Build a WordPress Plugin Using ChatGPT (No Coding Needed!)

Creating your own WordPress plugin might sound complicated, but with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT, you can go from idea to working product in just a few hours. In this guide, I’ll show you how I recreated a tool similar to Pretty Links (a powerful link management plugin) and how you can do the same.

Whether you’re a beginner or an entrepreneur looking for a new product idea — this is for you.

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✅ What We’re Building

We’ll recreate a Pretty Links-style plugin that allows users to:

• Shorten and cloak URLs using their domain
• Create custom slugs (e.g., yourdomain.com/offer)
• Track click statistics
• Choose between 301, 302, and 307 redirects
• View a dashboard inside WordPress

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🧠 Tools You’ll Need

• A WordPress site (local or live)
• A free OpenAI account (to use ChatGPT)
• A code editor (like VS Code or Notepad++)
• A little patience and creativity

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🧱 Step 1: Plan the Plugin Features

Before asking ChatGPT for help, decide what features you want. Here’s what I used as my prompt:

“Create a WordPress plugin that allows users to shorten URLs using their own domain. It should allow custom slugs, support 301, 302, and 307 redirects, track clicks, and display them on a dashboard in the admin panel. The plugin should be lightweight and work without external APIs.”

You can add:

• Option to organize links into categories
• Notes for each link
• Sorting and filtering in the dashboard

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🤖 Step 2: Use ChatGPT to Generate the Plugin Code

Open ChatGPT and paste your prompt.

You can use a prompt like:

textCopyEditCreate a WordPress plugin called “My Pretty Links” that:
- Lets users create custom short links
- Supports 301, 302, and 307 redirects
- Tracks the number of clicks on each link
- Displays click stats in the WordPress admin dashboard
- Uses a custom post type or its own admin menu
- Stores the destination URL, slug, and number of clicks

ChatGPT will start generating code like this:

• my-pretty-links.php (main plugin file)
• Functions for registering custom post types
• Admin menu and dashboard UI
• Redirection and tracking logic
• Code to capture clicks and store them in the database

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🗃️ Step 3: Save and Organize the Files

Once ChatGPT provides the code:

1. Open a code editor like VS Code
2. Create a new folder: my-pretty-links
3. Inside, create a file called my-pretty-links.php
4. Paste the code from ChatGPT into this file

Your plugin folder should look like this:

perlCopyEditmy-pretty-links/
  └── my-pretty-links.php

If ChatGPT gives you multiple files (CSS, JS, includes), organize them into folders like:

• /includes
• /assets/css
• /assets/js

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🧪 Step 4: Test the Plugin on Your WordPress Site

1. Compress the my-pretty-links folder into a .zip file
2. Go to your WordPress dashboard
3. Navigate to: Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
4. Upload your ZIP file and click Install Now
5. Click Activate

🎉 The plugin should now appear in your WordPress admin menu.

Test by:

• Creating a new short link
• Choosing a redirect type (301, 302, 307)
• Visiting the short link to see if it redirects properly
• Checking if click tracking works

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🎨 Step 5: Customize the UI (Optional)

If you want a cleaner or more modern UI, ask ChatGPT:

“Update the admin dashboard of this plugin with a modern, minimal CSS style. Use WordPress admin styles where possible.”

You can also ask it to:

• Add charts for click analytics
• Add pagination for long lists of links
• Improve the layout with Bootstrap or Tailwind (advanced)

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💼 Step 6: Monetize Your Plugin

Once your plugin is working well, it’s time to think about selling it.

💰 Ways to Sell:

• CodeCanyon – large marketplace for WordPress plugins
• Gumroad or Lemon Squeezy – easy to sell directly
• Your own website – use WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads
• WordPress.org (free version) – to build an audience and upsell a premium version

🔒 Licensing (for Pro versions)

Ask ChatGPT:

“Add a basic license check system to my WordPress plugin that validates license keys via my website’s API.”

This will protect your plugin from unauthorized use.

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📦 Step 7: Package and Launch

Before launching:

1. Add a readme.txt file with instructions
2. Include screenshots and a short video demo
3. Test the plugin on multiple WordPress versions
4. Write a compelling product description
5. Offer basic support via email or a helpdesk

Then upload to your chosen platform and start selling!

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🔄 Bonus: Maintain and Improve

As people start using your plugin, listen to feedback and:

• Fix bugs
• Add new features
• Release updates
• Build a community or email list

You can even use ChatGPT to generate changelogs and update notes!

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🚀 Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be a developer to build real software products anymore. With tools like ChatGPT:

• Your ideas can become actual working plugins
• You can save thousands on development
• You can build products faster than ever before
• You can create new revenue streams

This is just one example (Pretty Links). You can clone other plugin ideas, solve your own problems, or build custom tools for clients — all using AI.

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🔧 Want Help Getting Started?

Drop a comment or message if you’d like:

• A sample plugin ZIP file
• A done-for-you ChatGPT prompt
• Help publishing to CodeCanyon or WordPress.org

I’m here to help you launch your first plugin — no code, no stress!

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Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQ )