Joshua Galyon
WordPress development is one of the most required jobs at freelancing jobs. You can easily get a freelancing job if you have experience with WordPress development but the question is how to be a WordPress developer. That’s what we will answer in this article.
1- Learn HTML and CSS
Learning HTML and CSS are your first steps in the Web development track. However, they are very easy to learn and you can just learn HTML and CSS in just a few weeks. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is designed to be displayed in a web browser. It is just the structure for the web page. To style the web page, you have to learn CSS. With CSS, you control the page colors, fonts, backgrounds, paddings and margins.
2- Learn PHP and SQL
PHP is the backend programming language for WordPress and if you would like to excel at WordPress, you must be proficient with PHP. It is very easy to learn but you should study algorithms basics and data structure as well because programming isn’t just coding. Programming is art.
After learning PHP, you should move to SQL to understand how databases work.
3- Learn Javascript
PHP is a backend language and you will need to learn javascript to be professional at front end development. After learning javascript, you should learn javascript libraries like jquery because you will need it heavily in custom front end development for WordPress. If you can learn React JS as well, it would be a plus point.
4- Be familiar with WordPress hooks concept
WordPress hooks concept is a core concept for WordPress development. You should familiarize yourself with this concept to be an expert at WordPress development.
5- Understand WordPress hierarchy
WordPress is about hierarchy. To override a specific template, you need to study WordPress hierarchy to override it. The same if you need to add a specific page template.
This point needs articles to write about. You should do your own search for it.
5- Be familiar with plugins and themes
Plugins and themes are the core part for WordPress. And you should know how to pick the best WordPress plugins and themes. Some of the best plugins include: Elementor page builder, Yoast SEO, RankMath SEO, w3 total cache and Quill Forms the best Typeform alternative.
There are a lot of plugins for WordPress and the “know how” to pick the right plugin is an experience itself you should develop. For example if a client needs a WordPress quiz plugin, you should do your own search to find the best one that fits your needs. Not all plugins have the same features and you have to test the chosen plugin if it has the same features you need or have a look at their website.
The same applies for themes.
Conclusion
We have covered quickly the steps you have to implement to become a good WordPress developer and start the freelancing career. You should start with HTML and CSS then move to Javascript, PHP and SQL. The next step is to understand WordPress hooks and WordPress hierarchy. Then, you should move on to be familiar with plugins and themes. We mentioned some famous plugins like: Quill Forms, the best WordPress survey plugin and RankMath SEO, the best SEO plugin.
