Developing with WordPress can be a great way to bring your ideas to life, but it’s important to ensure that your website is built with the best practices in mind. From user experience and security considerations to performance optimisation, there are many aspects of development that need to be taken into account.
To help you create optimal websites and applications, we compiled 10 best practices for WordPress development that every developer should follow. Make sure to discuss all these with your WordPress developer Sydney agency.
- Utilise Coding Standards
Developing websites according to coding standards helps ensure code readability and maintainability over time. This can reduce errors and enable easier collaboration between team members who may not be familiar with each other’s work.
- Use Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a great way to organise your code and keep it DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself). This helps reduce the amount of code, making WordPress development much more efficient.
- Implement Security Best Practices
Security is an important consideration when developing any website. You should ensure that all passwords are secure, use sanitization methods to prevent SQL injections and Cross Site Scripting attacks, and take other measures, such as implementing SSL certificates where needed.
- Write Clean Code
Writing clean code can help make your code easier to debug, understand and maintain in the long run. It is also beneficial for future developers who may be working on the project down the line.
- Test on Multiple Browsers and Devices
It’s important to make sure your website looks good and works properly on all browsers, as well as mobile devices. This will ensure that your users have a great experience no matter how they access your site.
- Use Quality Plugins and Themes
When choosing plugins and themes for WordPress development, be sure to select ones that are well-coded, regularly updated and secure. You should also only use the necessary number of plugins to keep your site running smoothly and fast.
- Monitor Website Performance Regularly
Monitoring website performance is essential in order to improve user experience by ensuring that the pages load quickly enough and that all the necessary elements are working properly. It’s also important to check for any potential security issues.
- Optimise Images and Other Media
Images, videos and other media can make your website look more appealing, but they should be used sparingly and optimised for maximum performance. This means compressing images, using web-friendly font formats and hosting video files on external services, such as YouTube or Vimeo.
- Make Your Website Responsive
Having a responsive website is essential in today’s digital world since most users access websites via mobile devices. A responsive design will ensure that your site looks good on any device without having to create separate versions of it for different platforms.
- Automate Wherever Possible
Automation can help streamline your WordPress development process by eliminating tedious and repetitive tasks. You can use tools, such as Gulp, Grunt or WP-CLI for various tasks, including minifying CSS and Javascript files or creating database backups. (Modafinil)
Conclusion
By following the 10 best practices we discussed above, you should be able to create high-quality websites that are both user-friendly and secure. Make sure to discuss all of them with your WordPress developer Sydney agency before embarking on a project. Doing so will ensure that the final product meets all of your requirements and is delivered on time.