WordPress developers are skilled individuals who have sufficient expertise in the PHP programming language and can easily handle any customization and theme and plugin design request. In this article, you can read about their skills and income plans.
There are many jobs in the WordPress field, from WordPress hosting providers to WordPress developers, web designers, and WordPress content creators. But who is a WordPress developer, and what exactly do they specialize in?
Who is a WordPress developer?
WordPress developers are experts in building websites with WordPress and are also called full-stack developers. This means that they can design and code both the front-end and back-end of a website. A WordPress developer may be a PHP expert and programmer who is proficient in building WordPress plugins and themes. Therefore, many organizations are looking for a capable developer to handle all the customization and features needed for their WordPress site.
To become a WordPress developer, you first need to know what WordPress is. WordPress is a powerful and versatile Content Management System that has revolutionized the way websites are built and managed. It doesn’t require any coding except for customizing and adding more features and functionality, which you would need a WordPress developer to do. In short, WordPress developers can take on the technical challenges of creating and managing a website to completely customize the theme and redesign the site’s features, which the average user doesn’t have the time or expertise to do.
WordPress developer job description
A WordPress developer is usually responsible for the back-end or front-end development of WordPress sites. Without technical knowledge, a WordPress developer cannot solve problems related to website debugging, front-end and back-end development, data backups, theme customization, and website redesign.
That’s why if you run your website on the WordPress content management system, you’ll need a WordPress developer sooner or later.
Start with a ” why. “
If you’re going to start a business, you need to start it for a good reason. Sure, being able to work from anywhere is great, but that’s also possible in many other jobs these days. You don’t have to run every aspect of a company yourself to achieve workplace freedom.
This means that you need more than just freedom at work to run your own business. For example, one of the reasons people work as freelance WordPress developers is that, in addition to having the opportunity to write whatever they want, they also have time for other things in life, which allows them to be great parents. Working for a company means you can’t sit down in the middle of the day and catch up on your homework.
Freelancing has its challenges, like when people don’t pay you for whatever reason. But you have to be strong and keep working.
Ask yourself:
- Why do I endure hard days at work?
- Who specifically can I help by working for myself that I wouldn’t be able to help otherwise?
Understand your worth.
The next thing to consider when working for yourself is how much you value your work.
When you start as a WordPress developer, it’s easy to think that writing code for clients is the most important thing you offer and for your clients to think that’s the most you do, but you’re both wrong!
The most important thing an experienced WordPress developer offers is the wisdom to make the right decisions. It provides value when you know which WordPress plugins are right for a project.
Deciding whether to place code in a plugin or within a theme when designing WordPress themes and plugins is another valuable piece of knowledge that clients lack. The code you type is evidence of this knowledge.
A good way to start talking about the value of your work with your clients is in your initial email to them. Please note that the focus of the questions is on the value the client expects from a project. Don’t worry about how long it will take when you start negotiating with clients. At this stage of the process, they don’t care about spending a lot of time.
The only thing that clients care about is whether the money they pay for your work is worth it. They want to know that if they spend, say, $5,000 on a website, they can make $10,000 a year from that site. If you’re going to get paid well for your work, you need to show them the value of your work.
Ask yourself:
- How can I show my clients that they will benefit three times or more from my work?
- How can I help customers avoid known issues?
Learning on the job
Learning in any field is a multi-step process. It starts with research to identify the best sources of information. A good place to start is by taking online courses.
In WordPress development, after learning the basics, you can delve deeper into the subject.
The biggest mistake people make when they start learning anything is waiting too long to release their work into the world. Tomorrow, you will always be better. Your code will be cleaner, your writing will be more concise, and your design will be better.
Start your journey as a WordPress developer by choosing a personal project, building it, and then sharing it with others. Please share it on social media and ask for feedback. Most WordPress developers remember everyone who has helped them along the way and are happy to spend a few minutes helping someone who is just starting.
Where is the job market for a WordPress developer?
A WordPress developer can be a freelance developer or hired by a company.
- For those looking for freelance opportunities, there are several job boards that you can sign up with to connect WordPress developers with potential clients.
- Also, if you are an aspiring WordPress developer who is not interested in freelancing, there are options such as software development companies, digital marketing agencies, and software management businesses that you can use.
How to become a WordPress developer
- Master the PHP programming languages and the skills listed above.
- Choose a field of work for yourself.
- Become an active member of the WordPress community.
- Design a portfolio.
Master the basics of coding.
WordPress, a content management system, does not require coding or knowledge of coding. However, as a developer, learning the basics of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP is essential for troubleshooting, debugging, and extending the platform’s functionality.
For example, you need to know PHP to set up WordPress error reporting on a client site or if you want to display a list of random posts in the sidebar of a WordPress site. If you wish for external links on a WordPress site to open in a new tab automatically, you will need JavaScript. If you or a client want a truly unique design for your site, you will need to know HTML and CSS to customize a WordPress starter theme.
Choose a field of work for yourself.
There are three main areas for WordPress developers: core software, plugins, or themes. You may specialize in one location, but you can work in all three.
- Core development: Developers in this field create and edit the WordPress core, which is the software available for download on the official WordPress site. While Matt Mullenough, one of the founders of WordPress, leads the core WordPress team, anyone can review and analyze the code, report vulnerabilities or security bugs, and contribute code.
- Theme development: Developers in this field create custom themes. They can create them for individual clients, publish them for free in the WordPress theme directory, or sell them on a marketplace or third-party site.
- Plugin development: Developers in this field create custom plugins. Like theme developers, they can create a plugin for individual clients, publish it for free in the WordPress plugin directory, or put it up for sale on a marketplace or third-party site.
Become an active member of the WordPress community.
When compared to Joomla, Drupal, and other content management systems, WordPress has the largest global community dedicated to improving the platform. You can connect with these millions of members through support forums. Active members in this community can help you troubleshoot issues with the software or a specific site and stay up-to-date on product announcements and releases.
Design a portfolio.
When looking for a job, you want to provide as much evidence of your skills and qualifications as possible. This is true for almost any job, but especially for a career in WordPress development; designing a portfolio is a great way to “show, not tell.”
What are the skills of a programmer and developer?
First, we will briefly mention the most important skills of a WordPress developer and programmer.
- Deep understanding of front-end technologies such as HTML, jQuery, JavaScript, and CSS.
- Experience in building user interfaces
- Experience in responsive web design and development.
- Familiarity with tools such as Chrome Inspector, Firebug, etc.
Next, we will examine how the above skills can be applied to become WordPress developers and discuss the necessary skills in more detail.
Familiarity with WordPress terminology and uses
In any task, you must first identify the terminology and applications. The WordPress system is made up of various tools. Suppose you plan to become an expert in the field of WordPress. In that case, you must first learn how to use tools such as templates, plugins, etc., so that you do not encounter problems in carrying out various projects.
Understanding the Basics of WordPress
To learn WordPress properly, you need to start with the basics. WordPress produces excellent output using various languages, such as CSS, HTML, and PHP.
Working with plugins
WordPress offers various plugins to make website design easier and provide more features. You can use these plugins to add more features to your site. Also, note that a WordPress expert should also have the skills to write plugins because, in some of the projects you do, the site needs features that no plugin has been designed for yet. You have to do the coding yourself. Of course, as a WordPress user and a website designer, this is not expected of you, and you will have no problem without programming knowledge. Still, we recommend it for the development of your business.
Introduction to SEO
Using optimization, an expert can introduce his site pages to Google search engines to gain a good position in Google. Basic site optimization helps the site progress a lot, and you will rank higher in Google results. There are many free resources for learning that you can use to increase your knowledge.
Programming and design of templates and plugins
The skills mentioned above, from front-end to back-end coding skills, should be learned through careful planning. This skill will lead you to higher income and greater expertise.
WordPress Developer Responsibilities
Despite the regular work of WordPress developers mostly revolving around developing plugins and themes, some companies look for other specific requirements. A typical WordPress developer should be able to perform all of the following tasks on a WordPress site:
- Design, implementation, and management of WordPress sites
- Install WordPress and create the website structure.
- Design and implement new features for WordPress
- Develop plugins and themes and ensure they work properly in all environments.
- Optimize developed modules and prevent conflicts between them.
- Manage all technical aspects of the content management system.
- Monitor website performance, keep it up to date, and troubleshoot any issues.
WordPress Developer vs. Web Developer
In addition to WordPress developers, web developers are capable of developing various websites. Both WordPress developers and web developers are primarily skilled programmers who write code to build websites.
A web developer is a broad term for anyone who codes websites, regardless of the tools or techniques used to create them. A WordPress developer typically specializes in building websites using the WordPress platform.
- In the table below, we examine the key differences and similarities between web developers and WordPress developers.
As mentioned, WordPress is undoubtedly the most popular content management system and plays a key role in shaping businesses around the world. In this article, we learned about WordPress programming and how we can become experts in this field. If you have any questions or comments, you can share them with us in the comments section. We will try to respond to you as soon as possible.
Both WordPress developers and full-stack developers work on both the front-end and back-end of a website. However, WordPress developers type website’s front-end and back-end full-stack web developers do.
You can read more details in the article.
What is WordPress programming, and what does a WordPress developer do?
You don’t need to have WordPress coding skills to work with WordPress, but this expertise and skill can help with designing themes and plugins and customizing many parts of a WordPress site.
In addition, it can be a great way for you to generate income.
The article was complete and excellent, thank you.