Hidden Roadblocks of Building WordPress Plugins with ChatGPT

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Last Updated on August 4, 2025 3:55 pm by Jeffrey Powers

ChatGPT is a great tool for developers looking to speed up their workflow in coding, especially when it comes to building WordPress plugins. This AI coding assistant is a great way to get a code going, however, the experience isn’t always plug-and-play. This is what we’re going to look at today in the video.

Making WordPress Plugins with ChatGPT

Making a WordPress Plugin is as simple as asking the AI to do it. Since I’m not a coder, I prefer to make plugins that don’t require user input – anything that could cause a backdoor to the site. These simple, closed door plugins allow me to have the functionality without security risks.

Most Important Part

Backup, Backup, Backup. Use a sandbox WordPress – don’t use an active site.

The Plugin I Made

This is a Bulk Insert Block plugin. You can find it on GitHub. It is without guarantee or support, so test this plugin before you use it.

Versions of GPT

There are a few GPT versions when you pay for it. It’s recommended to use the O4-mini-high for any type of coding, but GPT will work with most of their LLMs.

ChatGPT 5 is Coming

I don’t believe we’ll see too many interface differences. I am hoping they’ll add better collaboration efforts on GPT’s end – testing the code for errors, or remember the revisions. If it dramatically changes, I’ll make an update.

Working with ChatGPT – the First Hurdle

Once I started making plugins, I noticed a major issue with ChatGPT is Lack of context awareness. While ChatGPT can crank out code snippets at lightning speed, it doesn’t always grasp your project’s specific structure, plugin dependencies, or naming conventions unless you spoon-feed it that detail. That means you’re likely doing a lot of copy-paste, test, tweak, and re-explain — the kind of repetition that adds up fast.

It will not look at the older code going forward. I’ve had code disappear, and GPT rewrite parts that shouldn’t be.

Dynamic WordPress Functions Can Be Tricky

Another speed bump is handling dynamic WordPress functions and hooks. While ChatGPT is pretty solid on core actions and filters, once you move into the weeds of custom post types, AJAX calls, or extending Gutenberg blocks, the generated code can start to fall short or become outdated. It can get you close — but “close” often isn’t enough when you’re deep in debugging mode.

Changing Many Things

Sometimes, it’s best to ask ChatGPT to do one thing at a time. If you give the AI a laundry list, it might forget some or even break other features. You might even have to start from the beginning to get the results you need.

Plugin Architecture Still Needs a Human Touch

Let’s not forget plugin architecture. Building a plugin that’s scalable and maintainable requires decisions ChatGPT can’t intuit: Should you use a singleton class? Where should you enqueue scripts? How should you organize files for future updates? The AI can suggest common patterns, but only if you explicitly ask — and even then, the advice may be inconsistent between prompts.

ChatGPT is a Great Collaborator — With Limits

Despite these bumps in the road, ChatGPT is still a powerful partner. It excels at boilerplate code, documentation, quick refactoring, and even ideating new plugin concepts. But it shines brightest when you treat it like a junior dev: helpful, fast, and creative — but always in need of oversight.

Final Thoughts

For someone like me who can read, but have a hard time creating code, this is a great way to get started on an idea. It also doesn’t hurt to have a plugin checker plugin on your WordPress install to help.

Keep an eye on your logs, and if GPT is making the plugin go haywire, then start over from a backup of when the code is stable. Giving GPT specifics like “error in line 95” is key to getting the code working quicker.

Check it out at https://openai.com and let me know what plugins you’ve coded – for WordPress, Python, or whatever.

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