This week I’m covering some topics that are a little more in depth, starting on WordPress functionality with the different user roles and including how it actually works behind the scenes. You’ll also read about the great time saver of block patterns within the Gutenberg editor, WordPress coding standards, and the cost to build a WordPress site.
Let’s jump into this week’s 5 WordPress topics:
- WordPress User Roles 101: What They Are and How to Use Them
A quick intro into the default user roles that are included with WordPress and what they do: Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber and Super Admin (Network Admin). Each user role has different permission levels and these are just the starting roles. WooCommerce or other plugins may create additional roles, or you can additional ones through either plugins or custom code. Learn more about how to create and manage custom user roles in The Ultimate Guide to WordPress User Roles and Capabilities. - A Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Block Patterns (Intermediate)
Last week I covered reusable blocks and block patterns are very similar except that you don’t reuse them. Instead, you use block patterns as a starting template: add them to your page or post and then change them as needed. For example, let’s say that you have an employee spotlight pattern that includes an image, title, and bio. You could add that to your page and then update those individual Gutenberg blocks from the pattern. By having block patterns pre-designed, you can quickly create new pages that have the same layout and design but with different content. In fact, WordPress.org has a whole pattern library where you can find and download premade patterns from various authors! Want to learn more about block patterns? Check out The Complete Guide to Using WordPress Block Patterns. - Two Proposals for Coding Standards in WordPress (Beginner)
If you do any WordPress development, you should read this article that introduces the WordPress Coding Standards and how to use them. By following coding standards, your code will be a lot easier to understand and follow, not just for other developers but yourself a month or year down the road. Your code will be a lot easier to maintain and extend as well. As an example, this article uses the infamous Yoda conditions (strong in the force is this author). You can read more about the WordPress-Coding-Standards on Github. - How WordPress Actually Works Behind the Scenes (Infographic) (Intermediate)
I wish I would have seen this infographic years ago when I was just getting started with WordPress.! It illustrates the code execution flow of WordPress so that you can see how it initializes and build the site pages. By understanding this flow, you’ll have a better understanding of where issues can happen (when you’re troubleshooting) and what’s possible. Here’ the direct link to the infographic. - WordPress Costs: How Much Does a WordPress Website Cost in 2022? (Beginner)
Depending on the size of your business, the size of your website, and how much customization is needed, a WordPress website can cost between $75 and $115,000 according to this article. That’s quite the range, but when you break down the costs though, you see where the variation is coming from. WordPress itself is free but you’ll need to pay for the domain name, hosting, premium plugins depending on your needs, external services as needed, and customization by a professional designer or programmer if needed.
That’s it for this week’s topics but I have huge news that I’d like to share: I’m splitting off and starting a new website development agency called White Whale Web. I’m hoping to get back to sharing weekly topics later but for now, I’ll be focusing on the new business! So pause on WP Topics…
Photo by Daniel Herron on Unsplash
Can't get enough? Get these in your inbox each week!
