I have been working as a front end web developer for 1 year, really like my job and the company i work for.
We work with react / next / typescript and we build everything from the ground (no UI libraries).
I would like to be able to do some ransom small jobs to earn a little extra during downtimes (we have several) and i feel like there is much more opportunity to do that for clients who want small websites or ones that have one and need some fixes or upgrades, and i feel these websites are mostly done in WordPress we templates, themes and plugins.
I guess my first question is: is this true? or is it possible to find small commitment side jobs working in react?
My second question is: if WordPress is the way to go, is it a nightmare for a developer who is used to have full control on everything (i had some experience doing small edit on a wesbite made with an Elementor theme and hated it)? Would you recommend me going that route if my main job will never be working with WordPress? If so do you have any learning source to recommend me considering where i come from?
Thanks in advance!
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WordPress uses a variant of React for the editor and blocks:
They also have released a easy way to scaffold a local docker based dev environment:
Knowing React could be a huge advantage for theme/block/plugin development, also because blocks and the use of React is relatively new for WP there’s probably a lot of opportunity and areas/industries that aren’t covered yet.
Yes, it’s true there’s an enormous amount of demand, especially with small businesses (this is my lane). Small business owners are amazing with referrals. they’re so used to getting screwed left and right that simply being an honest, punctual (and hopefully talented) developer will guarantee you more work than you can handle.
Yes, it’s true this is done (when done efficiently) with “templates”. The best themes are more like frameworks than templates. Banging out a unique site in a day and a half is possible once you get good at it.
And no, if you know your stuff with php/java/html, there should be nothing you can’t adjust or add. Sky’s the limit.