wordpress development workflow

Software & services in no particular order…

WAMP, LAMP, LEMP, PHPStorm, Tortoise SVN, Git, GitHub, Bitbucket, Grunt (uglify, imagemin, compass, concat, csslint, phplint, jshint, watch, phpunit), Vagrant, Virtual Box, Sass, FTP, sFTP, WinSCP, SSH, PUTTY, Notepad, FireFox (firebug), Chrome (inspector), IE , Safari, Opera, Browser Stack, Araxis Merge, IceChat, Skype, Composer, ProjectLibre, Basecamp, SlickPlan,PhotoShop, Illustrator, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Apps, Zip, Timedoctor, Winamp

PHEW!

This is what I assume happens*..

Client: Hey – I need a website. You do those things don’t you?

Us: Sure. Whaddaya need it to do?

Client: blah blah blah. big slider. yadda yadda… by Friday

Us: You got any money and content?

Client: Ooddles

Us: Cool. Let’s start. Here, sign this..

*I don’t do the sales side of the business

Step 1: Detailed Requirements Gathering

Features, Environment (old/new) , Content (copy), Timescales, Responsibilities

Step 2: Get Design Prototypes from Graphic Designer

Homepage, RWDs, Style Board, Blog, Custom Templates etc.

Step 3: Review Designs

Against: requirements, UI (usability) & technical Identify: page templates, custom post types, post formats, fonts, custom features, sidebar/widget areas

Feedback to designer and cycle until happy client

We use SlickPlan for site content structure

Give clients access – they create structure

Involves clients directly – they start thinking about content

Export as XML

WordPress plugin for imports – creates pages

slickplan.com

We use BaseCamp as primary communications and content collection tool.

Projects, files, tasks, to-dos & dates.

Keeps everything in one easy-to-access place

Alternative: TeamWork www.teamwork.com

basecamp.com

What volume of traffic will the site get?

<500 uniques per day (upd) = shared hosting + LAMP

500 - 1500 upd = VPS, 2 core, 2GB + LAMP

>1500 upd = VPS 2-4 core, 4-6GB, SDD + LEMP (Nginx “Engine X”)

>10,000 upd = Bespoke VPS (Bulletproof, Rackspace, Amazon, Google AppEngine) – something that scales

Russian Web Server

Russians build stuff that work well and last long

Mir, Soyuz, T34, Mig, AK47, Nginx

Apache = Process Driven

= multiple threads = fast for small #’s of requests

Nginx = event driven

= highly scalable, single master process, multiple (scalable) worker threads

What type of project am I setting up?

Regular = Genesis

eCommerce = WooCommerce

Directory Listing = AppThemes

Other = bespoke theme?

We maintain standard builds of Genesis, WooCommerce & ClassiPress (AppThemes)

Maintained on our dev servers

Current Version of WordPress

Required parent theme (Genesis, WooCommerce, etc.)

A blank child theme

All of our plugins

All of our branding

All of our users & settings

Debugging on – logging to file

Genesis framework parent theme (duh)

Blank child theme

Advanced Custom Fields

CPT-onomies

Gravity Forms

Genesis Visual Hook Guide

WooCommerce parent theme (duh)

Blank child theme

Advanced Custom Fields

CPT-onomies

Gravity Forms

WooSidebars

WP All Import with WooCommerce Add-On

• Advanced Automatic Updates

• ManageWP

• Debug Bar

• Revision Control

• Revolution Slider

• SlickPlan

• Stop Media Comment Spamming

• Video User Manuals

• WordFence Security

• WordPress SEO

• WP Migrate DB

• WP Minify

• WP Super Cache

• XCloner / VaultPress

We use a Must-Use plugin to brand our sites.

Can’t be uninstalled! (easily)

We have a support plugin linked to ZenDesk.

PayPal & Sliver Stripe

Subscription API

ZenDesk API

RESTful JSON API

Git = distributed

You have a full copy of the repo on local machine

You can add/commit/push to your local repo

You can develop with no internet connection

SVN = centralised

You can only add/commit/push to repo on server

You need an internet connection

Uber Quick Intro to Git

Git + Bitbucket = private repo

Git + GitHub = public repos

1. Create new repo on local or server

2. Add local/server as remote repo

3. Add, Commit and Push to master branch

4. Code is now under Git version control

Pull = pulls files down from Git repository (repo)

Add = adds a local file to repo (version control)

Commit = commits file changes to local repo (marked as changed with description)

Push = pushes committed files up to remote Git repo

Git allows you to clone a repository.

Once cloned you can pull down the entire repo from master branch.

Push and Pull changes – Git takes care of everything else

New repos have a “Master” branch

You can create a new branch from master.

e.g. Wil Work on this branch separately from master

Add/test new functionality

Delete if not required – doesn’t affect master!

If OK – merge your branch into master

Your new functionality is now available to everyone

.gitignore file allows you to specify local files you don’t want Git to version control

e.g. # Ignore local wp-config.php & .htaccess

/wp-config.php

/.htaccess

# Ignore PhpStorm config files

/.idea

Local Machine Staging Server Production Server

Branch – “Wil” “Master” “Live”

Git Repo

PUSH / PULL PULL PULL

Standard Build

1. New site from Standard Build on staging server

2. Add, Commit & Push to create new Git repo

3. Clone to local

4. Create branch “Wil”

5. Time taken ~5 mins (10 mins with a tea break)

WordPress Core?

What about automatic updates and plugin updates?

Easy Way

include entire site in Git & use .gitignore to exclude WordPress core & plugins

Better Way

Include WordPress as a Git submodule /wp

Move wp-content folder to Git root

We’ll Cover Git In More Depth Another Day!

Object Oriented Programming – yes!

Vast majority of WordPress Core is not OOP

Doesn’t mean that you have to do the same

Our plugins are OO

Our functions.php includes OO class files

Easier to build, easier to test & easier to reuse.

Realtime error checking

Full Git support

PhpDoc support

PhpUnit support

Code completion (not for WordPress yet)

Php refactoring

www.jetbrains.com/phpstorm

Create standard virtual environments

Everyone developing in same environment

Less chance of issues when deploying to production

www.vagrantup.com

JavaScript Task Runner

Automates boring but necessary tasks

Image compression

JSHint

Sass compiling

Minification & concatination

www.gruntjs.com

Why bother testing at all?

Ensures code reliability

Avoids nasty whoopies & client upsets

Assures your commitment to professionalism

Puts in checks when working with contractors / distributed workers

www.phpunit.de

Package dependency manager for Php

Does your project depend on a number of libraries?

Do those libraries depend on other libraries?

Composer deals with external libraries and versions so you don’t have to do it manually

www.getcomposer.org

1. Out-of-hours deployment

2. Pull “Live” Git branch to production server

3. Production Site QA – 82 step internal guide

4. Add clients to MailChimp support lists

• System issues, updates, information

• Auto responders +1, +3, +6, +12 months

5. Set up clients with ZenDesk for support

• [1] anglonautes.com

• [5] slickplan.com

• [6] 37signals.com

• [11] studiopress.com

• [12] woothemes.com

• [22] betterexplained.com

• [29] jetbrains.com

• [30] vagrantup.com

• [31] gruntjs.com

• [33] getcomposer.com