Ever felt like your WordPress website is almost perfect? You’ve found a theme you love, but it’s missing that something special. Maybe you’re using the Shapely theme and its companion plugin, but the default settings just aren’t cutting it. What if you could tweak and extend functionality without diving deep into code? That’s where the power of AI comes in. This article will guide you through customizing the plugin to meet your specific needs, leveraging the latest AI tools to make the process easier than ever.

What is Shapely Companion?

Shapely Companion is a plugin designed to work hand-in-hand with the Shapely WordPress theme, created by Colorlib.com. Think of it as a toolbox that expands the capabilities of the theme, adding features like pre-designed sections, portfolio elements, and client showcases. It’s intended to simplify the process of building a professional-looking website, especially for those who might not be coding experts.

This tool gives you drag-and-drop widgets to build sections on your homepage. It also includes modules to create testimonials, portfolios, and other common website elements. While it offers a solid foundation, many users find themselves wanting more control over its functionality and design. The plugin currently has a rating of 2.0/5 stars based on 2 reviews and boasts 10K+ active installations.

For more information about Shapely Companion, visit the official plugin page on WordPress.org.

Why Customize the plugin?

The beauty of WordPress lies in its flexibility, but sometimes, default settings just don’t cut it. While this tool offers a decent set of features out-of-the-box, your website is likely unique, and one-size-fits-all rarely works perfectly. Perhaps you need to integrate it with a specific CRM, display data in a unique way, or tweak the design to perfectly match your brand.

Customization allows you to tailor the plugin to your exact needs. Imagine you run a photography portfolio site using Shapely. The default portfolio section is good, but you want to add a custom filter based on the type of photography (e.g., landscape, portrait, etc.). Customizing it lets you do precisely that, providing a better user experience and showcasing your work more effectively.

Or consider a small business using Shapely to promote its services. They want to integrate a custom booking system with the existing client showcase. Customizing the plugin allows them to seamlessly connect these features, streamlining their workflow and improving lead generation. Customization is often worth it when the default settings hinder your ability to achieve specific business goals, improve user experience, or differentiate your website from the competition.

Common Customization Scenarios

Extending Core Functionality

Sometimes, the core functionality of a plugin needs a little boost. Maybe you love the existing features but wish they did just a bit more. This is where extending the core functionality comes into play. For example, it might provide a basic contact form, but you need more advanced options like file uploads or conditional fields.

Through customization, you can add these missing features without replacing the entire plugin. You gain the flexibility to tailor it precisely to your requirements, creating a seamless experience for your users. You can add new widgets, modify existing ones, or even create entirely new modules to enhance its capabilities.

Let’s say you’re using this system to build a real estate website. You could extend the existing property listing functionality to include a mortgage calculator directly within the listing. AI makes this easier by helping you generate the necessary code to integrate the calculator and ensure it works seamlessly with the existing property data.

Integrating with Third-Party Services

Modern websites rarely exist in isolation. They often need to communicate and share data with other services like CRMs, email marketing platforms, or social media networks. Integrating the plugin with these third-party services can automate tasks, improve data accuracy, and provide a more cohesive user experience.

Customization enables you to connect the plugin to virtually any third-party service that offers an API. This opens up a world of possibilities, from automatically adding new leads to your CRM to displaying real-time social media feeds on your website.

Imagine you want to connect this tool with your Mailchimp account to automatically add new subscribers who sign up through a form created with this plugin. AI can help you generate the code required to authenticate with the Mailchimp API and seamlessly transfer the data, saving you hours of manual work.

Creating Custom Workflows

Every business has unique workflows and processes. While a plugin might offer some degree of automation, it’s unlikely to perfectly match your specific needs. Customizing the plugin allows you to create custom workflows that streamline your operations and improve efficiency.

By tailoring the plugin to your workflows, you can automate repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and free up your time to focus on more strategic initiatives. This might involve creating custom triggers, actions, or notifications based on specific events within the plugin.

Consider an online store using it to manage product listings. You could create a custom workflow that automatically sends a notification to the warehouse team when a product’s stock level falls below a certain threshold. AI can assist in developing this workflow by generating the code to monitor stock levels and trigger the appropriate notifications.

Building Admin Interface Enhancements

The WordPress admin interface isn’t always the most user-friendly, especially when dealing with complex plugins. Customizing the admin interface of this tool can significantly improve usability and make it easier for you and your team to manage your website.

With customization, you can add custom fields, create custom dashboards, and streamline the editing process. This can save you time and reduce the risk of errors, particularly for non-technical users.

For example, you might want to add a custom meta box to the property listings to store additional information like energy efficiency ratings or school district details. AI can help you generate the code to create this meta box and ensure it’s seamlessly integrated into the existing admin interface, making it easier for you to manage your property listings.

Adding API Endpoints

API endpoints provide a way for other applications to interact with the plugin programmatically. Adding custom API endpoints can enable you to integrate it with other systems, create custom mobile apps, or build entirely new applications on top of the existing functionality.

By exposing specific features of the plugin through API endpoints, you can unlock a new level of flexibility and control. This allows you to build custom integrations and extend its capabilities in ways that were never originally intended.

Let’s say you want to create a mobile app that allows users to browse property listings from your real estate website. You could add a custom API endpoint that returns a list of properties in JSON format. AI can help you generate the code to create this API endpoint and ensure it’s secure and efficient.