When I landed this job right out of school I honestly didn’t know what to expect. As I learned the ropes and settled into my role as a developer there were a lot of things I expected to do as part of a web developer job and things I didn’t expect. Specifically working with WordPress there are a lot of different steps to take and many hats I need to wear to get a project all the way through. Here’s what I do as a front-end WordPress developer.
Functionality research
Every client comes into a project with different functionality requirements for their website. Sometimes it is simple tasks and sometimes it is complex ordering systems. Part of my job is to take those requirements and find the right plugin (or plugins) to suit their needs. I compare cost, features, and reputation to select the best option. Clients rely on us to select these items carefully and implement them correctly so that they can run their business more efficiently.
Development – page building
The most obvious part of my job is building websites and building out website pages is exactly that. I take content the client has provided and display it in a meaningful way on the pages; molding, adjusting along the way. It’s a give-and-take process where I figure out what additional elements I may need along the way to make the best website possible.
Edits
I can’t get everything exactly the way a client wants 100% of the time. (If I had that superpower I’m sure this would make the process much easier.) We include a round of revisions in our process. This is just following the client’s instructions for specific pages or asking clarifying questions to get a better understanding of what they want. I’ll usually go through the edit and complete what I can and get answers to any of their questions or let them know what is possible and what isn’t.
Maintenance
After a site is launched it gets added to our maintenance sheet. We host and perform maintenance on over 200 websites! All of those sites get their plugins and themes updated every month! Half of the list is mine and I touch on it a bit every day to keep on top of it. Usually, things go pretty routinely but some sites need a big update and we need to be a little more diligent to ensure everything remains the same on the front end of the site. The developers also keep on top of security patches that need more immediate attention and update them throughout the month on the sites that need them.
As you can see it’s not always the same thing every day and with many different projects to keep me busy I am always learning and growing along the way. From project start to completion and beyond, there’s a lot of tasks that I stay on top of to keep up with workflow. Of course, these are just the highlights. There are always additional tasks here and there that fill up my day. If you’re interested in knowing more about our process or want to jump into a website redesign, give us a call, we’d be happy to chat!