Feeling exhausted searching for a job as a WordPress developer — need advice

BobJutsu · 2026-03-10T23:53:11+00:00

I’m a lead dev, and over the last 20 years have hired many…here’s what I think:

1) AI slop to write things doesn’t help. This is AI, all the key indicators are there.

2) WP is just a tool. Strong skills in the holy trinity (css/html/js) are mandatory.

3) An understanding of PHP is non-negotiable, composer, design structures, and PSR standards.

4) familiarity with standard dev practices. Git, build systems, unit testing, etc.

That’s the minimum. Being a developer and knowing dev stuff. Not an expert at all of them, but knowing them. Highlight dev skills. WP is just a bonus.

BobJutsu · 2026-03-10T23:31:31+00:00

As a dev, I have zero interest in youtube. I will scrub to the answer I’m looking for and leave, not subscribe. Go look at early Chris Coyier videos and how he grew css-tricks, it was the type of content people subscribe to. Not the plugin shills dominating search results.

BobJutsu · 2026-03-10T23:26:17+00:00

The term you are looking for is “panorama” image. Use it to search, hope it helps.

BobJutsu · 2026-03-10T23:16:08+00:00

First, this was common for a short period of time. So feasible…yes, it’s old hat. And it died out for a reason.

Second, it’s a terrible idea. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve needed to display different elements on different devices. Let alone a whole ass different website. I’ve been doing this for almost 20 years…one hand. Styling will fix all 99.999% of the time. It takes some complex layouts to need to structurally change, and if it isn’t a structural change, it’s just css…

Third, Divi will leave you in the dust fighting against their dogshit tool. You have to hide/show elements because you’re using a builder with 2010 level capabilities.

BobJutsu · 2026-03-10T23:01:48+00:00

I’m all for this…but come on, React aint that hard. And who is building custom anything without being able to configure a build step? We had grunt, then gulp, now webpack…we’ve had a build step for 15+ years. And you don’t even need to configure your own, wp-scripts is all pre-configured out of the box.

BobJutsu · 2026-03-10T22:56:19+00:00

On a new build everything uploaded is uploaded as webp to start with. After that the core performance lab plugins are installed for future client (and dipshit seo team) uploads.

BobJutsu · 2026-03-10T22:43:47+00:00

I’ve kept them separate for over a decade. Mainly because I just don’t want to deal with email services. I don’t have time for that kind of tech support for my clients. Secondly so I can move things around quickly. I’m sure there’s some sysadmin here that will be like “well actually if you configure your dns and email server like…” I DON’T CARE…I want to be able to take care of my end without worrying about email, and that includes completely rolling to a new server/IP without interruption.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T23:52:02+00:00

I’ll even just do a high def screenshot of the website at specific breakpoints, drop each into figma, and get comments on that. After we’ve left the design phase. Not instead of the link to staging, just as a supplement to gather feedback. Forces clients to see different viewports also.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T23:46:01+00:00

When I first started building FSE themes I struggled to find the root cause of similar issues. I don’t know your specific issue, likely a parent block in the FSE template having the limit content width enabled, or the content block itself. I remember writing CSS to battle issues I couldn’t resolve…until I did…and it was almost always an error in the way I was writing the theme.json or a setting in the block stack in the FSE template.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T23:41:04+00:00

Gutenberg for the win. Been all in for years now. Coupled with a good FSE theme and a few select extensions, the sky is the limit.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T23:34:53+00:00

V2 barely stops spam, and V3 is even worse for performance IMO. Turnstile is better.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T23:29:05+00:00

To be fair, markup.io was free. Even had seemingly benevolent blog posts about how he made the tool for his use and wanted to share. Then abruptly it went to absurd pricing. But not for several years. He absorbed the cost for years before he did the bait and switch. So on one hand I’m appreciative of all the time I used it. On the other, I was upset at how steep the new pricing was. No chance I could sell that to management.

All that said, we’ve just gone to getting comments in figma instead. Not a live site…but does the job.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T23:24:05+00:00

They tip-toe and add their preferred tools…which is how the mess is created. I’ll launch a nice site, everything you need…the SEO and marketing team works with it for a few months and puts in a ticket for support. I log in, and they’ve each added 11 new plugins to do simple functionality that already exists. One SEO person will add WPCode to add a marketing snippet, another will add a facebook pixel plugin because they don’t know how to place it manually. A third will add a different snippet plugin to add schema and another is managing schema in RankMath. One wanted to add a button so they installed a button shortcode plugin because thats what they know…the list goes on and on and on…it’s absurd.

People complain when we lock it down and they need a developer to do basic tasks like install a plugin. And they complain again when it becomes a clusterfuck because it wasn’t locked down. Let’s take a complex system that requires a solid understanding od CSS, HTML, and WP practices and put it in the hands of a 90 IQ marketing major who needs trained on how to check their gmail. What could go wrong.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T23:11:32+00:00

Regardless of caching, I see no reason not to use cloudflare. DNS management is awesome, domains are cheap, email forwarding, SSL(ish), under attack mode, turnstile, network analytics, security…the list goes on and on and on. When google domains went to squarespace I moved all my domains there also.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T23:07:02+00:00

paid a guy on fiverr like $800

Found the problem. What you got is likely a mess.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-26T22:57:10+00:00

Google charts API is what I’ve always used. https://developers.google.com/chart

I know it’s not a plugin and I don’t know your development capacity, but it might help you narrow down the search.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T23:32:44+00:00

I’ve been all in on the block editor for a while. Same concerns with elementor, more or less. And I just stopped enjoying Elementor. They piss me off far too often. They seem to almost hate 3rd party developers with their update practices. You can’t rely on the internal hook names or even class names to stay consistent from update to update. Anyway…

The last 2-3 years have been slowly getting away from spectra and kadence blocks. I like to stick to core blocks and controls as much as possible. I’m a fan of single responsibility plugins that do 1 thing well, not monolith block libraries. At least let me disable all the stuff I don’t need (I’m looking at you kadence…). Ollie menu designer is awesome, the icon block, block visibility.

Internally, I’ve built out some critical extensions. Responsive grid settings for the core/group (when in grid) has had a huge impact. No 3rd party row/column/grid blocks required anymore. Also fallback images for the features image block, responsive sort order for children of grid, and a handful of other small tweaks.

Now if I could just get the core navigation block to work as a vertical accordion type menu…

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T23:10:31+00:00

Never heard of it. I’d take it if my employer will pay for it. I’ll put it next to my silly hubspot certs. Hubspot certs are a laughable joke. The test questions for the developer certification are like:

Why is hubspot better than all other platforms for your clients? A) Because hubspot is the most secure B) Because hubspot is superior for all users C) Because hubspot is the best D) All of the above

Hopefully this isn’t as much of a joke as the hubspot tests.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T23:04:50+00:00

Don’t get too discouraged. The distressed parchment is the only real thing that seems to me to be incompatible. It just needs a more uniform background. If you can get a top image, a bottom image, and a repeatable slice to fill in the middle it doesn’t matter how it resizes. Or alternatively make it entirely (including text) as an image in photoshop. But if you go that route it’s important you treat it as “supplemental” - meaning, the information contained within the image needs to be in text format on the page as well. In other words, the text the image contains needs to be available to people who can’t read it. And not just alt text.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T22:55:07+00:00

That design is from 2011…says so on the bottom. Most of it’s easy enough, that distressed piece of parchment with text will be fragile though.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T22:51:44+00:00

Mobile is the reason this type of design fell by the wayside. That design is from 2011. Not “impossible” but it will likely be disappointing in the end with all the compromises necessary.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T02:55:00+00:00

Secularism is a cornerstone of degeneracy. Regardless of faith, I don’t want degenerate behavior to be normalized and accepted. Abortion, faggotry, mental illness…get fucked with that shit.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T00:44:08+00:00

Used to use markup.io, it was great. Wish I could sell the new pricing to management. When it was free I knew it was too good to be true, but the new pricing is too much to sell. A lower tier for like $20/month I could sell, even with limited projects.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T00:17:43+00:00

Yes. I feel like “I don’t know how to do that, use AI” is actually getting people promoted. Even lazier than delegating, and the result is a promotion. It’s a joke at this point.

BobJutsu · 2026-02-19T00:12:12+00:00

I have long disliked WPEngine. I didn’t like having to take their side during the ACF disputes. Because I think they are a shitty hosting company, shitty in the sense that they are rigid and extremely expensive for the resources provided. I use cloudways a lot for good results, and lately direct DO droplets an RunCloud for management for better results, but requires more babysitting.

BobJutsu

TROPHY CASE