For those of you who use WordPress to make sites for clients. Do you go full no code? Do you use drag and drop like elementor? WP already available templates? Or do you code your own templates using php and css?
I’m currently attempting to code a template, it’s been a long process, just wanting to know if what I do is a norm or a recommended approach.
I’m choosing WP so I can only focus on the the front end and the WP dashboard takes care of the back end. Which seems to be appropriate as one man doing this whole thing.
If anyone does recommend coding wp templates as a good idea, could you let me know of any useful tools you use or any other tips?
[ad_2]
It gets faster. I use a custom parent theme I developed and then for each client I create a child theme which is essentially just ACF blocks and SCSS. I can build an entire homepage in ~ 1 day now, fully responsive, dynamic, animated, etc. Then a few pages per day after that.
The more you do, the more shortcuts you will find. But the key is to work smarter, not harder. Find ways to reuse what you can across clients. And you’ll also just get quicker the more you do it.
I usually code templates with PHP/HTML/CSS/JS, then give the client the ability to manipulate the template using ACF.
This results in a high performing unique template that looks nice, is SEO optimized, and 99.9% of the time won’t break when wordpress is updated
I usually code templates with PHP/HTML/CSS/JS, then give the client the ability to manipulate the template using ACF.
This results in a high performing unique template that looks nice, is SEO optimized, and 99.9% of the time won’t break when wordpress is updated
Devs always Dev. It is in their nature to do so.
Others who call themselves “WordPress developers”, are like deer in headlights.
You need to know how to code. To be able to really shine in this field.
If you don’t know CSS, or JavaScript, or how to manipulate the database to get the information you need from it.
You can still work in this field. But for the big jobs, you will fumble and stumble and look the fool.
I have see it so many times.
People using 4 caching plugins. People using 3 forms plugins, people using 3 security products. People using every Elementor add on under the sun.
Then when it comes to making the site faster and you can only get some much down with plugins. But after that , what happens ?
I took over a site which was loading in 17 seconds the other day. The first page had image sizes that were each like 12MB each !!!! And were 5400 by 4050 or so in size .
Yeah that’s not going to work.
Depends entirely on the scope of the job. Using an off the shelf product obviously saves a boat load of time, at the expense of limiting customisation. For basic brochure sites where time and cost are a limiting factor, I use an off the shelf theme, for big ticket jobs, I go full custom.
But it’s up to you – will a client who wants a 4 page brochure-ware site tolerate a >$6K cost? Does a basic site justify using a fully custom theme? Probably not, so use tools and products available to bring the cost down.