Tools you need to know if you use Wordpress

When it comes to creating a website that is both fast and accurate, your choice will probably fall on WordPress. And that is a wise move, as WordPress is pretty simple to utilize, plus truly cost-effective. These make WordPress a good option not only for professional developers, but also for novice ones. 

Given that, you may consider that WordPress is a treasure trove. Well, while that’s it, WordPress development comes with its set of challenges. But with the help of the right tools, you can easily sort things out.

Let’s dive in and discover the core 7 tools worth keeping in your toolbox when developing a website on WordPress.

Top 7 Tools to Simplify WordPress Development

Local Development Environments

To get things done, you first need to set up a WordPress site. This means employing tools to create a local development environment where you can test and develop your products.

Overall, there are plenty of such tools available, and which one to choose depends on your current goals and budget. One option to consider is DesktopServer, which is considered a self-contained development environment. It supports different types of services and is available for both Windows and macOS. 

Alternatively, you may opt for DevKinsta, a tool well-known among developers. It provides SSH access, and by employing DevKinsta, you can manage multiple sites.

Hosting Services

After developing your website, you will need to go live. Here, undoubtedly, you should choose a hosting provider. Ideally, your hosting provider should be compatible, offer automatic backups and security features, and, of course, provide high-speed performance.

One of the good hosting options to consider in this regard is HostOnce WordPress Hosting. It's not only fast and secure, but it also offers unlimited application installations, a free migration plugin, and 24/7 support. Additionally, it's quite affordable.

Internal Linking Plugins

When it comes to developing websites with WordPress, there are various plugins for different purposes to consider. But, let us focus on internal linking plugins, as they are capable of improving your website's crawlability.

By aiming to create internal links between your platform’s pages, you can keep an eye on the best internal linking plugins for WordPress, like Yoast SEO, Rank Math, or Internal Link Juicer.

With these tools in place, you can elevate internal linking and they offer appropriate suggestions, identify underlinked pages, provide SEO performance reports, and more.

WordPress Widgets

Next up on our list of WordPress development tools are widgets. Most of you are probably familiar with the nature of widgets , blocks of content that allow you to add chunks of content to desired areas of your website. 

By their very nature, WordPress widgets are relatively easy to use, thanks to their drag-and-drop features. Additionally, they are customizable, allowing you to make relevant adjustments that elevate the user experience.

Generally speaking, here are some core types of widgets to consider: text, recent posts, categories, and search. These core widgets help you organize your website's content and improve navigation.

So, now you're probably wondering which the most popular widgets and plugins are to keep an eye on. Well, here some top options are Custom Sidebars, WooSidebars, Social Icons Widget by WPZoom, Ninja Forms, etc. 

Which one to choose, of course, depends on your objectives and specific needs for your WordPress site.

Code Editors 

Writing and editing code is definitely not a walk in the park. O, ideally, you need a code editor to assist you along the way. If you opt for customization and open-source platforms, then Visual Studio can become your go-to. 

It has plenty of extensions specifically designed for WordPress developers. Really, what could be better?

Alternatively, you may choose a Code Completion, which can assist you during code writing. Specifically, it offers suggestions to improve your code, reducing errors and speeding up development time.

Debugging Tools

No matter how accurate the code you write, there is no chance of escaping errors. All you can do is employ tools to smoothly debug them. With the relevant debugging tools in place, you can promptly identify the root cause of the bug and correct it.

One of the best tools for debugging is Query Monitor. In general, this tool can be very beneficial in monitoring your database queries, HTTP requests, theme template files, etc., to identify where the problem comes from.

Another tool for finding errors is Xdebug, which also monitors the performance of your code and can help enhance code quality.

Security Plugins 

Needless to say, when developing a website, probably one of your primary goals is keeping it secure. Sure thing, no one wants to become a target for hackers. However, WordPress websites are particularly appealing to hackers. That said, you need to elevate the security of your platform. 

Plugins like Wordfence Security can serve best. That is because they come with malware scanning, firewall protection, and login security features. Another good choice to elevate your website’s security is employing Limit Login Attempts. These tools, as you can guess from the name, may identify fraudulent activity based on login attempts.

Bottom Line 

When developing a website with WordPress, you need some tools by your side to elevate its performance, make it secure, and, of course, simplify the development process. We’ve shortlisted the top tools to assist you along the way.

Of course, there are many other tools beyond those mentioned here that you can consider, but ideally, all the tools listed, from local development environments and hosting services to debugging tools and security plugins, are essential to develop a robust and competitive website. So, keep these in your toolkit and good luck!