A good website is essential for every business in this digital age. Several firms already have an online presence and need to update it with a new theme or additional functionality. Such firms often try to seek out web development firms for a good website design for their WordPress website and custom website development to increase the functionality of their website.
WordPress Developers tend to make several mistakes during custom development making a website more vulnerable. This article goes on to describe some common errors made during WordPress development.
Worst Mistakes WordPress Developers make
- Single file for JavaScript code for web theme: A WordPress theme consists of several components including JavaScript files that are necessary for the features present on a page. Several themes tend to stuff all the necessary JavaScript code into one single file. This file will get very big since there is extensive use of JavaScript in WordPress pages; which also includes jQuery scripts. However, not every page requires all the JavaScript code hence placing it in different files and only loading common JavaScript code is usually more efficient and time-saving.
- Modifying WordPress core code: Many of us must have noticed that if there are too many plug-ins installed in a WordPress website there tend to be conflicts which end up shutting down some features of the website. The conflict within WordPress plugins and themes usually occurs due to bad coding. Some of the bad practices that WordPress Developers are often involved in include making use of conflicting naming conventions, modifying the core code of WordPress, not using the correct framework functions and features. Thus, it is necessary to follow the framework to avoid conflicts and issues with a plug-in in the longer run.
- Not using the true potential of WordPress: WordPress releases frequent updates to add new features and deprecate old ones. The existing core functionality is extensive and offers many functions and a library of features for a developer to implement. Thus, not making use of these core features and functions, but making custom functions for a new plug-in would be a big mistake. Doing this tends to slow down a website and make it less efficient.
- Failing to implement PHP coding standards: Using bad PHP coding practices can result in major issues in a website making it fail without warning. A WordPress website requires the use of many technologies like PHP, CSS, JavaScript, HTML, etc. It is important to have the knowledge on how to integrate all technologies to create the perfect theme or plug-in. It often happens that a web developer combines too many technologies in a single PHP code snippet instead of following a proper framework. This is a highly inefficient coding practice and will affect the website as well.
- Writing non-secure PHP code for WordPress plug-in: Any website online is vulnerable to hackers bent on destroying your website. WordPress has a basic framework to protect websites, besides which there are also several plug-ins that can enhance the security of a website. However, WordPress security also depends on the coding practice followed when developing the website, a new theme, plug-in and any other custom coding. WordPress Developers who change the core functions or make use of bad programming techniques make the website more vulnerable to hackers.
- Wrongly implementing WordPress code snippets: It may not be common knowledge for a layman, but every Web Developer is aware that there are plenty of PHP code snippets available from the Internet that can be implemented as per the requirement. Web developers who are involved in WordPress advanced development often take such code snippets from several sources since there are many advantages of doing this. It is a big time saver. However, there are also many downfalls of following such a method of WordPress development. The code snippets may be using an older version of PHP or WordPress which can cause an issue when implemented. One of the other common issues is not integrating code snippet in the correct manner.
- Practicing hard-code programming techniques: WordPress Developers often use hard-code programming techniques which create issues down the line. This can be hard-coding variables like for a URL, count, or some other important value. It can also mean implementing bad coding practices. Although this type of programming can be a big time saver, it can affect the efficiency and dynamicity of a website and result in unexpected errors at any time.
- WordPress website indexing: WordPress has a very good feature that allows search engines to index a website. This is a configurable feature giving the developer the option of activating it. The advantage of implementing these features is that it is very good from the SEO perspective and helps search engines Google index your website and improve the page rank. On the other hand, it is never a good idea to keep this setting active during the developing stage of the website. The reason being, WordPress development usually takes place on a test server and is not the final URL of a website. Thus when the website is finally transferred to the main domain, it can cause duplication of URL and affect the page rank and be bad for SEO.
- Loading all resources for every page: Every page requires a set of resources to be loaded for the purpose of layout and functionality. These are exclusive to a single page hence it is not a good idea to load them at all times. For example, if a website has a WooCommerce plug-in installed. Loading all shopping cart resources for the other content pages will make a website very inefficient.
- Failing to take regular backups: It is always good coding practice to take regular backup of all code to avoid loss and save time. It is likely that you have all preventive measures in place so that nothing can go wrong but still end up losing a large portion of the work due to some or the other issue. It is essential to take regular backups to ensure there is something to fall back on and prevent loss of time and effort.
- Failing to optimize the images custom code: It is possible to upload large images fast these days due to the large bandwidth available. However, when it comes to WordPress development it is never a good idea to make use of large images. Some of the WordPress Developers who do not follow good coding practices often fail to optimize large images that are uploaded on a website. This is a big mistake since it tends to make a website inefficient.
