WPDD

WordPress Develop & Design

pw-user-geo plugin – explain

final class PW_User_Geo {
  • Declares a class named PW_User_Geo.
  • The keyword final means this class cannot be extended — no other class can inherit from it.
    • 🔒 This is often used in WordPress plugins to prevent developers from accidentally overriding core functionality.
const TRANSIENT_PREFIX = 'pw_user_geo_';
const VERSION          = '1.1.1';
  • These are class constants (like variables that can’t change).
  • TRANSIENT_PREFIX → used as a prefix when saving data to WordPress transients (temporary cache stored in the database).
  • Example: 'pw_user_geo_' . md5($ip) creates a unique key for caching each IP’s location lookup.
  • VERSION → keeps track of the plugin’s version, useful for debugging, migrations, or cache busting.
private static $instance = null;
  • This creates a static property to hold the single instance of this class.
  • Used for the Singleton pattern (only one copy of the class exists).
public static function instance() {
	if ( null === self::$instance ) self::$instance = new self();
	return self::$instance;
}
  • This method ensures that:
    • If no instance of PW_User_Geo exists yet (self::$instance is null), it creates one (new self()).
    • Returns the existing instance.
  • So every time you call PW_User_Geo::instance(), you get the same object, not a new one.