Web developers using wordpress?
Discussion
Someone else might come along who knows more than I do, but as no-one has yet...
The advantage of Wordpress is that anyone (well, nearly) can use it and don't need to understand html, although the little bit I've done with it, I've had to edit the html in order to make it do what I want.
I think if you use it you end up with a vedry code heavy page - a page that I would write in straight html might be 10kb, from Wordpress it might be 50 or 100 which is noticeable when you open a page.
I do fairly basic static pages (car club website) using css, html and a bit of Javascript, I wouldn't think about trying to get a freelance web dev role!
You might get freelance work for small business sites but for anything commercial you'd need html, php and other languages to get a freelance job. I don't know what the current favourite is for web, my current company doesn't do web stuff.
W3Schools is good for learning html and other things.
The advantage of Wordpress is that anyone (well, nearly) can use it and don't need to understand html, although the little bit I've done with it, I've had to edit the html in order to make it do what I want.
I think if you use it you end up with a vedry code heavy page - a page that I would write in straight html might be 10kb, from Wordpress it might be 50 or 100 which is noticeable when you open a page.
I do fairly basic static pages (car club website) using css, html and a bit of Javascript, I wouldn't think about trying to get a freelance web dev role!
You might get freelance work for small business sites but for anything commercial you'd need html, php and other languages to get a freelance job. I don't know what the current favourite is for web, my current company doesn't do web stuff.
W3Schools is good for learning html and other things.
todays developers are often front end or back end only, or even front end technology xyz. Not an exageration that ive recently had to tell a pro web developer (as in contracted day rate for a fortune 500) how cookies work and he was self declared "front end" stateless init. ffs.
sorry, rant over. will grab my coat lol.
edit all good advice above. Understand the technologies, but pay attention to the nuts and bolts a bit too - frameworks do so much these days but it helps to understand what is going on beneath. If you start handling personal information get yourself informed on the basics of secure coding at least - owasp.org is a great resource as is their ASVS list.
nodejs is a good starter too as you get get a basic web server running with a couple of lines and then start to build up with routing and persistence etc, and templates.
sorry, rant over. will grab my coat lol.
edit all good advice above. Understand the technologies, but pay attention to the nuts and bolts a bit too - frameworks do so much these days but it helps to understand what is going on beneath. If you start handling personal information get yourself informed on the basics of secure coding at least - owasp.org is a great resource as is their ASVS list.
nodejs is a good starter too as you get get a basic web server running with a couple of lines and then start to build up with routing and persistence etc, and templates.
Edited by bmwmike on Monday 18th May 22:59
I think you are on the right track learning html and CSS. These are the fundamentals of web development / presentation and having that knowledge will massively help you understand how pages are created and laid out. It's the foundation of all web code, so keep on with that. JavaScript fundamentals would be my next step, then a hop over to the WordPress or similar to make your life a bit easier and see if you like those sorts of platforms. You'll still need your html/CSS/java skills if you want to manipulate wordpress and it's themes etc in order to meet your future customer needs.
Personally I liked WordPress but it does have its limitations. I don't really do web development these days but have done several sites for small companies in the past using WordPress (check out the Artisteer program if you want a truly WYSIWYG tool!)
If you are interested in web development, you'll progress through the technologies through natural curiosity, keep practicing and getting better and over time pick up the odd small job. They will then pick up bigger jobs and it'll snowball. Bigger jobs will need a lot more coding knowledge too (back end stuff like databases, security and the like).
I agree with others, it sounds like you are on the right path, good luck!
Personally I liked WordPress but it does have its limitations. I don't really do web development these days but have done several sites for small companies in the past using WordPress (check out the Artisteer program if you want a truly WYSIWYG tool!)
If you are interested in web development, you'll progress through the technologies through natural curiosity, keep practicing and getting better and over time pick up the odd small job. They will then pick up bigger jobs and it'll snowball. Bigger jobs will need a lot more coding knowledge too (back end stuff like databases, security and the like).
I agree with others, it sounds like you are on the right path, good luck!
Bibbs said:
I don't consider WordPress people to be Developers. It's more geared towards Marketing.
Good for the shiny, not good for the technical.
I have both in my company. Wordpress and .NET websites.
I sort of agree, we build .net and outsource any wordpress. Don't dismiss it though there is a good reason millions of websites run on it.Good for the shiny, not good for the technical.
I have both in my company. Wordpress and .NET websites.
I think it's worth clarifying what we're talking about here as Wordpress can mean several different things:
Building your own themes means learning PHP and the Wordpress framework.
The last option usually means a Javascript front-end which loads its content from Wordpress.
The answer to the question is yes, Wordpress is still widely used although not as much as it was 5 - 6 years ago. There will be a lot of sites out there that are too invested in it to easily migrate away, which usually keeps it going for a while.
Javascript is the language of the moment but these things change and PHP isn't going away any time soon.
As somebody who's been doing this since the mid-90s I'd say:
- Installing themes and plugins without leaving the Wordpress environment;
- installing basic themes then modifying them to suit your needs;
- building your own themes and plugins;
- using Wordpress purely as a content editor and using something else entirely to build the website
Building your own themes means learning PHP and the Wordpress framework.
The last option usually means a Javascript front-end which loads its content from Wordpress.
The answer to the question is yes, Wordpress is still widely used although not as much as it was 5 - 6 years ago. There will be a lot of sites out there that are too invested in it to easily migrate away, which usually keeps it going for a while.
Javascript is the language of the moment but these things change and PHP isn't going away any time soon.
As somebody who's been doing this since the mid-90s I'd say:
- Absolutely learn HTML and CSS properly - they'll always be needed and nowhere near enough developers do.
- Learn the framework(s) you need for the thing you're doing right now but don't commit everything to it
- Frameworks and languages will come and go but programming principles don't, so learn about architecture first and foremost.
A lot of 'website companies' offer wordpress because they are not really coders - there are a lot of 'one man bands' out there who claim to be a website company and who offer you solutions to any issues / needs you might have - all based on Wordpress - however, they do so because they are familiar with how the software works through the admin system, with plugins, etc. - they very often have zero actual coding knowledge... they are the people you will see on a website such as stack exchange asking for others to fix their issues - and clearly demonstrating that they have no idea...
for many people a simple wordpress website can work well, but it is surprising how often it is not the right solution - companies are often forcing their needs into what is offered within a Wordpress template, rather than looking at how the platform / website / etc. should support the business and help grow it...
a 'proper' website company or developer should have the ability to build from scratch - they will probably use templates / libraries / methodologies / etc. because it saves time or provides a structured approach and good discipline for a team of developers - but they will understand how it is working and have the ability to alter / expand / develop as appropriate.
ultimately a website company should be building the right solution for the business - one which delivers what is needed now and enables the business to grow - that rarely will happen through squeezing the business into wordpress! The wordpress platform was built as a blogging platform, and it is still very good for that, but you will rarely now see a serious business using it to grow their business online...
so, you can choose - learn wordpress if you simply want to be able to charge people a few hundred pounds for installing wordpress (can be very profitable and certainly can manage an income from it), but if you want to learn proper website coding then html and css is good - look at php (or .net if you want to work in a more corporate environment), look at javascript (and then AJAX off the back of it) - learn about databases (how to structure them, how to query them - MySQL / MSSQL), then move on to things such as frameworks - Sympfony etc. or templating - Twig etc.
ultimately as above - learning the concepts - understanding data structures / architecture / etc. is the most important - ultimately, precise coding language is a matter of learning the terminology, and once you know one it is relatively easy to pick up another...
but generally - wordpress tends to be the more ad-hoc amateur, the other, the more professional...
for many people a simple wordpress website can work well, but it is surprising how often it is not the right solution - companies are often forcing their needs into what is offered within a Wordpress template, rather than looking at how the platform / website / etc. should support the business and help grow it...
a 'proper' website company or developer should have the ability to build from scratch - they will probably use templates / libraries / methodologies / etc. because it saves time or provides a structured approach and good discipline for a team of developers - but they will understand how it is working and have the ability to alter / expand / develop as appropriate.
ultimately a website company should be building the right solution for the business - one which delivers what is needed now and enables the business to grow - that rarely will happen through squeezing the business into wordpress! The wordpress platform was built as a blogging platform, and it is still very good for that, but you will rarely now see a serious business using it to grow their business online...
so, you can choose - learn wordpress if you simply want to be able to charge people a few hundred pounds for installing wordpress (can be very profitable and certainly can manage an income from it), but if you want to learn proper website coding then html and css is good - look at php (or .net if you want to work in a more corporate environment), look at javascript (and then AJAX off the back of it) - learn about databases (how to structure them, how to query them - MySQL / MSSQL), then move on to things such as frameworks - Sympfony etc. or templating - Twig etc.
ultimately as above - learning the concepts - understanding data structures / architecture / etc. is the most important - ultimately, precise coding language is a matter of learning the terminology, and once you know one it is relatively easy to pick up another...
but generally - wordpress tends to be the more ad-hoc amateur, the other, the more professional...
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