Actually, content management systems are somewhat frowned upon by developers. Because developers want to: develop on their own. But in many cases, such finished systems and frameworks save time during development. After all, you do not have to reinvent the wheel.

Since 2016 I use the content management system WordPress actively for the creation of simple to very complex websites. Over the last three years or so, I’ve created more than 10 different WordPress systems, each with different needs and goals. But I have also worked with Worldsoft and Typo 3 in the past. For me, WordPress is the content management system (CMS) of choice, which I regularly recommend for the publication of content on the Internet – if you do not have to map too complex content and processes like in a large corporation. And it has proven itself.

As a rule, finished WordPress templates come with certain frameworks and plugins. Popular content creation tools (WYSIWYG editors) are WPBakery Page Builder, Elementor, and Divi. With all these page builders, I have extensive knowledge and I can say from experience that their success is primarily related to user acceptance, which is not usually a programmer.

When choosing the “correct” WordPress system, it’s also important to pay attention to the following:

• How many installations does the WordPress theme have so far? Unsuccessful themes are not maintained and bugs are not eliminated. Therefore, choose a theme that has been around for some time and already has hundreds of installations.
• Which technologies are used? One should not just be blinded by the look and functions. It is equally important to focus on a theme that is well documented and based on proven technology. When choosing a theme, I pay attention to the fact that it supports Bootstrap 4 in the frontend.
• How heavy is the theme? The mobile use of websites is becoming increasingly important. All the more important is how heavy websites are on mobile devices. Basically, the leaner and faster you load, the better you perform.

In addition to these very general tips, WordPress has fundamental advantages over many other content management systems: it is free, easily extensible, and widely used. This allows even non-programmers to get decent results, for example by using preconfigured themes and established plug-ins. But even WordPress can quickly be expensive, because professional versions of plugins cost fast money right. If you want to change ready-made elements of themes or plugins, beginners with their Latin are quickly finished. Then only a WordPress programmer will help, as I have become over time.

As a WordPress developer, you will need technical experience in CSS (SCSS), Javascript (jQuery) and PHP for programming web pages – depending on your theme. But technology alone does not make any end product wonderful. Today, programmers cannot afford to just make things work. In demand are developers who comprehensively understand the user and accompany him to the next step. Not only the things that the user sees are relevant, but also the things that you do not see as a user: These include, for example, the semantics of the content, the speed of the data delivery, the creation and reading of logs, the optimization of images, and much much more.

For good reason, WordPress is by far the leading CMS worldwide in 2018: More than 60% of all websites are now operated with WordPress (source: W3Tech).

The open WordPress: Access Data via Interfaces

The success of WordPress attracts more and more users and especially developers. That’s why the software is evolving rapidly. Since about two years, there is the WordPress Rest API. With the WordPress interface, as a developer, you can no longer control WordPress directly on the system where WordPress itself runs, but also from the outside: as if you had direct access to the local WordPress host. So you can not only read posts, pages, users and other data in JSON format, but also, for example, authenticate users and also write content. Now you can access WordPress from the “outside”, for example, to use content in an Angular application or app. In the coming years, the WordPress Restful API will be further developed, so that then further native authentication mechanisms are expected, which were missing so far.

Conclusion: It takes a lot of effort and passion for creating a truyl great WordPress website. The technology alone is not only important, but also the relevance of content, marketing, and search engine suitability.