Complete Guide of Using jQuery in WordPress

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WordPress Development: A Complete Guide of Using jQuery in WordPress

Adding jQuery to WordPress

Starting with WordPress is fun, and anyone with little or no background in programming can get the hang of it. But as far as advanced features and custom functionalities are concerned, people who are new in development might not understand everything. For making an excellent site, you need to have your custom code added to it. That's where you require jQuery to create an aesthetic site with sliders and carousels.

But don't worry, if you're one of those people who have no idea about how to add jQuery to WordPress.We have a plug-in that helps you with this problem. We'll additionally find out how to add jQuery to your site without a plug-in manually. How about we take a plunge! jQuery is a light-weighed, easy to use JavaScript library.

You can achieve a lot more by just a few lines if you use jQuery instead of JavaScript. There's a reason why jQuery is one of the most popular JavaScript libraries. It comes with a range of plug-ins, and its functionalities are endless. jQuery is all about finding DOM objects using selectors. jQuery also helps in manipulating them. Whether you want to manipulate DOM or add sliders, add jQuery to your WordPress site.

If you're a WordPress developer, you must be aware of the fact that WordPress uses PHP. But how to add jQuery to WordPress? Many WordPress developers are still clueless about this. So, let's begin our tutorial..

You're advised to try this on your local installation. Don't mess with the code without a backup file. And lastly, don't try this on a live site.

Putting jQuery in compatibility mode should be your first step.

WordPress Compatibility with jQuery

As we know, $ is an alias for jQuery. You won't be seeing $ in WordPress since it uses jQuery in no-conflict mode ($ is replaced by jQuery). Make sure your script doesn't contain $. Almost all themes that were introduced after WordPress 3.8.1 support jQuery. To achieve no-conflict mode, use the following script:

Create a Script

In the following situations, you need to create a script file:

  • If you're using an existing theme that doesn't call jQuery.
  • If you're creating a theme from scratch.

If you're an organized developer, you must have created a js folder (where all JavaScript files are stored). It's a common practice followed by most JavaScript developers.

  • The first step is to find the location of your theme.
  • Inside the theme folder, find the location of your JavaScript files.
  • Most probably, there's a js folder in your theme folder where your project resides.
  • Create a file called [name of your file].js
  • In my case, I will name it jqueryscript.js
  • Theme > Js > jqueryscript.js
  • Since jQuery is a JavaScript library, so the file will have a .js extension (for example, jqueryscript.js)

The path looks somewhat like this in our example: /theme/js/jqueryscript.js

Now you can start writing the script. In addition to this, you can also consider using the "child theme" for an experiment. To make sure your parent theme files are not harmed.

creating the theme from scratch? add a functions.php file.

Now Let's Look for Functions.php

If you're creating the theme from scratch, add a functions.php file. You need to paste some lines of code that are given below into your functions.php file:

Please note: In any case, if you can't locate the functions.php file, you can always add it to your project.

Functions.php is very useful. This is where all the functions reside. You can add, customize, change default features, and manipulate your theme in many different ways. By using a function called wp_enqueue_script() , you can add JavaScript files to WordPress. It tells WordPress to enqueue a new JavaScript file for addition to WordPress. And you are done. Congratulations! You've successfully added jQuery to your WordPress site.

Integration of jQuery through manual method is recommended, but we can use a plug-in too. "jQuery in Posts Pages" is the most straightforward plug-in used for this purpose. This plug-in is easy to use. You can add code in the plug-in code editor box on the same page to add your custom jQuery or JavaScript.

Are You Looking for A WordPress Expert?

Clarity WordPress Specialists

The above information will surely help you to effectively add jQuery into your WordPress website, though this may not be simple for many people. So if you are looking for expert help, then it's better to employ the services of an agency that is at the top of their game: Clarity Ventures guarantees code that follows industry best practices throughout the entirety of your project.