Description
As more and more developers turn towards front-end apps and data solutions, a solid AJAX API is key to developing
a responsive, usable system of querying and modifying posts. While many solutions and plugins exist to help set up
endpoints, often times they are cumbersome or overly opinionated. Simple Posts API provides your site with an easy-to-use,
structure RESTful API with which to query, update, and delete posts. It is relatively unopinionated, so you can store and retrieve
post metadata at will without worrying about setting up fields beforehand. Additionally, it employs native WordPress Nonces
to provide a secure structure for updating your post data.
API Endpoints
Usage
There are four main operations you can use with this plugin:
Get
Put
Delete
Post
Each operation can be accessed by visiting
http://yoururl.com/postsapi/OPERATION/POST_TYPE||ID
You may pass a Post Type or ID as the second URL parameter depending on the operation you’re performing.
Each call must have a POST body containing a variable (nonce) containing a nonce value which WordPress will verify. There is a localized JS variable provided named
secure
which should be used. Some calls also allow other POST fields to be sent along with the call.
For calls which include Field data, the plugin will automatically determine which are Custom Fields and which are not.
See below for specifics on each operation.
GET
Retrieve a list of posts based on a provided Post Type or Post ID.
URL Path
http://yoururl.com/postsapi/get/POST_TYPE
OR
http://yoururl.com/postapi/get/ID
POST Body
Required:
nonce (nonce value for security)
Optional:
arguments (an array of get_post arguments to use in the call)
Example POST body:
jQuery.post( ‘/postsapi/get/post’, { nonce: secure, arguments : {‘posts_per_page’: ‘-1’} })
.done(function( data ) {
console.log(data);
});
Additional Notes:
The GET function returns author information for each post. If a user is logged in and has admin capabilities, the author information is extensive. If the user is not an admin, then any private information is stripped from the returned object for security purposes.
PUT
Update a post based on the provided ID and POSTed fields
URL Path
http://yoururl.com/postapi/put/ID
POST Body
Required:
nonce (nonce value for security)
fields (an array of key:value pairs to determine which fields to update)
Optional:
force (boolean; if set to
false
, the call will return an error if any invalid field names are passed, otherwise it will update all valid fields regardless. Default is ‘false’)
Example POST body:
jQuery.post( ‘/postsapi/put/1’, { nonce: secure, force: false, fields: { ‘post_title’: ‘Updated Title’, ‘custom_text’: ‘Updated custom text’ } } )
.done(function( data ) {
console.log( data );
});
DELETE
Delete a post based on the provided ID
URL Path
http://yoururl.com/postapi/delete/ID
POST Body
Required:
nonce (nonce value for security)
Optional:
force (boolean; if set to
false
, the post will be sent to the trash, otherwise it will skip the trash and be permanently deleted. Default is ‘false’)
Example POST body:
jQuery.post( ‘/postsapi/delete/7’, { nonce: secure, force: false } )
.done(function( data ) {
console.log( data );
});
POST
Create a post of the given post type, including the provided fields
URL Path
http://yoururl.com/postapi/post/POST_TYPE
POST Body
Required:
nonce (nonce value for security)
fields (an array of key:value pairs to determine which fields to include when creating the post)
Optional:
none
Example POST body:
jQuery.post( ‘/postsapi/post/post’, { nonce: secure, fields: { ‘post_title’: ‘New Title’, ‘custom_text’: ‘New custom text’, ‘post_status’: ‘publish’ } } )
.done(function( data ) {
console.log( data );
});
Errors and Status Messages
Each call will return a JSON object. Within the JSON object is a key named
status
. This contains a status code and status message. You can check against this in your scripts in order to see if the call was successful or not. Any status code other than 200 is an error.
Status Codes
200: Success
400: No posts found
401: Permission Denied (either failed the nonce verification or user not logged in)
410: Invalid Post ID or Post Type provided
420: Post ID not found
430: Fields not found (status message lists fields)
450: Post delete failed (WordPress could not delete the post, see the status message for details)
460: Post type does not exist
470: Could not create new post; see status message for error details
Actions
Each operation has its own unique
_before
and
_after
actions that can be hooked into. See below for a complete list.
GET
postsapi_before_get
postsapi_after_get
PUT
postsapi_before_put
postsapi_after_put
DELETE
postsapi_before_delete
postsapi_after_delete
POST
postsapi_before_post
postsapi_after_post