String Locator – A recommended plugin for locating code in WordPress.
Working with WordPress can be simple, compared to many other content management systems, working with WordPress is significantly easier. Even if you have no idea about coding or design, you can still create your own blog on WordPress, and you can start writing and publishing content in just a few minutes. If you need to expand your WordPress blog, you can do so by installing one of the millions of plugins and themes available online.
At some point, you may need to customize a thing or two on your site. No matter how good your theme or plugin is, and how many options you get with it, you simply can’t give access to editing everything on your site. For example, you can change a title and a few important buttons, but how can you change a certain element if it can’t be changed through the Customizer and through theme/plugin options? You’ll have to change it yourself.
If you understand WordPress, changing files can be a two-minute job, otherwise, it could cause your site to crash. Before you start changing files, please make sure you are aware of what you are doing and that you always have a backup in a safe location, in a folder outside of your server.
If you’ve decided it’s time for a change, you might be stuck on the first step – finding the right file where the code is located. Since WordPress consists of dozens of different files, beginners might have a hard time finding them.
String detection plugin
When finding the right template isn’t enough, String Locator is here to help. If you want to change a specific HTML element in your theme or any other plugin you have installed, you can quickly locate the element by inspecting it through your browser, but you’ll still have trouble finding the file that made that element. Since you’re now working with custom themes and plugins, the files may have different names than you’re used to. A developer may have placed code in a separate file to make development easier, and you could get stuck searching for code in hundreds of files. Instead, you can use String Locator.
If you choose to use this plugin, you won’t have to worry about which template was used to produce the specific string you’re looking for.
Whether you’re looking for a word, an entire phrase, or a piece of code, this plugin can help find it.
All you have to do is navigate to Tools -> Find Strings and start searching. The plugin will then scan all the theme files and plugins you have installed, and it will find the search term. You can even select the specific theme/plugin for the plugin to search.
Once you click the search button and let String Locator do its magic, the results will show you the string, where the file is located, and the line number. The plugin will allow you to edit that specific file, and it will immediately highlight your search phrase!
Now you can change any part of any theme/plugin, you can translate the parts coded in them and you can forget about manually scanning files unknown to you.
While these WordPress tools can help you a lot, we still suggest that you take care of your site. If you are not completely sure what changes you are making, make sure you always have a backup, and consider hiring a professional to do the work for you. Also, be aware that many developers will not be able to help you if you make mistakes by modifying a theme or plugin yourself.
Download the free plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/string-locator/
The article was translated from English to Hebrew – the author of the article is Ogi Durskovik
