Introduction
In the dynamic world of WordPress development, efficiency and organization are key to managing projects effectively. Leveraging the right productivity tools can streamline your development process, enhance collaboration, and boost overall productivity. This article explores some essential tools that we’re using on all of our projects, whether internal or client-facing, and we hope it can help you better streamline your WordPress journey by integrating them into your workflow.
Local (by Flywheel)
Why you should not build websites on a live server and why the development should be done locally is a topic for itself, and we will cover it in another post.
There are many local servers out there, and our choice is Local (by Flywheel). It allows developers to quickly set up local WordPress environments, providing an easy way to develop and debug sites in a private setting before going live. The tool’s intuitive interface and powerful features like one-click SSL, simple root access, and the ability to choose the working environment (PHP version, web server, database type, and version) make it an indispensable part of our WordPress development toolkit.
VS Code
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a lightweight but powerful code editor that supports multiple programming languages. For us at S-Tier dev and our WordPress developers, one of its standout features is the ability to create custom snippets—blocks of reusable code that can be triggered by a shortcut. This functionality accelerates coding efficiency, reduces repetitive tasks, and ensures consistency across projects.
VS Code extensions enhance and personalize your environment by adding functionalities tailored to your needs. There is one for almost everyone; for example, two that make our developer’s life easier are: “Project Manager” simplifies workflow by allowing you to easily switch between different projects without the need to navigate through file directories, saving time and enhancing focus.
The “Highlight Matching Tag” benefits developers by automatically highlighting corresponding opening or closing tags, reducing errors, and increasing the readability and maintainability of complex code structures.
Trello
Trello is a versatile project management tool that helps WordPress teams, both in-house and client-facing, organize tasks and milestones in a visually intuitive format. By using boards, lists, and cards, developers can track the progress of various components of a project, set deadlines, and prioritize tasks. Trello’s simplicity and flexibility make it an excellent choice for managing both small and large WordPress projects, keeping everyone aligned and focused on their goals.
Inspired by Trello and other Kanban-like platforms, we’re soon launching our own Kanban plugin (S Kanban) for WordPress. Led by the same methodology we use for WordPress development, the plugin will have only the necessary functionality for streamlined and optimized project management.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams enhances communication by providing a unified platform for both team collaboration and client interaction. It offers a range of tools, including chat, video conferencing, and file sharing, all integrated within one application.
This allows for seamless real-time discussions, quick feedback loops, and efficient project management. Additionally, the ability to create specific channels and private meetings helps keep conversations organized and accessible, ensuring that both team members and clients can easily stay connected and informed about project progress.
Our clients with the ‘S Tier‘ membership level get their own channel for each project, making communication and task handling much faster and more streamlined.
WPGulp
WPGulp is an advanced WordPress tool that automates and streamlines tasks using Gulp, a toolkit for automating painful or time-consuming tasks in your development workflow. It efficiently handles processes like Sass to CSS conversion, JavaScript concatenation and minification, and image optimization. WPGulp significantly speeds up development time and improves code quality, making it a valuable asset for developers aiming to enhance their productivity and maintain high standards.
It has been in our arsenal for a while now, and we encourage everyone who hasn’t tried it out.
We like it so much that we wrote a post with detailed instructions on how to use it:
https://stierdev.com/how-to-automate-wordpress-development-with-wpgulp/
Listary
Listary is a unique tool that enhances file browsing and searching on your computer, which can be a boon during WordPress development. With features that allow instant searching and quick access to recently used files and folders, Listary ensures that WordPress developers spend less time navigating directories and more time coding.
The Web Search feature significantly improves productivity by allowing users to quickly open frequently visited web pages directly from any environment. By setting up customizable keywords for URLs, users can launch their favorite sites with simple keyboard shortcuts, eliminating the need to manually navigate through bookmarks or type full web addresses. This swift access to online resources saves time and streamlines the workflow, making it especially useful for professionals who need to reference web pages regularly during their tasks(Stackoverflow, am I right? 🙂).
ShareX
ShareX is an advanced screenshot tool that is extremely useful for WordPress developers, especially when documenting or demonstrating features during development. It supports screen capture, file sharing, and even has the ability to record screen actions as video. ShareX is ideal for creating visual aids that help in bug reports, tutorials, or team communications.
By configuring the FTP feature, captured screenshots can be uploaded to your server and configured to use your domain name, which can help a bit with the professional image when sending screenshots to your clients. Like this: https://ss.stierdev.com/Dw8e.jpg
Conclusion
Using the right productivity tools can profoundly impact the effectiveness of WordPress development processes. The tools listed above not only save time and reduce effort but also foster a more organized and collaborative working environment. Whether you’re a solo developer or part of a larger team, integrating these tools into your workflow can lead to more successful and enjoyable WordPress development experiences.