WordPress isn’t just for blogging. It’s a full-fledged CMS and undoubtedly a strong platform for developers. But the world of related trends and tools can be exhaustive when you just need a solid solution real fast.
Given the fact that WordPress is used by millions of people, it’s only natural many use it to make a living, too. From plugin and theme developers to those in technical support, the number of users rises every day. Likewise, the number of products you can use in conjunction with WordPress continues to rise as well.
Building themes, plugins, and applications in WordPress requires a variety of tools that help with development. In this article, we take a look at the best tools available for devs. They’re broken up by category for easier navigation:
Plugin and Theme Development Tools
These tools help you with the nitty-gritty plugin and theme development process directly.
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The first on our list is a well-known plugin among WordPress developers. Developer was developed collaboratively by Automattic and a number of other talented WordPress developers. Its purpose is to help you optimize your development environment by installing the best tools for theme and plugin creation.
After the installation, you will get a popup screen asking you what type of project you’re working on. You can choose between three options:
- Plugin for a self-hosted WordPress installation
- Theme for a self-hosted WordPress installation
- Theme for a WordPress.com VIP site
Based on your choice, the plugin will then offer additional plugins to install that are most suitable for your project.
This plugin is free.
Even if you have been developing WordPress themes for years, Theme Check is a must have tool in your arsenal. Sometimes, no matter how many years of experience you have, it’s easy to overlook a simple mistake which can lead to your theme being rejected from the official repository or cause problems later down the road.
Theme Check plugin makes sure those mistakes are avoided by checking everything possible under the sun to verify your theme follows the latest recommendations and best practices.
This plugin is free.
Setting up widgets to check if they display properly in your theme can be a tedious task. Luckily, Monster Widget takes that headache away. With this free plugin, you can quickly test all the core widgets in all the sidebar
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This article was written by Brenda Barron and originally published on WPMU DEV Blog.