By: Pankaj Sakariya

September 27, 2023

Top Notch Secrets Every WordPress Developer Must Know

As per the data from BuiltWith, WordPress is known for powering more than 36 per cent of the top 1 million sites. It includes The New York Times, Nike, Bloomberg, etc.

It is a robust platform highly favoured by multiple WordPress developers across the globe. This platform is easy to grasp and highly flexible, catering to your unique project requirements. 

However, to leverage the full potential of this powerful platform, it is crucial to hire WordPress developer from a reliable WordPress development company with a lot of experience and expert knowledge in this field.

A professional developer possessing the best WordPress development skills should also know the ins and outs of building a WordPress website. We are going to discuss some of these in the following section. So, let’s get started:

What are the Key Skills of a WordPress Developer?

• WordPress Core Knowledge: A WordPress developer should possess a strong grasp of the core functionalities of WordPress. It includes how the database, plugins and themes work together.
• PHP: They should essentially have proficiency in PHP. It typically refers to the programming language involved in powering WordPress, which is crucial in tailoring and extending WordPress.
• MySQL Database: They should be well-conversed with MySQL, the database system employed by WordPress for efficient querying and managing data.
• JavaScript: These professionals must possess knowledge of JavaScript, which helps improve interactivity and proper handling of client-side scripting, especially within WordPress.
• HTML or CSS: A WordPress developer should have a thorough understanding of HTML, which helps structure web content. They should also know about CSS as it assists in styling. Both of these play a critical role in WordPress theme development.
• Security Best Practices: It is essential for them to know about WordPress security best practices as they offer protection to websites from attacks and vulnerabilities.
• Responsive Design: They should be proficient in developing responsive WordPress web design Melbourne that seamlessly adapt to different screen sizes and devices.
• Plugin Development: They should have experience developing custom plugins, which help add new functionality to a WordPress website. Not only that, but it also helps in modifying existing features within WordPress.
• Theme Development: They must be able to come up with tailored WordPress themes from scratch or modify existing ones to cater to your unique design requirements effectively.

What are the Essential Knowledge Areas That WordPress Web Developer Should Be Well-Conversant with?

Designing a website employing a well-known CMS like WordPress requires several years of experience and practice. Below are certain things that a WordPress web developer should essentially know about for designing an eye-striking website:

• Understanding the WordPress Template Hierarchy

WordPress developers should necessarily possess proficiency in assembling various template files to facilitate the creation of a complete webpage. Each of the unique template files perfectly represents a specific part of a page, and together, they form all content for tailored pages. 

It is again accessible through the WordPress administration system. This is effectively illustrated when you put it into a practical application, emphasising a WordPress developer’s real-time roles and responsibilities.

• Utilising Action and Filter Hooks Effectively

Skilled WordPress developers know how to use action and filter hooks effectively. These are mainly two different forms of hooks. These hooks serve as opportunities for WordPress developers to insert their own code or customise the default operations of WordPress. It is a vital aspect of WordPress development, showcasing the extent of flexibility and functionality an expert developer can bring to your project.

Also, a proficient WordPress developer should be well aware of the key distinctions between filter and action hooks. By mastering this concept, they could improve their coding proficiency.

• Avoiding Core Code Edits

One of the critical aspects of being a WordPress developer is strictly adhering to the fundamental principles of WordPress. In this regard, one of the key principles is to refrain from making changes to the core files. When the WordPress core undergoes an update, it overwrites the core installation with the latest enhancements that are present in the release. 

If these core files have been truncated or tampered with, it could malfunction the significant parts of the installation. It can disrupt the upgrade procedure, which again causes an impaired installation. Moreover, any interference with WordPress core files could expose security vulnerabilities, which creates an open invitation for hackers. Due to this reason, it is always suggested that WordPress developers steer clear of such practices to avoid such instances.

• Familiarity with .gitattributes

It is crucial for every WordPress developer to grasp specific path configurations such as .gitattributes, which is essential for streamlining your workflow. The .gitattributes files serve as a unique Git configuration file, which plays a crucial role in improving WordPress plugins and themes for end-users. 

The Git configuration helps simplify the management of settings associated with distinct files and directories. It also offers advanced functionalities such as configuring path-specific merge methods and content file filtering before committing changes. So, every WordPress developer should focus on mastering the usage of these attributes. To hire WordPress developer, you should contact a well-known WordPress development company who offers best-in-class WordPress development services

• Ensuring Website Security

WordPress developers play a pivotal role in safeguarding websites against common security threats like SQL injections and malware. So, one of the crucial responsibilities of a WordPress developer is to consistently make sure that the themes and plugins of the website are constantly updated to the most recent versions. 

By adopting this specific measure, they can effectively reduce the risk of any vulnerabilities, which again helps strengthen the site’s security aspect and protect it from potential attacks. These professionals are always on top of emerging security threats and apply their vast knowledge to fortify the security of your WordPress website. 

It is also essential to consider this point while hiring a Magento development Melbourne agency. 

• Acquiring the Best WordPress Development Skills to Craft Site-Specific Plugins

The role of a WordPress developer often encompasses making specific improvements to your website using custom plugins. These prove to be incredibly helpful if you desire to make persistent changes on your website that remain intact even after changing themes. WordPress developers should be adept at effectively adjusting or expanding existing plugins to improve functionality. 

If you seek specific customisations, then it is always suggested to engage with a proficient WordPress developer with expertise in creating a site-specific plugin in an optimised manner. These professionals can do more than make mere code adjustments in the functions.php file of your theme.

• Properly Enqueuing Scripts and Styles

If you look forward to managing multiple plugins on your WordPress website, you may need to approach an expert WordPress developer Melbourne. They play a significant role in ensuring that plugins like JavaScript and CSS files are appropriately connected and hooked to avoid duplication. Enqueueing is one of the crucial aspects of this procedure. 

It is regarded as a CMS-friendly approach to integrating scripts into WordPress websites. However, instead of directly using scripts and linking HTML tags, a WordPress developer Sydney typically suggests you employ enqueueing of styles and scripts to ensure seamless site operation.

• Selecting the Ideal Hosting Provider 

Web hosting is one of the most integral elements of a thriving website, which is often overlooked. It has the potential to boost your SEO rankings, increase sales, keep your website secure, and maintain optimal site speed. 

Due to this reason, it is important to ensure that the hosting provider you select offers exceptional customer support and possesses a track record of consistent uptime. This consideration will help in ensuring the success of your website. Sticking to this point is also essential when opting for ecommerce website design or WordPress development services. 

• Developing with Debugging in Mind

One of the integral steps when embarking on a plugin project as a WordPress developer Sydney is to initiate the debugging mode. It is considered a best practice as it helps keep it activated throughout the coding procedure. 

This step is vital as WordPress has a smart error-detection mechanism. It promptly sends a notification to developers about any coding anomaly. As a result, it helps developers to find out and address any issues at the right time.

• Mastering WordPress Database Management

Every WordPress developer should necessarily possess a thorough understanding of the core WordPress database tables. At present, WordPress includes 11 default primary tables. These specific tables are known for storing important information related to different WordPress features and sections. 

A WordPress developer Sydney can efficiently carry out various tasks by using these tables. It includes plugin deactivation, password adjustments, and direct theme selection from the database. So, it effectively eliminates the necessity for access through the admin panel.

Final Thoughts

So, the role and responsibility of a WordPress developer Melbourne are multifaceted and play a critical role in deciding the success of any website that WordPress powers. By relying on their expertise, you could effectively improve your site’s user experience, security and functionality. As a result, they play an indispensable role in the world of WordPress development.

You need to get in touch with a reputed WordPress development company if you want to hire the best developers for your project requirements.