Question about Wordpress

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Just out of curiosity I did a recent search for front-end dev jobs in my area, hundreds of job opportunities showed up in the result. What I noticed is almost every single one of them required the applicant to know Wordpress, my question is why?

I’ve never used Wordpress but from the looks of it, it looks like a user-friendly build your own website style, drag and drop workshop. Why on earth would this be a useful resource? I feel like this would hinder creativity.

I’m learning to code more for fun then to really land a job, however, I’m never opposed to adding experience to my resume. Should I set aside the time to know the ins and outs of Wordpress?

TL;DR

Why is Wordpress useful over code.

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WordPress from a client’s point of view allows them to edit, add, and delete content all on their own. With WordPress they do not need to hire someone to do the day-to-day site upkeep, and this is exactly what many many clients are looking for. And of all the CMS out there, WordPress is head and shoulders above the rest.

For you as a developer WordPress allows a faster development cycle, and with a ton of high quality plugins to use, it means you are not forever re-inventing the wheel.

WordPress takes quite a lot of work and programming skill to master, but it is very much in demand and so it is a great skill to know.

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I’ve never used Wordpress but from the looks of it, it looks like a user-friendly build your own website style, drag and drop workshop. Why on earth would this be a useful resource?

You won’t be the one using the user-friendly drag and drop parts, you’ll be the one putting everything together so that your clients can use the drag and drop parts.

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All the basics are already there in Wordpress so you can grab some basic plugins and then focus on design and custom functionality. The more fun parts of any website :wink:

Great documentation and available hints and tutorials on the web too. You’ll never be without solutions.

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I am actually focusing on learning WordPress right now. From a glance, it does look like just a build your own website style, but that is not fully true. WordPress is very powerful and is a great skill to have - especially if you want to be a freelancer.

In a nutshell, WordPress is a CMS. In other words, it manages my images, videos, blog posts, comments, users, etc. so I don’t have to constantly update HTML files, tweak databases, and all that annoying, time-consuming stuff.

This is a misconception. WordPress manages your code not replaces it. I still develop the front-end for my site. I am in charge of how the website looks and operates. I have just added WordPress to make it easier for me or my client to update the page himself.

A WordPress website is made up of themes and plugins. Themes control the way the page looks, this is where you as a front-end developer become important. You develop the way the page looks just like you normally would (HTML, CSS, JavaScript). But WordPress provides a dashboard allowing you to easily manage the website. You can edit your paragraphs, images, and everything from a control panel like you would in Microsoft Word. This is great if you are making a website for a client. You make the WordPress theme, and now they can tweak it however they want. Information, photos, prices change over time. You no longer have to change it for them - they can do so themselves.

Wordpress plugins let you supercharge your development. Do you want to have a contact form that sends emails? There is a plugin for that - you don’t have to build it. Do you want to have an image slider? Automatic backups? There are plugins for almost anything on WordPress that help you and the client out tremendously. As a developer, you can also develop custom WordPress plugins for people.

True, there are people who use WordPress as a website builder - they aren’t your clientele anyway. WordPress is useful because it makes it easier for you as a developer with plugins, and it makes it easier for your clients to manage their own website without having to contact you all the time.

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That makes sense but doesn’t this sort of jeopardize a developers chance at work?
If WordPress is that powerful why hire a developer to make you a website at all? Why not just hire him to make you a custom plugin if you run across something Wordpress doesn’t offer.

Think I’ll look up books on Amazon, I’m intrigued. :grin:

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I guess there is a chance that it could jeopardize your work, but there have always been website builders, and there always will be. People who want a custom looking website will still have to contact you. Also, don’t get the idea that WordPress is an all-in-one website solution - it’s not. That’s why you still should learn back-end skills like Node.js, because companies need things that WordPress cannot provide.

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Until we start seeing drag and drop server, application and database makers. :joy:

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WordPress has 30% share of the whole web and there is a reason for it. WordPress is not just drag n drop but it is also true that you can create a full fledged site without writing a single line of code.
WordPress makes a lot of unnecessary time consuming web development tasks easier. If you understand its structure and know your way around PHP then you can develop your custom themes showing off your own creativity. Platform is very stable and is constantly updated. Many plugins are available to achieve a certain task. That’s why more and more organisations are adopting this platform due to its versatility and efficient nature.

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WordPress is a good place to create websites because it promotes a good SEO ranking.

Michelle

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I freelanced for years specializing in setting up and maintaining Wordpress sites. You make money/do work in the following:

Building custom themes
Creating custom plugins
Installing Plugins
Loading content for less savvy clients
Performing maintenance (updates, code updates when core function change so your themes and plugins keep up)

It’s more work than it sounds. You need to know PHP and have at least some SQL experience to customize the back end. It’s still my go to for most site solutions.

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