WordPress Best Practices I Follow on Every Build

A WordPress site is only as good as the habits behind it. These are the rules I never break.

Build custom, stay lean

Native functionality first, plugins only when they earn their place. Every plugin is a dependency and a risk.

Escape, sanitise, validate

Untrusted input is escaped on output and sanitised on input. Always. Security is not a feature you add later.

Make it the client’s site

If the client cannot update content without calling me, I have not finished the job.