If you’re looking for a career that’s both exciting and in demand, WordPress development is definitely worth considering. With millions of websites built on this platform every day, there’s no shortage of work for skilled developers.
But if you want to be successful in this field, you’ll need more than just technical skills. You’ll need to understand the ins and outs of practicing WordPress development in 2021. That’s where this guide comes in.
Coding Best Practices
As with any programming language, there are certain coding best practices that you should always follow when working with WordPress. Here are a few key tips to keep in mind:
- Use proper naming conventions for your functions and variables. This will make your code easier to read and understand, and can also help prevent naming collisions.
- Follow the WordPress coding standards. These guidelines provide a set of best practices for writing clean, maintainable code that’s easy to read and understand.
- Use a linter tool like PHPCodingStandard or WP_CodeSniffer to catch errors and inconsistencies in your code as you go. This can help you write better code faster, and can also make it easier to collaborate with other developers.
- Use version control tools like Git to manage your code and keep track of changes over time. This can help you stay organized, and can also make it easier to work on multiple projects at once.
Optimization Techniques
One of the key challenges of working with WordPress is optimizing your website for speed and performance. Here are a few techniques that can help:
- Use caching plugins like WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache to store frequently accessed data in memory, which can significantly improve page load times.
- Optimize your images by compressing them and resizing them to the appropriate size for your website. This can reduce the amount of bandwidth required to load your site, and can also speed up image loading times.
- Use a content delivery network (CDN) like MaxCDN or Cloudflare to distribute your website’s content across multiple servers, which can improve page load times for visitors in different locations.
- Minimize the number of HTTP requests required to load your site by combining CSS and JavaScript files, and using CSS sprites to combine multiple images into a single file.
Security Considerations
WordPress is a popular platform, which makes it a prime target for hackers. Here are some best practices for securing your WordPress website:
- Keep your WordPress core software up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates. This can help prevent known vulnerabilities from being exploited by attackers.
- Use strong, unique passwords for all user accounts on your site, and consider using a password manager tool to generate and store these passwords securely.
- Limit login attempts to prevent brute-force attacks, and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security.
- Use a web application firewall (WAF) like iThemes Security or Sucuri Security to monitor your site for suspicious activity and block malicious requests in real-time.
Trends and Technologies
WordPress development is a rapidly evolving field, with new technologies and trends emerging all the time. Here are a few of the most exciting developments in WordPress development in 2021:
- Gutenberg: This new content editor for WordPress is designed to make it easier to create custom page layouts and designs, without the need for custom code or plugins.
- WP GraphQL: This plugin allows you to query your WordPress site’s data using GraphQL, a powerful query language that can help improve website performance and scalability.
- Headless WordPress: With headless WordPress, you can decouple your site’s front-end from the back-end, allowing you to use any front-end framework or library you like to build your site.
- AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages): This technology allows you to create lightning-fast mobile websites that load quickly and provide a smooth user experience.
Challenges and Solutions
As with any career, there are challenges that come with practicing WordPress development. Here are a few common challenges and some potential solutions:
- Keeping up with the latest trends and technologies can be challenging, especially if you’re new to the field. One solution is to stay up-to-date with industry news and events, and to seek out educational resources like tutorials and online courses.
- Debugging WordPress websites can be frustrating, especially when you’re dealing with complex themes and plugins. One solution is to use a debugging tool like WP_DEBUG or Xdebug to identify and fix errors quickly.
- Managing multiple WordPress sites can be time-consuming and overwhelming, especially if you have to log in and out of different accounts for each site. One solution is to use a centralized management tool like ManageWP or WP SyncDB to manage all of your sites from one place.
- Ensuring the security of WordPress websites can be challenging, especially when you’re dealing with a large number of users and visitors. One solution is to implement regular security audits and vulnerability scans, and to keep up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates.
Conclusion
WordPress development is a rewarding and exciting career that’s in high demand in 2021. By following best practices for coding, optimization, and security, and staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies, you can succeed in this field and build amazing websites that people love to use.
Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep learning and experimenting, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes along the way. With persistence and dedication, you can become a top WordPress developer in no time.