The WordPress Developer Toolkit

This all-in-one tutorial toolkit is designed to help web designers and developers get started with building great sites using the open source software WordPress. It includes some of the shortcuts, tips, links that have served me well for almost a year of custom WordPress design and development.

VIDEO: Check out our overview video tutorial on easy web design with WordPress

BASIC TOOLS OF A WORDPRESS DEVELOPER

1. Firefox Web Browser

The biggest tool you’ll want as a WordPress developer is the Firefox web browser.

Firefox (with the Add-ons mentioned below) has made my life with WordPress much easier and my projects go faster because of the beauty of the WordPress Theme Editor where you can make updates live and on the fly.

After you install Firefox, here are the best Add-ons I found to be most helpful to me, so install these right away:

For a more comprehenisve list of good Add-ons, see FreelanceSwitch’s Essential List of FireFox Extensions.

2. Screenshots in Other Browsers

One tool I’ve used extensively is Multiple IE

Internet Explorer 6 is the bane of most web designers existence. This free software called Multiple IE allows PC users to install Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 at the same time. So you can preview your designs in both browsers without having to use a browsercam service.

Download it at: http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE

Another great website for seeing how websites look in different browsers is Net Render

3. Web Hosting

You’ll need to get a provider where you can easily install WordPress for setting up demo sites for your clients. I suggest using a hosting service that gives you unlimited MySQL databases (i.e. unlimited WP test blogs) and uses cPanel/Fantastico.

Why cPanel? Using Fantastico through cPanel is the fastest, easiest way to install a WordPress blog and also keep it updated.

We highly recommend HostGator. They have great prices and excellent customer service.

4. Paypal

Maybe this is obvious, but in the past year or so of freelancing, I’ve done almost 95% of my business through Paypal. It’s immediate and most people can use it, even if they don’t have a Paypal account, they can use their credit card. You can easily keep track of your finances in one place (esp. for tax time) and transfer money back and forth to your account as needed.

5. Theme Switcher Plugin

If you don’t have multiple MySQL databases and want to use one test blog for then I’d suggest using Theme Switcher Plugin. It allows you to demo several themes on the same site. We use this at iThemes for displaying multiple color styles of our premium themes. (I’ve broken out more useful plugins below.)

THE BEST, MOST USEFUL PLUGINS

Here are some of the plugins I’ve found most useful to my clients and to my business:

  1. Askimet – Industrial-strength blog spam protection; It’s installed automatically, but you’ll need an API code from WordPress.com to activate it.
  2. Google Sitemaps Generator – Give Google and the other search engines a roadmap to your content
  3. Related Posts – Give readers an easy way to find related (and buried) content
  4. AddThis – One-stop-shop for giving readers an easy way to bookmark your content on the social networking sites
  5. Subscribe to Comments – Let comments keep track of the conversation
  6. Contact Form – Give site guests an easy way to contact you. Use this plugin or this one.
  7. Theme Switcher — See above. Easily allows you to use one site, but test multiple themes.

USEFUL CODE SNIPPETS CHEATSHEET

Here’s the shortcut text file I use quite often when developing sites in WordPress. I’ve found it to contain some of the things I need most often. So when I need them I just copy and paste.

Download it here
Other links to useful shortcuts: Coming soon

SHORTCUTS TO USEFUL WP-RELATED SITES

SUGGESTIONS FOR GETTING CLIENTS

Here are some suggestions for getting and retaining clients that I’ve found are key:

  1. Have a Contact Form – Make it easy for clients to contact you. Use this plugin or this one.
  2. Develop a great portfolio page — Kind of goes without saying.
  3. Be dependable – Do what you say you’re going to do.
  4. Offer quality service
  5. Stay in good contact with clients – Most clients expect freelancers to work around the clock. Overcommunication has rarely been rejected.
  6. Deliver on time — Clients want things when you promise them.
  7. Release a free theme – It’s a great way to find new clients and start your fledgling freelance business.

  • About iThemes

    iThemes is one of the leaders in producing high-quality premium WordPress themes for photographers, designers, and businesses. Simply put, we love WordPress, the open source software that runs our designs. We believe WP is an outstanding content management system that can both put your business on the Web map ... and help you easily maintain your blog and websites. Read our Behind the Scenes Story here »