WordPress Development
Headless PHP Development
If you can get away with it, turn your WordPress into a headless CMS and thank me later. It can make your user experience better, decrease development time & improve performance.. Oh, it can also decrease your infrastructure costs. I should write an article on this. Use the awesome parts about WordPress and make it better by using the awesome parts of modern web development. Check out the recommended resources below to make this happen.
WordPress GraphQL Plugin
This is the official plugin to create a graphql api with your wordpress content. You’ll notice a few gotchas when you start querying the content. You may be expecting extra content outside of the loop within the post or have javascript / css libraries that improve the presentation of the content. They won’t be included when using this graphql API. You may also need to look through your plugins to see if they have an integration with this plugin. I know Advanced Custom Fields and Yet Another Related Post Plugin does.
WordPress Gatsby Plugin
You need to install this plugin to use the Gatsby Static Site framework to build a front-end. I personally really like Gatsby because the people behind it are great, it’s built in react, it’s fast and the performance is great.
Gatsby JS Static Site Framework
This is my preferred go-to front-end framework for content sites. Gatsby has a laser focus on who they serve and what they do which gives it a leg up compared to other static generators (in my opinion). I do love NextJS and Hugo is interesting. (Nuxt is terrible last time I used it and haven’t tried any of the other Vue static site generators). React is popular, and easy to pick up. Gatsby was actually created by developers frustrated with WordPress theming so its made for this job.
Hosting, Cloud & Managed Services
WordPress Hosting
Ideal target: Smaller PHP sites & WordPress sites
When its overkill: Never. This is a good place to start.
When to upgrade: Site with significant traffic, active development
Price: Starting at $3.99 / month (I pay the $6.99 / month paid yearly for unlimited WP sites)
I really enjoy & trust SiteGround. They have hosted several WordPress sites for me through the years and I have never once had an issue with them. What is the best way to judge your WebHost? Silence. I have never once had a site go down using SiteGround and the performance is really great for the price that I pay.
There is newer & flashier WordPress site hosting options, but SiteGround is great for 80% of the use cases.
Managed PHP Application Services
CloudWays Managed Cloudhosting
Ideal target: Small to Large PHP applications
When its overkill: Small WordPress sites that don’t require much theme development
When to upgrade: 1. PHP development becomes complex and you need to work directly with the cloud 2. When costs get high and it makes sense to work with a dedicated partner or hire internally.
CloudWays is an excellent service for PHP-based companies that need to focus on their development and work with a solid partner. Their prices are more expensive than your standard hosting but this should be expected. You are working with someone who manages the cloud, security & deployments. They also handle content delivery networks & High availability. If you need a partner to do it all for you then CloudWays is a solid choice.
