If you develop, host, manage or maintain one or more WordPress sites, where you’re not the only individual making edits, whether they be content or code related, then this topic is the one for you.
Managing a WordPress site in a developer/client relationship can be difficult. With continual content updates being made by clients, whilst new development functionality is being implemented simultaneously, the loss of database information or code seems inevitable. This is especially true when you’re dealing with multiple developers and multiple content editors.
As two developers that have worked on hundreds of sites both individually and as a team, we have found various ways to manage complex relationships between each other and your clients. We will cover how we balance ongoing client changes with continuous development enhancements and fixes.
We will break down the structure of a WordPress site and its database, and how the intersection between the front-end, back-end, database, and files of a WordPress site can be managed. We will discuss the multiple environments we work in (production, staging, local) and their functions. As well as how we leverage our hosting, softwares, applications, Git and various plugins to help push, pull, merge, import/export, and version control our numerous code and database changes that happen simultaneously, without loss of data.
Whether you are working with your first client, a seasoned freelancer, or at an agency with multiple developers, these best practices will help set you up for success in your relationship with your clients as well as add some structure to this complex relationship.