Hi all.
My name is Hasan Halabi. I’m a software engineer and architect living in Amman, Jordan, a small country in the middle east. English is not my first language, so bear with me while you are reading ;)
I won’t say this is the first trial to try using WordPress as an application platform, but I think this is one of the best trials and the most comprehensive one.
Back in 2014 and 2015, I was building software for small businesses here and there in Jordan. All are small apps. However, the process of building software from scratch was daunting. During the same period, I was making a ton of websites using WordPress and I recognized its potential as an application platform. I start digging more about the possibility of using WordPress as an application platform and I stumbled on a book titled “Building Web Apps with WordPress: WordPress as an Application Framework 1st Edition, Kindle Edition” by Brian Messenlehner and Jason Coleman.
Ok, so I’m not the only one who is thinking this way! This made me start working on making a universal WordPress platform that I can use to build software for small businesses. While I was designing the platform I was taking into consideration the following:
Minimize the theme changes as much as possible. This is because I’m not great at UI/UX. Standardize the API communication between the frontend and backend. Structure the business functionalities as plugins. Easy installation process. Easy to teach other developers about using this platform.
In 2016 I developed the first release of the platform and successfully launched the first small business application. It was an accounting system in Arabic for small businesses and it is still in circulation for over 500 clients.
After that, I used the same platform to develop many data management systems and applications for schools, clinics, lawyers' offices, community-based organizations “CBOs”, and others. All are still in circulation.
In 2019 I started shifting my career path from software development to operations management at an NGO in Jordan. However, the platform is still active and the fact that no one is knowing about it is hunting me down.
I don’t want to waste all of this work. I believe it is a wrongful doing to keep such information and tools away from the other developers. Together we can build something better and spread the tools to others.
In this repository, you will find the source code for the whole platform including one application sample “The lawyer’s office management system”. However, I had to remove the CSS and JS files of the theme due to licensing issues. As I mentioned before I’m not great at UI/UX, therefore I bought the Inspinia - Responsive Admin Template which the license doesn’t allow me to redistribute its source code.
You can find a full working sample for the lawyer’s office at http://wpapp.hasanhalabi.com/. To log in please send an email to [email protected] and I will write you back the credentials.
In the following weeks, I will start writing and posting the documentation for the platform and describing every aspect of it. All your questions and inquiries are welcomed.
Thank you all