress themes

Core points:

• VIP Scanner is a powerful tool that improves the quality of WordPress themes by identifying potential issues such as coding errors, security vulnerabilities, and non-WordPress encoding standards. It is similar to unit testing of WordPress themes, ensuring its functionality and security.
• VIP Scanner plugin is still under active development and, while some features are missing (mainly about the code standards aspect), it is still a valuable tool for theme developers. It is recommended to use it regularly during development to detect errors as early as possible and save time.
• Installing and using VIP Scanner is very simple. It can be downloaded from the WordPress plugin directory and installed directly on your WordPress website. Once installed, it can scan any topic and provide detailed reports to help you understand and resolve any identified issues.

Safety is crucial

Safety is everyone's responsibility. Especially for developers, you should be responsible for the content you create. Even if you are just a WordPress user or a newbie developer, make sure the website you build for your customers is as safe as possible.

Absolute security does not exist.

Quoting Bruce Schnell in his book "Applied Cryptography":

The only secure computer system in the world is to unplug the power supply and lock it in a submarine vault, and only one person knows the location and password of the vault. And this man is dead.

Even large companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, Adobe and Google have encountered security problems. These companies have many developers and dedicated security teams, but problems still occur.

I hope you have not forgotten the incident caused by Sony's clear text storage of passwords. If you are developing anything, please do not store passwords in plain text, never.

WordPress and Security

Many tools can help you harden your application better. Some are universal, some are very specific. WordPress also has such tools. For WordPress websites, theme quality is an important part of overall website security. The VIP Scanner plugin is one of the tools that can help you improve in this regard. It is the UI of the VIP Scanner library. You can find the library in vip-scanner under the plugin folder.

My local settings use Vagrant and Chassis, if you want to use it, you can check out the article about Chassis.

There are two ways to install VIP Scanner: install through the plugin page and manually install by using git in the plugin folder. It is recommended to use git installation because only older versions (v0.7) are available on the VIP Scanner plugin page, while the GitHub repository has v0.8. The developers of this plugin are also more inclined to install git. To install the plugin, navigate to the plugin folder and execute the following command:

git clone https://github.com/Automattic/vip-scanner.git vipscanner
cd vipscanner
git submodule update --init --recursive

The first command will download the plugin. The second command will navigate to the directory we newly cloned. The third command clons all submodules (PHP-Parser).

Now, navigate to your WordPress dashboard and activate the plug-in. To see how this plugin works, navigate to Tools >VIP Scanner.

You will find three different scanning options:

• Undefined function check
• wp.com topic review
• VIP Theme Review

When you first run a scan with this tool, it will use the currently active topic--it is worth mentioning that this tool only deals with topics. Each scan type is different, which is very useful when you develop a WordPress theme and care about the quality of your code (everyone should care about).

You can also use this tool with WP-CLI, you can check the VIP Scanner documentation for more information.

When you scan the topic (activity topic), you will find various problems. The first scan type (undefined function checking) is as the name suggests. It scans the entire topic directory for undefined functions. This is the basic scan, and you should use it on every topic you develop. The other two scans are more specific. The second scan type (wp.com topic review) is used when developing community topics. The third type of scan is only used in WordPress VIP.

Now we have some understanding of VIP Scanner, let's have a little fun! Let's scan for official themes preinstalled in WordPress (Latest Themes). The first scan (undefined function) will not throw any errors. The second scan will show some errors (mainly warnings). The scan results are divided into three parts: error, comment and analysis. The first part is the part that shows the error, the second part is the warning, and the third part is a great way to find more information about the subject structure. For example the number of classes, functions and author details.

Even with the official WordPress theme, we found some mistakes. Most errors are:

This theme uses @package WordPress. This is reserved for WordPress core files.

This is because you should not use @package WordPress in any theme (even the official WordPress theme).

Now, use this tool to scan for more topics. This tool is very powerful when you develop your own theme for your clients (even for review). If you are writing your own topic, start with the small steps and scan it. This way, you're unlikely to mess things up. You can also save time by spotting errors in the early stages of development.

The shortcomings

What I found in general very frustrating is the lack of high-quality code. VIP Scanner does a great job, and it is actively developing from the perspective of commits, pull requests and questions, which is great. I would like to see the project use the git submodule for dependency management. Packagist and Composer exist for this. PHP lacks dependency management tools, but they finally emerge. Also, I have some problems with Code Sniffer. When scanning topics using "VIP Theme Audit" I always get errors telling me that Code Sniffer is not installed locally. I tried to fix this and install the tool, but I can't get it to work. If you resolved this issue, please leave a comment.

This tool does lack something, mainly code standards. However, it is a good tool and works well, so you should definitely use it on every topic you develop.

Conclusion

In this article, we learned what the VIP Scanner plugin is and how to use it to better strengthen our website. This is a great plugin that not only helps you with your existing WordPress website, but also helps you develop your own theme. With this plugin, you can speed up the development of your theme and build your theme with confidence. This is a unit test for WordPress themes, so you can be sure things are going the right way. Security comes from good practices, which will help you grow as a developer.

What do you think of this plugin? Would you consider using it in your workflow? What other plugins do you use to improve quality when creating a theme?

FAQ on Improving the Quality of WordPress Themes with VIP Scanner

What is VIP Scanner and how does it help improve the quality of WordPress themes?

VIP Scanner is a powerful tool designed to analyze and improve the quality of WordPress themes. It will conduct a comprehensive scan of your topic to identify any potential issues or improvements. This includes checking for encoding errors, security vulnerabilities, and compliance with WordPress encoding standards. By using VIP Scanner, you can ensure that your WordPress themes have the highest quality, provide a better user experience and improve the performance of your website.

How does VIP Scanner compare to other WordPress theme quality tools?

VIP Scanner stands out for its comprehensive and detailed analysis. Not only does it check for encoding errors, it also ensures that your theme complies with WordPress encoding standards. This includes checking for deprecated functions, incorrect use of global variables, and so on. Additionally, VIP Scanner is designed to work seamlessly with WordPress, making it a convenient and efficient tool for improving the quality of the theme.

How to install and use VIP Scanner?

Installing and using VIP Scanner is an easy process. You can download the tool from the WordPress plugin directory and install it directly on your WordPress website. Once installed, you can run a scanner on any topic to identify potential issues and improvements. The scanner provides detailed reports that make it easy for you to understand and resolve any identified issues.

Can VIP Scanner help identify security vulnerabilities in WordPress themes?

Yes, VIP Scanner is designed to identify potential security vulnerabilities in WordPress themes. It checks for common security issues such as using deprecated functions, incorrect use of global variables, and so on. By identifying and resolving these issues, you can ensure that your WordPress theme is safe and reliable.

What are WordPress coding standards and why are they important?

WordPress coding standards are a set of guides and best practices for writing WordPress code. They are designed to ensure that the code is concise, efficient and easy to understand. Complying with these standards can improve the quality of WordPress themes, making them more reliable, safer, and easier to maintain.

How does VIP Scanner improve the performance of my WordPress website?

VIP Scanner improves the performance of your WordPress website by identifying and helping you solve potential problems in your theme. This includes encoding errors, security vulnerabilities, and failure to comply with WordPress encoding standards. By addressing these issues, you can ensure that your theme is efficient and reliable, thereby improving website performance.

Can I use VIP Scanner on any WordPress theme?

Yes, VIP Scanner can be used on any WordPress theme. It is a universal tool that analyzes and improves the quality of any topic, regardless of its complexity or design.

What issues can VIP Scanner identify in my WordPress theme?

VIP Scanner can identify various problems in WordPress themes. This includes encoding errors, security vulnerabilities, failure to comply with WordPress encoding standards, etc. The scanner provides detailed reports of any identified issues, making it easy for you to understand and resolve them.

How often should I use VIP Scanner on my WordPress theme?

It is recommended to use VIP Scanner regularly to ensure that your WordPress themes are always high-quality. Regular scans can help identify and resolve potential issues early to avoid impacting the performance or user experience of your website.

Is VIP Scanner easy to use for beginners?

Yes, VIP Scanner is designed to be easy to use and can be easily used for even beginners. It provides detailed reports of any identified issues, making it easy for you to understand and resolve them. In addition, the scanner is integrated with WordPress, which is very convenient and fast to use.

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