Simple Posts API

As more and more developers turn towards front-end apps and data solutions, a solid AJAX API is key to developing
a responsive, usable system of querying and modifying posts. While many solutions and plugins exist to help set up
endpoints, often times they are cumbersome or overly opinionated. Simple Posts API provides your site with an easy-to-use,
structure RESTful API with which to query, update, and delete posts. It is relatively unopinionated, so you can store and retrieve
post metadata at will without worrying about setting up fields beforehand. Additionally, it employs native WordPress Nonces
to provide a secure structure for updating your post data.

API Endpoints

Usage

There are four main operations you can use with this plugin:

• Get
• Put
• Delete
• Post

Each operation can be accessed by visiting http://yoururl.com/postsapi/OPERATION/POST_TYPE||ID You may pass a Post Type or ID as the second URL parameter depending on the operation you’re performing.

Each call must have a POST body containing a variable (nonce) containing a nonce value which WordPress will verify. There is a localized JS variable provided named secure which should be used. Some calls also allow other POST fields to be sent along with the call.

For calls which include Field data, the plugin will automatically determine which are Custom Fields and which are not.

See below for specifics on each operation.

GET

Retrieve a list of posts based on a provided Post Type or Post ID.

URL Path

http://yoururl.com/postsapi/get/POST_TYPE

OR

http://yoururl.com/postapi/get/ID

POST Body

Required:

• nonce (nonce value for security)

Optional:

• arguments (an array of get_post arguments to use in the call)

Example POST body:

jQuery.post( '/postsapi/get/post', { nonce: secure, arguments : {'posts_per_page': '-1'} })
  .done(function( data ) {
    console.log(data);
});

Additional Notes:

The GET function returns author information for each post. If a user is logged in and has admin capabilities, the author information is extensive. If the user is not an admin, then any private information is stripped from the returned object for security purposes.

PUT

Update a post based on the provided ID and POSTed fields

URL Path

http://yoururl.com/postapi/put/ID

POST Body

Required:

• nonce (nonce value for security)
• fields (an array of key:value pairs to determine which fields to update)

Optional:

• force (boolean; if set to false, the call will return an error if any invalid field names are passed, otherwise it will update all valid fields regardless. Default is ‘false’)

Example POST body:

jQuery.post( '/postsapi/put/1', { nonce: secure, force: false, fields: { 'post_title': 'Updated Title', 'custom_text': 'Updated custom text' } } )
.done(function( data ) {
  console.log( data );
});

DELETE

Delete a post based on the provided ID

URL Path

http://yoururl.com/postapi/delete/ID

POST Body

Required:

• nonce (nonce value for security)

Optional:

• force (boolean; if set to false, the post will be sent to the trash, otherwise it will skip the trash and be permanently deleted. Default is ‘false’)

Example POST body:

jQuery.post( '/postsapi/delete/7', { nonce: secure, force: false } )
.done(function( data ) {
  console.log( data );
});

POST

Create a post of the given post type, including the provided fields

URL Path

http://yoururl.com/postapi/post/POST_TYPE

POST Body

Required:

• nonce (nonce value for security)
• fields (an array of key:value pairs to determine which fields to include when creating the post)

Optional:

• none

Example POST body:

jQuery.post( '/postsapi/post/post', { nonce: secure, fields: { 'post_title': 'New Title', 'custom_text': 'New custom text', 'post_status': 'publish' } } )
.done(function( data ) {
  console.log( data );
});

Errors and Status Messages

Each call will return a JSON object. Within the JSON object is a key named status. This contains a status code and status message. You can check against this in your scripts in order to see if the call was successful or not. Any status code other than 200 is an error.

Status Codes

• 200: Success
• 400: No posts found
• 401: Permission Denied (either failed the nonce verification or user not logged in)
• 410: Invalid Post ID or Post Type provided
• 420: Post ID not found
• 430: Fields not found (status message lists fields)
• 450: Post delete failed (WordPress could not delete the post, see the status message for details)
• 460: Post type does not exist
• 470: Could not create new post; see status message for error details

Actions

Each operation has its own unique _before and _after actions that can be hooked into. See below for a complete list.

GET

• postsapi_before_get
• postsapi_after_get

PUT

• postsapi_before_put
• postsapi_after_put

DELETE

• postsapi_before_delete
• postsapi_after_delete

POST

• postsapi_before_post
• postsapi_after_post