🚀 My Experience Solving the TestGorilla WordPress & MySQL Assessment

🟦 Part 1: WordPress Assessment

The WordPress section focused heavily on core architecture concepts, not just basic usage.

1️⃣ Default Post Formats

• Aside
• Gallery
• Chat
• Review

Understanding post formats is important when building themes.

2️⃣ Default WordPress Taxonomies

• category
• post_tag
• post_format
• link_category

These are essential when working with custom post types.

3️⃣ Performing Database Queries

global $wpdb;
$wpdb->query('SQL query here');

WordPress uses the $wpdb global object for database interaction.

4️⃣ Securing wp-config.php

For security best practices, wp-config.php should be protected using .htaccess to prevent direct access to credentials.

5️⃣ Backup Support

• File backups
• Database backups

6️⃣ Anti-Spam Configuration

Stricter comment moderation rules can be configured under:

Settings → Discussion

7️⃣ Default Database Tables

• wp_commentmeta
• wp_postmeta
• wp_term_relationships

8️⃣ Plugin Header Comments

Only the main plugin file requires a header comment — not all PHP files.

9️⃣ Plugin Utility Functions

• plugin_dir_path()
• plugin_basename()
• plugins_url()

🔟 Options API

update_option('option_name', $value);

The Options API is the standard way to store plugin settings.

1️⃣1️⃣ Settings API

register_setting();

1️⃣2️⃣ WordPress Hooks

• 🔹 Action Hooks
• 🔹 Filter Hooks

These power WordPress extensibility.

🟩 Part 2: MySQL Assessment

The MySQL section tested practical, real-world query logic and relational database understanding.

1️⃣ Primary & Foreign Keys

Used to enforce referential integrity between related tables.

2️⃣ OR vs AND

WHERE color = 'blue' OR color = 'white'

3️⃣ Second Highest Salary

SELECT MAX(salary)
FROM employees
WHERE salary < (
    SELECT MAX(salary) FROM employees
);

4️⃣ Triggers

• AFTER INSERT
• AFTER DELETE

5️⃣ ALTER TABLE

ALTER TABLE stu_data ADD ssn CHAR(10);
ALTER TABLE emp_data MODIFY email VARCHAR(127);

6️⃣ AUTO_INCREMENT

country_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY;

7️⃣ LIKE Operator

WHERE emp_name LIKE 'A%';

8️⃣ DELETE with Conditions

DELETE FROM world_population
WHERE (country_name = 'USA' OR country_name = 'UK')
AND population < 5000;

9️⃣ LIMIT in DELETE

DELETE FROM stu_data LIMIT 10;

🔟 Correlated Subqueries

WHERE goals_scored < (
    SELECT AVG(goals_scored)
    FROM players
    WHERE player_team = p.player_team
);

1️⃣1️⃣ NOT EXISTS

WHERE NOT EXISTS (
    SELECT 1 FROM products_sold
    WHERE product_id = p.product_id
);

1️⃣2️⃣ Comparing with MAX()

WHERE emp_salary > (
    SELECT MAX(emp_salary)
    FROM emp
    WHERE dept_id = 10
);

🎯 Key Skills This Assessment Tested

• WordPress Core Architecture
• Plugin Development
• Hooks & Extensibility
• Database Structure Understanding
• SQL Query Optimization
• Subqueries & Aggregates
• Triggers & Functions
• Logical Thinking

💡 Final Thoughts

This wasn’t a beginner-level assessment. It required:

• Strong understanding of SQL logic
• Solid WordPress internal knowledge
• Clear thinking under time pressure

If you're preparing for a WordPress + MySQL technical test:

• ✔ Master subqueries
• ✔ Understand hooks deeply
• ✔ Practice real-world SQL conditions
• ✔ Know WordPress core APIs