These general WordPress development standards are the basis for all proposals White Label IQ sends out and they form the instructions for the developers as they are building the individual sites.
If there is a specific agency preference which replaces or eliminates a WLIQ WordPress Development standard, it will be clearly identified in the proposal and provided to the developer assigned to the project via specific directions.
Example: General standard vs specific preference
A WLIQ WordPress development standard is to not use a child theme with Bootstrap. If a child theme is be used, we will identify that as a specific agency preference in the proposal.
Basic Principles
We Will:
- Initially build the site on White Label IQ DEV server
- Use the most currently available version of WordPress at time project is started
- Create CSS files that are well-commented, clearly broken into sections and organized in a logical order following the page display order (body, header, navigation, content, row, sidebar, footer, etc.)
- Set all external links to target=”_blank”
- Disable comments unless otherwise specified
- Discourage search engines from indexing the site on our staging server
- Use the fonts that are in the design files we receive (if premium fonts are required they need to be purchased by Agency and provided before development starts or similar fonts from Google fonts will be used until actual fonts are received)
- Use Open Sans from Google Fonts in situations where clear direction about fonts are not provided
- QA test the sites for the following browsers: latest editions for Firefox, Chrome, and for Safari
- Utilize Bugherd plugin to collect feedback screenshots during website review phase by Agency
- Create a custom individual WP user admin record for each project we build for an agency
- Move site at completion using Duplicator plugin. If Duplicator plugin is not compatible with chosen hosting environment we will provide up to 2 hours migrating the website. If the migration takes more than 2 hours, we will charge for each additional hour or provide a zipped version of the website for the agency to deploy. All migrations require validated FTP credentials and access to cPanel is preferred (cPanel access required for instances where Duplicator can not be utilized)
- Use default states or settings for all functionalities within the website
We Will Not:
- Create a child theme for Bootstrap sites as each site build is a custom theme built off a framework and is not impacted by parent theme updates like other commercially available themes (standard WP core updates and plug-in updates can still be run as normal)
- Style comments form or comments thread views unless directed by final design files and priced specifically in proposal
- Allow Google to crawl WordPress sites on our development server
- Write/modify plug-in source code (functionality) unless specifically discussed and agreed to with agency
- Make significant changes to the functionality of a premium theme (see premium themes section below) at a fixed price
- Test websites in IE10+
- Perform SEO optimization of the website unless specifically requested in the original specifications during the quoting stage
Header and Footer
We Will:
- Use Dashboard » Appearance » Header so header logo file can be added as an image
- Link logo to home page
- Use Dashboard » Appearance » Background to set background color and/or background image plus scrolling
- Use Advanced Custom Fields Pro » Options Page to create global options for header content, footer content, etc. resulting in a Dashboard menu item called “Theme Settings”
- Will set up Dashboard » Theme Settings » Contact Info as a set of custom fields where user can set site phone number, site email address, physical or mailing addresses, etc.
- Will set up Dashboard » Theme Settings » Footer » Copyright Statement and Social Media custom fields where user can add/edit the site’s copyright statement and various social media pages
- Will use built in favicon functionality released since WP 4.3 (Appearance -> Customize -> Site Identity)
Navigation
We Will:
- Create all menus using Dashboard » Appearance » Menus drag-and-drop editing tool
- Clearly identify Menu Locations using obvious naming such as “Top Nav”, “Primary Nav” and “Footer Nav”
- Build the responsive navigation using the defaults for Bootstrap unless otherwise specified in the design files and quoted specifically in the proposal
We Will Not:
- Add breadcrumbs unless specified in the design files
Slider
We Will:
- By default use Slick JS library to create a slider. Depending on requested functionality we can create it via Custom Post Type or Advanced Custom Fields (Repeater/Gallery field)
- Make images in the responsive versions of the slider proportional
- Put all text that overlays the slider in the full screen view underneath the slider image in the responsive views
- Work with premium slider plugins (e.g. Revolution) if provided by Agency prior to development beginning
Pages and Posts
We Will:
- Manually set the Page Sort Order on each page we add to the site so that the listing of sites on Dashboard » Pages closely follows the same order as the navigation menus
- Wrap the logo in an tag, unless otherwise stated in the project requirements
- Only wrap one text heading, the Page Title or Post Title, in an tag, unless otherwise stated in the project requirements
- Setup any custom fields used on a Page Editor of Post Editor in a logical order using an obvious naming syntax so that non-technical users can add/edit information
- Use Dashboard » Settings » Permalinks to set the default permalinks to /%postname%/ (requires MOD REWRITE in PHP on host)
Content Population
We Will:
- Populate number of templated pages as defined in the Scope of Work in the Project Agreement.
- Populate number of template blog articles with articles provided by the Agency as defined in the Scope of Work within the Project Agreement.
Templates
We Will:
- Name the theme and theme’s template folder based on the project name. The name can be changed if requested
- Add site logo or first letter of the site as favicon
- Replace the default screenshot to with one of the homepage
- Create a templates folder under the themes directory and create the requested template files there (example: templates/template-home.php
- Provide CSS for template files and:
- Single.php
- Page.php
- 404.php
- Use the default responsiveness provided by Bootstrap if specific design files are not provided for the responsive views
Plugins
We will include the following plugins on every site:
- Contact Form 7
- Auto Optimize
- Tiny PNG
- Word Fence
- Yoast SEO ($0 to $89)
We will include the following plugins if the functionality is required:
Note: If used we will deliver the initial website with our developer license key in place. Later you can update it with one these solutions:
- Remove the license key (the forms will still work.) Note that the updates to the plugin will cease and pose a security risk if not replaced with a substitute key or plugin
- Replace our developer license key with your own to have full control of the license key and remove any dependency on us
— recommended - Keep our developer license key. The only trace back to us will be a generic email address tied to the license key (Would only appear if the license expires.)
We Will not:
- Make significant changes to the existing functionality of a plugin (see above) without full understanding and acceptance from the agency of the future risks that come with making such changes (i.e. updates released from plugins breaking components of site upon update)
WooCommerce
We will:
- Quote client-provided design templates for checkout, cart, and single-product pages. If templates are not provided by the client—we will use the standard WooCommerce templates for these pages
- Set the default payment gateway to PayPal and Pay with check
- Set default shippings standards of
- Free shipping
- Flat rate
- Local delivery
- Local pickup
- Any customizations and additional functionality add-ons must be requested by the client during the quoting stage in order for us to provide an accurate quote
Premium Themes
We will:
- Work with a premium theme if requested by the client and use the theme’s default functionality to quote and build the project
- Only provide a rough estimate for any additional functionality (not provided by themes default settings) and charge the standard hourly rate for all hours spent. Estimate accuracy will be based on completeness of functionality descriptions by the client during the quoting stage
We will not:
- Make significant changes to the existing functionality of a premium theme (see above) without full understanding and acceptance from the agency of the future risks that come with making such changes (i.e. updates released from Premium theme breaking components of site upon update)
SEO Optimization
We will:
- Include the following on-page optimizations during development
- Google page speed score
- Google mobile responsive
- Google search console/webmaster
- XML sitemap
- Robots.txt
- Custom 404 error page
- 301 redirection—URL redirection if any & non www to www
- Broken URLs
- SSL certificate/HTTPS
We will not:
- Provide ongoing SEO optimization
- Provide ongoing SEO reporting
ADA Compliance
We will:
- Implement the Userway third party plugin to meet ADA compliance requirements according to specifications provided by the client *
We will not:
- Advise on how various regulations might apply or how best to comply as we are not legal experts
Photographs & Images
We will:
- Upload images that are provided to us in an editable, vector or high resolution digital format
We will not:
- Source imagery unless directed but can be quoted separately
Cookie Policy
We will:
*Applicable deliverables from both WLIQ and the Customer will comply with the accessibility standards set forth in the SOW at the time of delivery. WLIQ is not responsible for any accessibility requirements outside the specific deliverables defined in the SOW. Should no accessibility requirements be set forth in the SOW, the customer releases WLIQ from any obligation from accessibility compliance. Customer is responsible for the accessibility compliance of all web content (user created text, images, video, sound, files) and any/all changes made to the Finished Product(s) by all parties aside from WLIQ.