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Contributing to Admin Columns

Thanks for your interest in improving Admin Columns! This document explains how to set up a local development environment, report bugs, and suggest features.

Following these guidelines helps us respond to you faster and keeps the project moving cleanly.

Development setup

Requirements

  • PHP 7.4 or higher
  • WordPress 5.9 or higher
  • Composer 2.x
  • Node.js and npm (only needed for active frontend development)

Quick install

From the admin-columns/ folder:

./install.sh

This runs the full setup end-to-end: installs PHP dependencies (with vendor prefixing via the bundled build/ tooling), installs frontend dependencies, and runs the one-time setup:dev hook. Compiled frontend assets are already committed to git, so the plugin works immediately after install. Run npm run build from src/ only when producing a release. Re-running the script is safe.

After the script finishes, activate Admin Columns in WordPress → Plugins.

Step-by-step installation

If you prefer to run the steps manually (or need to debug a failure), the flow below mirrors what install.sh does.

1. Place the plugin in WordPress

Clone this repository into your WordPress plugins directory:

cd wp-content/plugins
git clone https://github.com/codepress/admin-columns.git
cd admin-columns

2. Install PHP dependencies

composer install

This installs the plugin's Composer packages and then automatically:

  1. Installs the build tooling in build/vendor/
  2. Runs the prefixer, isolating vendor namespaces under AC\Vendor\

You can re-run the prefix cycle at any time with composer prefix.

3. Install frontend dependencies (optional)

Compiled assets are committed to git, so this step is only needed if you plan to make frontend changes. From admin-columns/src/:

npm install
npm run setup:dev

See src/README.md for watch-mode, production build, and asset-release commands.

4. Activate in WordPress

Go to WordPress Admin → Plugins and activate Admin Columns. Configure columns under Settings → Admin Columns.

Project layout

admin-columns/
├── codepress-admin-columns.php   # plugin bootstrap
├── api.php                       # public PHP API
├── assets/                       # compiled frontend output (committed)
├── build/                        # prefixer tooling (shared with Admin Columns Pro)
├── classes/                      # PSR-4 `AC\` namespace
├── languages/                    # translations
├── settings/                     # settings screens
├── src/                          # TypeScript/Svelte frontend sources
└── templates/                    # PHP view templates

Reporting bugs

The issue tracker is the preferred channel for bug reports, but please respect the following:

  • Support questions belong on the Plugin Support Forum, not the issue tracker.
  • Keep discussion on topic and respectful of other contributors.
  • Review the issue labels before filing.

A good bug report is a demonstrable problem with enough detail that a maintainer can reproduce it. Before filing:

  1. Search existing issues — someone may have already reported it.
  2. Isolate the problem — the narrower the reproduction, the faster the fix.

Include in your report:

  • Your WordPress version, PHP version, and active theme
  • Steps to reproduce
  • What you expected to happen
  • What actually happened (include error messages, screenshots where useful)

Issues without enough information to act on will be closed; reopen them once you can add the missing details.

Requesting features

Feature requests are welcome. Before filing, consider whether the idea fits the scope of the project — Admin Columns aims to be focused and maintainable, and features are much easier to add than to remove.

Make a concrete case: what problem does the feature solve, who does it help, and how would it work in practice? Mockups, example configurations, or references to similar plugins all help.

Translating

Admin Columns is translated into many languages by the community. If your language is missing or incomplete, help improve it on translate.wordpress.org — only a free WordPress.org account is required.

Translations are reviewed by WordPress.org Translation Editors and ship with the plugin as they are approved.

Issue labels

Labels follow a group:name convention to keep the tracker tidy.

Type

  • type:addon
  • type:bug
  • type:enhancement
  • type:feature
  • type:invalid
  • type:refactor

Status

  • status:feedback
  • status:in_progress
  • status:on_hold
  • status:rejected
  • status:wontfix