Optimize your WordPress Development

I used to be kind of stupid. For each and every client I would start with a fresh WordPress install, then I’d install my theme, and then, one by one, install each plugin I needed. Then I would configure WordPress, my theme, and each plugin.

I never felt like this was a bad plan. And then it occurred to me randomly one day that I could automate a lot of this process.

Why spend an hour setting up themes and plugins when I could set it up once and then clone it for each site?

I don’t know why it took me so long to come to this moment, but it did take me a while. Now I have a fully set up “skeleton” site that I use for each development. What did I put in it?

1. My Starter Theme – fully configured. There are functions that I use for almost every site. Why add the functions each time? My starter theme is ready for action because I preconfigured the basics.
2. Basic Start Up Pages – for most sites, there are a few pages that are almost always on the site, such as About Us and Contact. In my skeleton site, I set up these pages already, so I don’t have to go through the task of Pages->Add New for each page on every new site.
3. Basic Menu – Yup, I set this up too. The primary menu with the basic  pages I already set up. Will I have to adjust this each time? Yes. But at least when I hit “go” on this skeleton site, it has a menu in place ready for action.
4. All the plugins I use regularly – There are plugins I use on each site. I mean, really, on every site. Gravity forms? Yes. Akismet? Yes. Beaver Builder? Check check. I have a developer’s license for all of these, meaning I can use them on unlimited sites. If I wait and install each one on a site as I’m building it, not only do I have to install, activate, and configure, but I also have to enter all my license codes.  My skeleton site has all these plugins in, configured, with licenses entered, so when I start a new site, they are ready to go. I even set up a basic contact form in Gravity Forms, so I the contact page I already set up has a form in it, ready to rock.
5. Footer copyright and credit link – Every site I do also has a link back to my site, of course. There’s no reason to manually do this every time.
6. General Settings Configurations – When you install WordPress, it doesn’t have a default time zone set, and the default week starts-on day is set as Monday. I have preconfigured all this in my skeleton site, along with my choice of permalinks, comment settings,  and more.
7. Widgets – Yup, this can be preconfigured too. Categories, Archives, search? Why not have those ready to go already. Will we probably change them? Yes. But it’s better than starting with nothing.

By setting up this skeleton site once, I literally shave hours off my development time. And time equals money.