The Art of Crafting with WordPress: Advanced Development Explained

Excerpt: Advanced WordPress development just got easier with the following tips and tricks! Keep reading!

With around 200 million active websites globally as of February 2023, nearly 40% of them deploy some version of WordPress. These mindboggling stats point towards two unmissable facts,

1. If you are a blogger, business holder, or even a wedding photographer, you absolutely need to be out there in cyberspace with a stellar website that speaks for your brand.
2. WordPress is probably your best bet in the CMS (Content Management System) space.

With that in place, let’s get to the meat and potatoes of the techniques and skills required for taking on the title of an advanced WordPress developer.

Topics & Techniques Vital for Advanced WordPress Development

Here are some of the tips and tricks of advanced WordPress development that you may consider familiarizing yourself with.

1. Deploy linting

   Much like getting the lint of your winter wear using a roller, you can make use of linters to check your code for errors automatically. For PHP, PHP_CodeSniffer is the effective and existent linter. It checks for syntax errors as well as ensures code compliance with style guidelines such as PSR-2.

   For JavaScript, you can check out ESLint, which comes with an extensive rule set and supports custom configuration for all JS frameworks.

2. Leverage the WordPress REST API

   If you are looking to create code that is more modular, readable and reusable then deploying WordPress’s REST API makes a lot of sense. In simple terms it is a software architecture that makes for a standardized interface when you remotely request and alter data from WordPress. Thus it is not a completely different coding method.

   Another cool point? It standardizes and ensures seamless communication between the back end and front end.

3. Familiarize yourself with Gutenberg

   To quote straight from the horse’s mouth” This lays the groundwork for a new model for WordPress Core that will ultimately impact the entire publishing experience of the platform.”

   With an end goal of achieving full site customization, its acceptance did meet with some resistance from WordPress developers, the major points of dissent being,

   • Since it isn’t a major requisite for end users, it doesn’t need to be a part of the WordPress core. Instead, it can be used as an optional plugin.
   • There was scope for more polishing and bug removal, and it also led to some site crashes.

   However, for bloggers and content writers, the Gutenberg editor is a great alternative to the old editor, and it makes sense to familiarize yourself with this in case the client requests to implement Gutenberg development.

4. Try to make the switch from jQuery to Vue.js or React

   Though jQuery is an integral part of WordPress’s core and is the backbone of the majority of WordPress plugins, the complex apps are where it falters. With issues like hard-to-interpret logic, global variables, and a lack of HTML templating, it makes sense to switch to an alternative way of organizing the front-end app.

   On the other hand, React is a modern front-end library that leverages OOP (object-oriented planning) principles and gives a modular touch to front-end architecture using reusable components.

   A word of caution here: React has a steep learning curve to it with the usage of ES6 features. Therefore, if you are a beginner, we recommend using Vue.JS as your component-based library of choice.

5. Get acquainted with modern tools such as Sass and ES6+

   In the ever-evolving world of front-end development, it is advisable to roll along with the time sand get comfortable with the follwoing tools;

   • ES6+: Put on the forefront by WordPress.org itself, ES6+ is often hailed as the SNext by WordPress documentation.
   • Sass: WooCommerce uses it and it is the go to tool for writing CSS if CSS-in-JS doesn’t appeal much to you.
   • Webpack: A comprehensive, front-end app compiler, it ensures that you can use the new javascript and CSS tools without facing backward compatibility issues.

Summary

Now that we are familiar with the technical aspects of WordPress development, you can try your hands at building your own stellar websites. However, if you’d rather invest in custom WordPress development services to save yourself the hassle and get a professional, well-developed WordPress website for yourself, then team Mavlers is ready to help! Hit us up now!