WordPress is a free, open-source Content Management System (CMS) written in PHP. WordPress is the most powerful and popular CMS in existence. Even though WordPress is projected as a Blogging platform, WordPress is more than just a blogging software. 

Partnering with a respected WordPress development agency is essential to utilizing WordPress to the fullest extent because it can unlock its capabilities beyond its status as a blogging platform.

We can build almost anything and everything using WordPress. From a simple CMS website to an e-commerce platform or even a hybrid mobile application, everything is now possible with WordPress. There are endless possibilities now with WordPress. 

In this article, we will dig deep into various WordPress development types.

I. CMS WordPress Website Development

There are two types of approaches in CMS WordPress website development. They are,

•  Readymade theme based
• Custom WordPress theme development from scratch

Ready-made theme based

The ready-made theme-based approach is based on a pre-built theme with multiple readymade layouts, that can be used to create a new website with less/no development effort.

The main advantage of a ready-made theme approach is cost and time. As everything is pre-built, development time is very less, so does the cost.

Based on the other requirements, we can find the plugins and add them to the website.

If we are choosing a readymade theme, we have to make sure that the selected theme provides what we are looking for. Otherwise, It will be huge work in case we need to customize the theme.

Another downside of a ready-made theme is, we only get to choose from what they offer. If we have a custom design or idea in mind then ready-made themes don’t help much. In such cases, we have to customize the readymade theme which nullifies the very reason why we went with the ready-made theme in the first place.

Another disadvantage is Performance & Speed. As ready-made themes are built with keeping a large set of audience in mind, it’s never a go-to solution for one single purpose. The theme has so many features and add-ons which we might not need for our website. Due to this, these themes are always overloaded with so many features and pages which have a negative impact on speed and performance.

Custom Theme Development From Scratch

This is an approach to developing the entire theme from scratch. 

In this method, we build the website exactly how we want. As it’s built from scratch, we have complete control over the entire website, its functionalities, and obviously — the speed.

In this approach, the main objective is speed & performance. So every module is built with keeping this in mind.

Also in this approach, the main focus is on reducing the usage of plugins. We will be using plugins only if they are necessary and it cannot be built by oneself, considering the time given.

Another advantage of Custom theme development is the scope for scalability. As we have full control over the entire codebase, we can always scale it for future needs and we can plan for future development while developing the initial version.

Main downside in Custom theme development is the time and cost. As everything is built from scratch, this method takes more time compared to a ready-made theme approach but the benefits of this approach is sure a ‘win-win’.

Also Read

Large WordPress Website Development For Businesses – A Master Guide

II. Ecommerce WordPress Website Development

As mentioned above, in CMS WordPress website development, here also we have two types of approaches.

1. Ready-made theme based

2. Custom theme development from scratch

All the Pros & Cons are the same as the previous method. The major difference is the effort involved in an Ecommerce website is more when compared to a CMS website.

As it’s an ecommerce website, it comes with a lot of extra features. So, this will increase the timeline and cost.

Be it ready-made theme based approach or Custom Theme development based approach, for most of the functionalities like Wishlist, Compare Products, Payment Gateways, Abandoned Cart, Single Page Checkout etc., we have to go with third-party plugins as developing these features by ourselves will take a good amount of time and it’s not advisable too. 
Ecommerce in WordPress is based on a plugin called WooCommerce. It is a great product with so many features and there are so many plugins which are developed as addons for this. WordPress + Woocommerce is a great choice for the Companies who are looking to enable online shopping presence for their businesses.

Consider referring to WooCommerce vs Shopify statistics for a more in-depth comparison of these two popular eCommerce platforms.

This solution is not only for selling your products. WooCommerce also extends its presence to Rental, Booking, Appointments, Subscriptions, Memberships, Marketplace and much more as well.

Woocommerce is a great platform for those who are looking for a Small and Medium sized online store.

III. Native/Hybrid Application

As we all know, we are in the Mobile First Era. Nowadays, a website being mobile friendly isn’t just enough to compete in the market and to scale the business to the next level. So, Mobile applications are the next level upgrade for businesses who have websites.

Major question here is, how to have a website and mobile application function together. Most of the companies have websites and mobile applications for their businesses but they both function independent of each other which is not the correct way.

So developing a Native/Hybrid application using WordPress is an exciting solution. 

There are few ways to develop mobile applications using the same database/content which is served to the website.

• Native App development using WordPress Rest API
• Develop Hybrid Apps using Flutter, Phonegap, Ionic
• Convert Website into Mobile Apps using ready-made tools

Also Read

Best Practices for WordPress Plugin Development

Native App development using WordPress Rest API

This is one of the proper and advisable methods to create mobile apps from a WordPress website. WordPress provides REST API which will provide content for the mobile application.

For instance, if we have an Ecommerce website built using WordPress+Woocommerce which sells products and If we want to develop a mobile application for this shop, we can use WordPress REST API to develop native mobile apps in Android or IOS or both. 

Major advantage of this method is, we don’t have to maintain products/inventory separately for the website and mobile app. Both the website and mobile app uses the WordPress database which serves as a central point. So, Inventory management becomes very easy as there is no confusion in handing it for either the website or the mobile app.

With the data being provided by REST API, which then can be used to develop mobile applications in Android, IOS separately.

Major advantage of this approach is that we get to build the proper mobile application.

Disadvantage of this approach is the time and cost. As it’s built entirely using API, it will take time, which will result in high cost too.

Develop Hybrid Apps using Flutter

Even though there are multiple hybrid mobile app development frameworks available in the market, like Phonegap, Cordova, Ionic etc, We are going to explore the possibilities of WordPress + Flutter.

Flutter is an open-source framework developed by Google which is used to create native Android & IOS apps using a single codebase. Using Flutter for App and WordPress for the backend.

There is a library available called Flutter WordPress which can be used to connect a Flutter App with WordPress backend to develop apps in Android & IOS using a single codebase.

We need hands-on experience in WordPress, Php & Flutter to develop hybrid apps using Flutter and WordPress as a backend.

Also Read

WordPress Multisite: Tips and Best Practices for Managing Multiple Sites

Convert Website into Mobile Apps using ready-made tools:

This is the easiest method to convert your WordPress website into a mobile app without any developer efforts.

There are multiple ready tools available in the market that convert your website into a mobile application in a single click.

Few of the famous providers are AppPresser, MobiLoud, WPMobile.App etc

These third parties provide various features in different pricing plans in monthly and annual pricing.

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Conclusion

WordPress is evolving fast to fit-to-market-trends that meet modern technology/device application needs. Consulting with a WordPress development company can boost your website performance and results in a better way. WordPress is a better solution for Nice website needs. Not only on the development aspect but also can work well with marketing and sales requirements as well. 

We at ColorWhistle cater to do all these specialized WordPress websites. If you are looking to build your own website in WordPress or a hybrid mobile application, do reach out to us and we will be able to take the conversation further and help you build your next web project.