WordPress is a content management system that supports 34% of all sites on the internet. Also, 60% of websites that operate on CMS. The power of WordPress is in the system, there are several plugins and themes available. Anyone with a basic understanding of programming may create a website. But having a working understanding of WordPress’ complexities is beneficial for any developer.
WordPress is targeted due to its popularity. That is particularly among non-programmers, hence security procedures are essential.
For instance, hackers frequently create themes that are visually appealing. Also, offer them for free. The themes then include harmful JavaScript that can steal site visitor’s traffic. Also, user private or financial information.
In WordPress adding content is fast and easy. There are numerous WordPress Trends.
Table of Content:
- Best WordPress practices for Beginner Developers:
- Use WordPress Home URLs:
- Stick to WordPress coding standards:
- Select plugins vigilantly:
- Update Frequently:
- Assure Security:
- WordPress code writing best practices:
- Readability:
- Check code reliability:
- Create flexible codes:
- Best Practices for Structuring Code in WordPress:
- File and directory structure:
- Template Hierarchy:
- Code spacing helps:
- Design Best practices:
- Best practices for WordPress site builders:
- Testing Code in WordPress:
- Conclusion:
Best WordPress practices for Beginner Developers:
Use WordPress Home URLs:
In WordPress, you must specify which domain should be utilised by your website by utilising the site URL () and home URL () functions (). WordPress provides a wp-config.php file where you can hardcode the URL of your website. Yet using the native method is much simpler. You can modify your WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL) fields. This can be done by going to Settings > General in your WordPress Admin Dashboard (/wp-admin/). These fields must be identical and must start with either http:// or https://.
Stick to WordPress coding standards:
To develop a plugin or theme, follow the coding standards of wordpress. Following them will minimize the coding errors and increase the code readability.
As anyone can use or develop WordPress codes, it would be easier. It might seem difficult to get used to the coding style. Once practised, it would be easier.
The standards comprise of 4 languages: Css Coding Standards, HTML Coding Standards, JavaScript Coding Standards, PHP Coding Standards.
Select plugins vigilantly:
Plugins make the websites more accessible and functional. But websites might slow down when there are wrong plugins or un-updated plugins are used. This might lead to security issues as well.
When mediator plugins are used, check them and update them regularly. Test the plugins regularly and remove non-compatible ones. We can use security plugins for extra safety. Refer WordPress Security Plugins to secure your website.
Update Frequently:
Word Press makes updates each year. There will frequently be maintenance/security updates. Also, significant updates. Professional plugin and theme developers frequently issue updates for maintenance and security.
The integrity of your site depends on these changes! Make sure to log in at least once a month to check for updates and execute them if any are available. Create a development or staging instance for testing initially to ensure your safety. After that, you can test the updates in this setting to confirm, it is error-less.
Click to know more about WordPress update.
Assure Security:
Hackers attack the websites easily. You make sure to protect it from attackers. This is can be achieved by using an extremely unique user name and password.
There are lot of security plugins. You can install them to be safe.
WordPress Code Writing Best Practices:
Readability:
When building code for WordPress, remember that you aren’t simply writing code for yourself. Your code should be readable by any developer. That includes sticking to standard spacing and grouping patterns. As WordPress advises in its code standards, “When in doubt, space it out”.
Check Code Reliability:
Strong readable codes are the main foundation for the reliability. Distinguish between the different file formats like JS files, image folder, etc. Make the codes easily readable.
Create flexible codes:
You may prevent having an out-of-date website by keeping an eye on updates. Also, by, continuously making the necessary modifications to your coding. Thus, it is essential to ensure code flexibility. Your codes have to be editable whenever necessary, giving you enough freedom to expand.
To do this, whenever possible, use relative URL paths. This will ensure that if you decide to change the site URL, you won’t need to edit all of your codes. You’ll have a lot freer time as a result.
Best Practices for Structuring Code in WordPress:
File and Directory Structure:
The default file and directory organisation in WordPress is important to understand. You can correctly arrange your code by being aware of its structure. In the root directory of your website, there will be a few configuration files. Your website’s home page will be the index.php file. The wp-config.php file contains key WordPress setup information. Additionally, the.htaccess file contains the configuration rules for your web server. The default WordPress rules must be included in the.htaccess file.
There are more important directories located within the root directory:
The WordPress core files required to run your website’s Admin Dashboard are included in the wp-admin directory. You shouldn’t modify these files. The majority of the WordPress core files relevant to essential website functionality are located in the wp-includes directory. You also shouldn’t modify these files.
All user-generated material, like as plugins, themes, and files uploaded to the media folder, is stored in the wp-content directory but isn’t stored in the database.
It’s also best practise to organise your files in a plugin’s directory according to the suggested plugin directory layout. This will make it easier for you and anybody else working on your project to group together related files.
Template Hierarchy:
The template hierarchy is important element while creating for WordPress. You can decide which template WordPress will use when creating a page or post by looking at the theme template hierarchy. To choose which template to use for each post, WordPress looks through its default template hierarchy. WordPress will keep looking until it locates a file with the template’s name in it. It will use the top file in the template hierarchy if there are many files with the same name as the template.
Code Spacing helps:
The main aim of the website is the user experience which ultimately converts into sales. So, be aware of the white spaces and texts. These spacing standards will attract more customers and the website looks organised.
Following WordPress PHP coding standards is the necessary. According to this, no closing PHP tag is to be used. The end of the coding should not have whitespaces. Commas should be followed by spaces. The closing and opening of the parenthesis must have spaces.
Design Best Practices:
The main focus is the user experience. It has to be adaptable with all types of systems. So, it is important to make a responsive website that makes use of WordPress development services.
The task requires excessive hard work. But there are many responsive themes that can be used to make things easier. The main task of the themes is
- Time saving,
- SEO – friendly,
- Attractive website.
Best practices for WordPress site builders:
There are general guidelines for success for site builders. In this section, we’ll go over a few general guidelines for using WordPress while creating websites.
First, don’t touch anything you didn’t build or write. Do not change the WordPress Core files or add-ons. You run the risk of overwriting your custom code in the future if you update the code of these resources.
For instance, if I change a functionality of a theme’s functions.php file, I run the risk of overwriting that file the next time the theme is updated. Instead, I should do this by developing a “child theme”.
Custom functions can be added via a site-specific plugin. There are numerous tutorials on how to develop a WordPress child theme, but not many on how to use plugins to add unique functionality. You may easily add the functionality you need to your WordPress site by using a custom plugin, which can be used to add certain program code.
Example, if you create a custom plugin that would provide you with a special post type with the necessary attributes. Alternately, a different plugin to introduce a new kind of User Role could be added. Since these features are added as plugins, you can change your active theme without losing functionality.
Add unique features with a child theme. Developers frequently decide to add to an existing theme rather than creating a brand-new theme from scratch. This gives the developer the option to change the theme to the client’s liking without increasing their burden. To accomplish this, programmers must first instal the original theme and then make a “child theme” variation of it. By doing this, users can be sure that when the original theme is updated, their custom code won’t be affected. A functions.php file and a style.css file should be added to the child theme directory you create in your /wp-content/themes/ folder via SFTP.
Testing Code in WordPress:
It’s not often that you get a new feature, plugin, or child theme completely correct the first time. Use of Test-Driven Development (TDD) techniques is one way to speed up the development process iterative testing phase.
Writing a test before writing any code is the philosophy behind test-driven development. Then, create precisely the right amount of code to enable that test to succeed. Add extra tests before you add new code to the programme to add new functionality. By doing this, you will spare yourself the work of later building higher chances that might have flaws.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, designing and developing a website both involve developer and designer skills. User experience is the ultimate goal. When you have a clear understanding that designing and developing skills are both important, User experience would be ultimate.
To be on the right road when growing your talents, ensure you follow coding standards. Also, be updated on the recent trends, your online content and the code is not complex.
If you do decide to use WordPress for your website, make sure to check out WPBlazer, a WordPress management tool WPBlazer.
