WordPress is undoubtedly the CMS the world's most popular solution for creating optimized, secure websites in record time.

WP offers several tools for creating a website from A to Z via a graphical interface without adding a single line of code.

But to do something more advanced or customized, we sometimes find ourselves obliged to use theadd custom code.

As you can already guess, in this blog post, we're going to discover 3 common and effective ways to add custom code to your WordPress site.

Why add custom code to WordPress?

Before going any further, let's take a look at exactly why a developer or webmaster would want to add custom code to their WordPress.

  • Add a particular CSS style not included by default in the theme
  • Add a JavaScript script to add a behavior not included by default in the theme
  • Add PHP code to customize a particular WordPress hook or filter for change something in the theme

Now that you know why you should add custom code to WordPress, let's discover 3 common ways to do it.

#1. Code Snippets

The first common way to add custom code to WordPress is to use Code Snippetswhich is a very popular WordPress plugin for adding code snippets to different parts of your website.

It lets you add and load code PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS à various and has excellent error handling so you don't have to add code containing bugs.

You can install Code Snippets from the official WordPress directory.

#2. Child Theme

The second common way to add custom code to WordPress is to use a child themewhich lets you modify the parent theme without losing its settings or customizations.

Once the child theme has been created and activated, simply use its functions.php to add custom PHP code or its style.css to add custom CSS code.

You can quickly generate a child theme for your theme with the free plugin Child Theme Configurator.

#3. Create a Plugin

Another effective way to add custom code to your WordPress site is to simply create your own plugin and add the code you want.

Creating a plugin can be difficult or complex if you're a beginner. Fortunately, you can use a plugin that lets you create your own in just a few clicks.

Simply install the Pluginceptiongo to Extensions > Create a New Pluginto give your plugin a unique name, then click on Create a blank plugin and activate it!

Once the plugin has been created and installed, simply add your custom code to the plugin file.

Conclusion

WordPress is a very popular CMS used by millions of websites worldwide (over 800 million at the time of writing).

It lets you set up robust, complex sites via a graphical interface, but it's still possible, for specific needs, to add custom code with Code Snippets, a Children's Theme or a Homemade Plugin.