Maintaining Sites with Preventive Development

WordCamp Baltimore 2013 talk, revised for WordCamp Philly 2014.

Transcript

2. Hi Rami Abraham; • Developer at Maintainn.com • Freelance developer...sometimes • twitter: @ramiabraham • RamiAbraham.com • Likes staying sane and keeping clients/customers happy.
3. Slide info: RamiAbraham.com/WCPhilly2014
4. Reactive vs Preventive
5. What’s the difference?
6. Reactive Development
7. Common Reactive Tasks:
8. Site is down
9. Hacked site
10. Feature request
11. Bug fix/patch
12. To: Diane the Developer From: Claire the Client Subject: OMGZ HOW DO I DO THIS????? Hai, HOW DO I DO THE THING?????? NEED TO KNOW ASAPPPP KTHX!!!!!!1 - Claire Non-Urgent ‘urgencies’
13. Preventive Development
14. Common Preventive Tasks:
16. DNS Monitors (404s, etc)
17. Dashboard Customization
18. Security
19. Training & Documentation
20. Twelve Ways of Preventive WordPress Maintenance
21. 12. UI tweaks, like Dashboard Customizations
22. 11. Using Staging
23. 10. Snippets, for common fixes and adjustments
24. 9. Theme Frameworks, to save time. Sometimes.
25. 8. Project Management Services
26. 7. File-Sharing
27. 6. Backup Options
28. 5. Github Things (Version Control)
29. 4. Scoping the destination
30. 3. WordPress Training and Documentation
31. 2. Two Important Development Practices
32. 1. And a maintenance plan (for a small fee).
33. 12. Dashboard Customizations
34. Can Prevent: Client from feeling overwhelmed/confused by the dashboard.
35. Some examples...
36. 1. Dashboard Customizations - Custom wp-login.php stylesheet function custom_login_stylesheet() { wp_enqueue_style( 'custom_login_stylesheet', get_template_directory_uri() . '/css/login. css' ); } add_action('login_head', 'custom_login_stylesheet');
37. 2. Dashboard Customizations - Change login logo url in wp-login.php function custom_login_logo_url($url) { return 'http://www.yoursite.com/logo. png'; } add_filter( 'login_headerurl', 'custom_login_logo_url' );
38. 3. Dashboard Customizations - Add a Custom Stylesheet for wp-admin function custom_admin_css() { wp_enqueue_style( 'custom_admin_css', get_template_directory_uri() . '/css/admin. css' ); } add_action('admin_head', 'custom_admin_css' );
39. 4. Dashboard Customizations - Remove wp-admin Menu Pages function remove_menu_pages() { remove_menu_page('link-manager.php'); remove_menu_page('edit-comments. php'); } add_action( 'admin_init', 'remove_menu_pages' );
40. 5. Dashboard Customizations - Change admin menu order function custom_menu_order($menu_order) { if (!$menu_order) return true; return array( 'index.php', 'edit.php?post_type=page', 'edit.php' ); } add_filter('custom_menu_order', 'custom_menu_order'); add_filter('menu_order', 'custom_menu_order');
41. 6. Dashboard Customizations - Change 'Enter Title Here' default for post title area function custom_default_title($title){ $title = 'Type the title here'; return $title; } add_filter( 'enter_title_here', 'custom_default_title' );
42. 7. Dashboard Customizations - Change admin footer text content function change_footer_content() { echo 'Here is some custom admin footer content'; } add_filter('admin_footer_text', 'change_footer_content');
43. 8. Dashboard Customizations - Add a custom dashboard widget function my_custom_dashboard_widgets() { global $wp_meta_boxes; wp_add_dashboard_widget('custom_help_widget', 'Open a support request', 'custom_dashboard_help'); } function custom_dashboard_help() { echo 'To open a support request, just fill in this...'; } add_action('wp_dashboard_setup', 'my_custom_dashboard_widgets');
44. 9. Dashboard Customizations - Remove dashboard widgets function disable_default_dashboard_widgets() { remove_meta_box('dashboard_right_now', 'dashboard', 'core'); remove_meta_box('dashboard_recent_comments', 'dashboard', 'core'); remove_meta_box('dashboard_incoming_links', 'dashboard', 'core'); remove_meta_box('dashboard_plugins', 'dashboard', 'core'); remove_meta_box('dashboard_quick_press', 'dashboard', 'core'); remove_meta_box('dashboard_recent_drafts', 'dashboard', 'core'); remove_meta_box('dashboard_primary', 'dashboard', 'core'); remove_meta_box('dashboard_secondary', 'dashboard', 'core'); } add_action('admin_menu', 'disable_default_dashboard_widgets');
45. 10. Dashboard Customizations - Remove dashboard widgets - but only according to the user role function customize_meta_boxes() { global $current_user; get_currentuserinfo(); if ($current_user->user_level < 3) remove_meta_box('postcustom','post','normal'); } add_action('admin_init','customize_meta_boxes');
46. 11. Dashboard Customizations - Remove Columns from Post/Page View Screen function pc_my_columns_filter( $columns ) { unset($columns['author']); unset($columns['tags']); unset($columns['categories']); unset($columns['tags']); return $columns; } add_filter( 'manage_edit-post_columns', 'pc_my_columns_filter', 10, 1 ); function pc_my_custom_pages_columns($columns) { unset( $columns['author'] ); return $columns; } add_filter( 'manage_pages_columns', 'pc_my_custom_pages_columns' );
47. User related: Does it feel cramped in the dashboard? Is the layout confusing or unclear? Want a custom look and feel?
48. 11. Using Staging
49. Prevents: A wide variety of errors from plugin updates and user error.
50. Easy rollbacks.
51. Live feature tests.
52. Client feels safer making edits and testing.
53. Tips: 7. Block search engines. 8. Make it a private site. (http auth, IP, etc) 9. Backup the stage, too. 10. Emphasize training materials here. 11. In some cases, you can allow the client to deploy to live. Wait no.
54. User related: This is a safe area. Test your content! Can’t set up staging? Go local.
55. 10. Snippets
56. Can Prevent: Wasting time writing code from scratch that you don’t need to.
57. Keep things D.R.Y.
58. Github gists! gist.github.com (Or one of many alternatives)
59. Local snippets. Coda (native) Sublime Text + (snippet xml syntax) Notepad ++ (via plugin) Eclipse (Templates) Vim (via plugins)
60. User related: These post statuses can hold content that you frequently re-use: - Drafts - Private posts and pages *You can also add more.
61. 9. Theme Frameworks
62. Can Prevent: Wasting time writing code you don’t need to.
63. But... Why???
64. Pro: Makes things faster and easier
65. Con: You’ve just inherited all of that code.
66. User related: Whatever theme you choose, have someone audit the code - unless you know it’s from a high-quality source.
67. 8. Project Management Apps.
68. Prevents: Errors, lost time, confusion on both sides.
69. THERE ARE MANY.
70. Ones I happen to use: ...and a few custom post types.
71. Pick services that work for you and your clients.
72. Just remember:
73. THOU SHALT NOT MANAGE PROJECTS VIA EMAIL THREADS
74. User related: Have an active project with a developer or agency? If they’re not using any task/project management, ask them to, or use one yourself!
75. 7. File-Sharing
76. Prevents: “Hey, can you send me that file again?”
77. Most project management apps have file-sharing. You can also use the WP Media Manager to store some files, and can define further mimetypes via post_mime_types
78. Just remember:
79. THOU SHALT NOT MAKE THY CLIENT LEARN FTP
80. User related: It’s your content. You should have access to it. Keep track of your assets. Use dropbox or other services as repositories.
81. 6. Backup Options
82. Prevents: The Apocalypse.
83. THERE ARE MANY.
84. Here are a couple good ones. BackupBuddy by iThemes ManageWP InfiniteWP VaultPress
85. User related: Make sure your site is backed up, whether you maintain the site or not. Ask a developer for a recommendation, not Google. Test-driving backup plugins is dangerous.
86. BONUS User Info:
87. Hire an expert to maintainn it.*
88. I am a developer at a WordPress maintenance company. *Disclaimer:
89. 5. Github Things
90. Prevents: Inability to manage code, the apocalypse.
91. Version control, tl;dr: DO IT.
92. Like a social network, for code. Kinda. Not really. There are also alternatives. Git -what?
93. Using Mercurial or CVS to make WordPress themes or plugins? I would love to buy you a round.
94. User related: WordPress 3.6+ post and page revisions are excellent. Use them! You can get very fine-grained, multi-user revision control of your website content with plugins like Edit Flow.
95. 3.6 revisions screen
96. 4. Scoping the destination
97. Prevents: Issues with unknown variables
98. What’s the hosting environment like?
99. Get in their shoes. Design and develop sites with the client heavily in mind.
100. Be the user.
102. User related: Explain what you’d like to see. How’s the site performing for you? Does it feel normal? Provide examples of interfaces you like.
103. 3. WordPress Training and Documentation
104. Prevents: Countless support requests, client confusion.
105. General WordPress usage? Unless you offer training, consider outsourcing it.
106. WordPress training: WordPress.tv WP101.com WPBeginner.com BobWP.com ..and many more
107. Custom Documentation Needed? Try a plugin like “WP Help” by Mark Jaquith.
108. User related: Ask for documentation. Never buy un-documented themes. Make sure you know how to use your site before the site launches.
109. 2. Two Important Development Practices
110. Prevents: Conflicts with other themes/plugins.
111. 1. Always comment your code. // ok
112. Picture three people digging a hole in the middle of the street... /* comment */
113. Explain what you’re doing.
114. Q: What value does this variable store?: $n
115. - Always use descriptive function names: ra_thing_I_want_to_do() - Set CONSTANTS. - Use singletons when relevant.
116. User related: • If you see errors that contain the word “redeclare”, have the site checked out for these issues.
117. 1. And a maintenance contract (for a small fee).
118. Prevents: Scope Creep, maintenance issues
119. If you can’t offer clients maintenance, outsource it. At least mention backups and updates, though.
120. Make sure the site is in good hands.
121. User related: • Ask about backups and security. • Assess the value of your site to you or your business. Worth it?
122. Fatal error: Call to undefined function witty_summary()
123. Thank you :)
124. Slide info: RamiAbraham.com/wcphilly2014 twitter: @ramiabraham