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Integrate a custom php Backend with WordPress

Customer has existing Wordpress Site. Customer is Medical / Dental practice.

Wants to add features to the site, including:

Check appointment availability
Make an appointment
Change appointment
Cancel appointment (within 30 days)
Make a payment
Schedule a future payment
Cancel a future payment
Add, remove, or modify payment method
Update contact info
Upload / Update / remove documents (images and pdfs)

A different backend will need to be made for the office staff to edit customer info, appointments, and to print reports.

Can I write custom php code to access a different MySQL database (not the WordPress MySQL) on the back end & integrate it with the Word Press site? Or are there existing WordPress "plugins" that provide this kind of functionality?

Thanks

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Jason C. Levine

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Richard Korts

ASKER

I am unclear on how to integrate custom code with WordPress; can a wordpress menu item just access xyz.php? Do I have to "manually" construct the look & feel of the WordPress theme in the "non-WordPress" pages?

Thanks

Jason C. Levine

can a wordpress menu item just access xyz.php

Yes. Or you can make a new page template in the theme that has the code for xyz.php and that answers the follow-up question.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Page_Templates#Creating_a_Page_Template

Another way to do it is to call WordPress from your custom pages:

<?php
require('../wp-load.php'); // change this to right path, depends on where the custom pages live.  
get_header(); // This gets the Theme's header
?>

Your page content or other code here.

<?php get_footer(); // This gets the footer ?>

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