I am new to WordPress (using roughly 6 months) and just now getting into development when I decided I would attempt to replicate a project I have going currently and after reading multiple blogs regarding plugin development and custom post types, I am thoroughly confused as to which direction I should go. I am in need of creating a site that has back-end management (admin only) and then end-user management where the end-user should have a page that allows them to manage their items.
With custom post types, I am able to create the objects that I will need to use but that doesn’t give me total control when it comes to allowing the end-user to modify them from a front-end interface.
With a plugin, I think I am able to create exactly what I need but not sure how to yet but at the same time, thinking through the structure of WordPress, everything is basically a post, correct? So, if that’s the case, my plugin would need to have the ability to register new custom post types. Does it sound like I am on the right track or am I way off here?
Custom Post Types can add a lot of power, especially if you dress up the Custom Fields with meta boxes. You can always use a role-scoping plugin to limit the access of end-users to only be able to use these Custom Posts and nothing else. CPT are a great way to handle inventory management and not rely on a plugin that will either cost $ or potentially break months down the road.
That said, many plugin you would find would most likely just create a Custom Post Type anyway. Take a look around on the codex for info on creating CPT, and if you’re interested, look at jaredatch’s work on Github.
http://codex.wordpress.org/Post_Types
https://github.com/jaredatch/Custom-Metaboxes-and-Fields-for-WordPress