WordPress Developer Resources

Creating a quality WordPress site requires more than just the basic setup. You’ll need images and background graphics, icons, fonts, and other elements. Once your site is up and running you will probably want to promote your site and services too, so you’ll need to think about marketing, and if you want to create something truly unique, there’s coding to consider. Fortunately, there’s plenty of advice online to help you run a successful WordPress website. Web development doesn’t have to be expensive with WordPress. Most of the tools and software you’ll need are available for free.

You’ll need to stay up to date on industry trends and technological advances by keeping educated. Use these learning resources for advice and inspiration for your next project. We’ve given examples of essential resources and tools you’ll use day in, day out as a WordPress website developer.

We’ve divided the resources into two levels. The beginner level is for those who have no prior web development knowledge and wish to create a new site. Intermediate resources are aimed at developers with a bit more experience in web design and anyone versed in coding.

WordPress resources for absolute beginners

Let’s start easy with WP Beginner. This site is possibly the best WordPress resource out there for beginners. It’s the largest unofficial resource to-date, packed with interesting tips and tricks helpful for would-be developers. This is the place for how-tos and easy-to-follow tutorials.
What better way to learn about WordPress than from the source itself? At WordPress.org you can download the software, learn the history behind the CMS and access popular themes and plugins. WordPress.org has active forums where you can engage in Q&A with other WordPress users and developers.
WPLift has a considerable user base thanks to a bank of helpful tips and resources covering every WordPress topic imaginable. They’ve even included some impressive free themes, as well as guides to getting the most out of them.
The Creative Bloq blog provides tips, tutorials and general news surrounding web design. It’s a must for anyone interesting in honing their website’s aesthetics.
OptimizerWP is a great source of information, including an extensive list of developer tools to help you become a smarter WordPress developer.
Speckyboy is another brilliant resource for designers, including over 500 articles to help you learn how to use and optimize your WordPress site. This site is jam-packed with tricks and advice. Styled as a design magazine, it’s run by a web and graphic designer and is aimed at anyone interested in WordPress web design.

WordPress resources for professionals

Next up are resources focused on intermediate to advanced WordPress website developers. The following links go deeper into complex topics for web developers and programmers.

Smashing Magazine posts monthly WordPress articles and has a considerable back catalog of in-depth and well-researched articles. This resource emphasizes practical advice for users familiar with the WordPress basics.
Tuts+ is full of advanced topics for using WordPress for web application development. Find how-to tutorials on everything from coding to web development and design.
DZone is a community for web developers to share information with one another. Sign up for access to thousands of articles, guides to development techniques and PDF cheat sheets on different web development topics.
For free tips, tricks and advice head to Stack Overflow. This site is an online community where over seven million programmers congregate for problem-solving. Sign up to join the conversation.
If you want to know WordPress inside and out, head straight to WordPress developer resources. Find everything about WordPress’ functions from classes, methods, and hooks, from the source.

Tools to support your project

Here are some useful apps, tools, and WordPress web design resources for creating high-quality WordPress websites.

Design tools

Visuals are very important for web design. Use these WordPress design tools to help create quality work, without breaking the bank.

Inspiration - Browse SiteInspire for web design inspiration from some of the best looking sites available. It featuresr over 2,500 websites, searchable by subject, style, and type.
Themes - Underscores is for advanced users wanting to create their own theme. Template Monster, on the other hand, includes the biggest collection of templates online. Choose an existing template to transform the look and feel of your pages instantly.
Icons - Add icons to your pages with DryIcons. There’s a wide range available and are free to use with attribution. Flaticon is another excellent icon resource, offering free and premium vector packs from as little as $7.50 a month.
Fonts - Typography is an important part of web design, resources such as Font Squirrel offer free fonts for commercial use.
Images - Skitterphoto is a public domain with stunning photos you can use for anything, including commercial purposes. There are plenty of free photos to use and edit as you like.
Unsplash is a free stock photo library offering vast collections of images covering many different topics. You’re bound to find something useful here.

Marketing tools

These are great resources to market your website:

Matt Report Podcast is an awesome WordPress podcast for digital business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers. Listen live or download free podcasts with words of wisdom from experts in the field of WordPress and web marketing.
For actionable marketing advice, hit Smart Insights. Find smart guides covering best practices and handy free templates to structure your strategy. We recommend signing up for alerts on the latest developments to keep up to date.

Coding & UI

Expert level tools for experienced coders and UI designers:

Generate WP is a user-friendly tool for WordPress developers, designed to reduce development time and generate high-quality code. This is a great resource for making your web development experience faster using the latest WordPress coding standards and API’s.
If you’re interested in user experience, check out UI Parade. It’s an online catalog providing inspirational content for UI designers.

With the tools and resources on this page, you’re sure to be making better WordPress websites in less time.