You've probably been hearing a lot about using AI to create WordPress code and plugins. There are several options out there including ChatGPT and CodeWP. In this article, we wanted to compare the two solutions to see what's the difference and which ones better for WordPress creators?
As many have recently learned over the past couple of months, artificial intelligence can create high-quality WordPress code snippets, augmenting, a developers workflow, and making lives easier. Due to its popularity and accessibility, ChatGPT, surfaced as one of several artificial intelligence platforms, that many developers now use in their every day operations.
Our platform has seen incredible growth as well, as more and more developers seek out a more professional platform dedicated towards WordPress creators, and not just everybody. As we'll attempt to explain and show in this post, there are several major differences between ChatGPT CodeWP that you should know.
Using ChatGPT for WordPress
ChatGPT is a general chatbot application that includes some basic features for developers. For example, you can prompt the interface to generate code in a specific language for a specific used case, and it typically will. This code is highlighted, with an easy copy button in the upper right corner of each block, allowing you to pull it from the interface, into your project or code editor.
The generations range from good to wrong, especially as you dive into more complex, topics related to WordPress development. The platform has a dangerous way of giving you code and explanations that sound accurate, but simply are not.
Outputs
The outputs that you generation really depend on the quality of the prompt, as well as the topic that you are focused on. Keep in mind, this is a general chat about that used for everything from medical questions to blog post outlines to development solutions. To encompass all of that means that you need to be good at everything but great at nothing.
Security
Typically, the platform won't ensure that your code is secure without you asking about it. This can be very dangerous for beginners.
Even with all that said, if you're looking for a simple platform which is able to generate code that is typically accurate and can be prompted to be more secure, this is a great solution for one off situation. It's also interesting because it will explain the code that it has created. However, you'll need to take this with a grain of salt, and always research with a third-party to ensure that the generations and exclamations are correct.
CodeWP WordPress-Specific Training
Our platform will do a very similar thing. You enter a prompt of what you want in plain language, and we will generate code for you. However, where we differentiate from ChatGPT begins in our AI models. Our models are trained specifically on WordPress code, examples, and other plugin codebases. What this means is our generations are a lot more accurate, quicker, more secure, and more efficient.
let's take a look at this example prompt, and the generation created from it.
Prompt//: Make a WP shortcode for a form that sends the submission as an email to the admin user
You'll notice that ChatGPT will create some code for you, but excludes the function that will be used to send the submission to an admin. It also creates explanations. Regardless, this code is not usable in its current state.
On our platform, we input the same prompt on our general WordPress PHP mode, and get both a short code and a function to send the email. Everything here is secure, and ready to go.
The reason our generation is better is simply because we've trained our platform with WordPress code generation specifically in mind.
Compared to ChatGPT, we will always be more accurate and secure because of this. It becomes even more apparent when you begin using other modes, such as ACF, Oxygen Builder Conditions, and more!
CodeWP AI Modes
On that topic, let's take a look at why our individual AI modes that are specific to plugins are important.
I have this prompt, and I want to create a banner on the top of a WooCommerce product page if the product is out of stock.
If I just enter that in simple language, using ChatGPT, it'll give me a generic answer that can't be used in my situation.
That's where our AI modes come in, which are further trained on specific plugin code bases to create hyper specific and accurate generations.
This is code generated with the same prompt, using our WooCommrece PHP mode. On the first try, this will work perfectly.
ChatGPT vs CodeWP UI/UX
Our platform takes a fundamentally different approach when compared to ChatGPT. We operate on the premise that our users enter a prompt, and deserve a single shot code snippet that solves the problem they have.
Our centerpiece of the main platform page or code is generated is a stripped down version of the same code editor you'll find in VS code. We have additional features intended specifically for our workflow. You're able to export the code into an easy to download JSON, which can then be imported into popular codes and plugins. You can star code snippets for later. You can even edit existing code using the added mode.
ChatGPT, as the name suggests, is focused around a chat experience. If you're generating multiple code, snippets for different situation, this becomes a little bit difficult. You can't search through previous generations, and the best yogurt is the ability to see previous conversations. However, recently, due to high demand, even these are no longer accessible.
There is no way to favorite snippet generations.
On our platform, once generated, each snippet get its own page. If you complete additional actions, these are all added to that archive page. You also noticed that there are tags generated with artificial intelligence, which aid in finding a snippet, even if it was generated along time ago.
Those AI tags are also helpful for our real time live search, which is present throughout the platform. Here, you can search for used cases, keywords, and code snippets to get to previous generations quickly and easily.
CodeWP Has A "ChatGPT-like" Mode
Finally, let's take a look at CodeWP's explain mode.
This was in response to many of our less technical users, looking for something like ChatGPT, which could answer the questions they had about the snippets they generated. Our explain mode does exactly that, except it's trained specifically on WordPress code, and already understands the snippet you've generated.
You'll get a familiar chat bought like experience that overlays your initial generation. You can ask me anything.
Here, you can see that our assistant is actually self-aware (not sure if that's good or bad 🤔). You can have a full on dialogue with it, asking her to explain the security measures, make recommendations on code, efficiency, and more. In the second image above, you'll see that it suggested I use a different function other than PHP mail. I then asked it why, and it explained its reasoning to me.
The assistant was trained on many StackOverflow answers, along side the code base itself. That gives it a lot of knowledge and information when it comes to answering questions. It's hyper accurate, and it's a great way to learn about the code that you generate on our platform.
In keeping with our organizational aspect of the platform, all chats are stored to your individual generation pages (only accessible by you).
Pricing Comparison
Both options are free.
Our plans start at zero dollars a month for access to the WordPress general area mode and 10 generations. You'll also get access to other features like snippet management, searching, and more.
For additional AI modes, and the escalation mode, we offer pro plans with start as low as $8 a month.
ChatGPT currently only has a free plan. That's great, but with a comes a lot of issues. For example, there's only so much computing power to go around, meaning that in many mission critical times, the service isn't available for users.
CodeWP is always available for both free and paid users - no throttling here!
Recent news reports also suggest that ChatGPT will also be coming out with a pro plan of it's own:
There's no immediate information on pricing, and will update this article as this develops. Even then, the pro plan won't have the WordPress and code specific features that our platform does.
Conclusion
We offer a platform to WordPress creators built specifically for their needs, and use cases. ChatGPT is an all purpose chat, but that is decently good at answering simple questions about WordPress. However, when it gets more complex, the accuracy and security of the generations, it creates begin to lessen. Additionally, it's difficult to look back in your chat logs to find the perfect code snippet.
