It’s been 20+ years since I started developing with WordPress, and a lot has changed in the tech world. Frameworks have come and gone, trends have shifted, and countless tools have promised to “replace WordPress.” And yet—after all this time—I still find myself coming back to it. Not out of nostalgia or habit, but because WordPress continues to be one of the most effective, flexible, and developer-friendly platforms I’ve ever worked with.
I’m not a designer. I don’t fuss over colors, font pairings, or spacing systems. I’ve always lived closer to the server—building scalable systems, fixing broken APIs, optimizing database queries, and writing plugins that get the job done. And in all those years, WordPress has never let me down.
A Platform That Respects Structure
One of the earliest things that drew me to WordPress was its underlying structure. At its core, it’s simple—but not simplistic. There’s a logic to the way things are built: posts, custom post types, taxonomies, metadata. If you understand relational data, you’ll understand WordPress.
I appreciated that immediately. I could define data models without spinning up entire Laravel projects or building from scratch. And if something didn’t exist, WordPress let me hook into it—add_action, add_filter, register_post_type. There was always a way in.
Over the years, I’ve built for clients:
- Custom event schedulers with recurring logic
- Inventory systems using custom post types and metadata
- and of course WishList Member – a super awesome membership plugin for WordPress
- and more…
That flexibility, all while using a battle-tested platform, made WordPress an obvious choice for someone who values efficiency and maintainability.
The Power of Hooks
Hooks are one of the most underrated features in WordPress. They’re elegant. With just a few lines, I can modify the way a core function behaves, inject data, sanitize input, or manipulate output—without touching the core.
In a world that often defaults to complex inheritance trees and bloated frameworks, WordPress gives you hooks. It gives you just enough control to get things done without overengineering it.
I’ve used hooks to:
- Modify REST API output without rewriting endpoints
- Integrate third-party CRMs directly into the admin flow
- Adjust how WooCommerce handles tax calculations in real time
- Trigger background processes on content publish
There’s beauty in that simplicity. WordPress lets me stay focused on logic, not boilerplate.
Performance and Optimization: WordPress Isn’t the Problem
One of the recurring myths I hear is that “WordPress is slow.” But after 25 years, I can confidently say: it’s not the platform, it’s the implementation.
Yes, out-of-the-box WordPress is designed to be general-purpose. But with the right backend strategies, I’ve helped clients scale their WordPress sites to millions of users per month.
Some of the tactics I’ve used:
- Query optimization with custom SQL or
WP_Querytuning - Object caching using Redis and Memcached
- CDN integration for media delivery
- Lazy loading and script deferral
- Background jobs using Action Scheduler or custom cron runners
WordPress provides the tools. You just need to know how to use them.
And if I ever do hit a wall, the fact that it’s open-source means I can always trace performance issues right into the core or plugin source.
Developer Experience That Just Works
As someone who prefers terminal windows over drag-and-drop builders, I’ve always appreciated how WordPress doesn’t get in the way of development.
I can spin up a new environment in minutes. I can migrate databases easily. I can write plugins using the same structure I’ve used for years.
And now with modern additions like:
- WP-CLI for managing installs and scripts from the command line
- Composer support for dependency management
- Dockerized environments for consistent dev setups
- PHPUnit integration for testable plugins
…the WordPress developer experience has matured without becoming bloated or overcomplicated.
It’s still PHP. It’s still readable. It’s still hackable.
WordPress at Scale
People often assume that WordPress is only for blogs or small businesses. I’ve worked with large-scale enterprise applications that rely entirely on WordPress for backend management.
From custom analytics dashboards to REST APIs serving mobile apps, I’ve pushed WordPress far beyond its blogging roots—and it handles that just fine.
Multisite, for example, lets me manage dozens or hundreds of related sites from one codebase. User roles and capabilities give me granular access control. Cron events and scheduled actions power automation flows. It’s more than capable—if you treat it like a real platform.
Long-Term Stability
One thing I’ve come to value over the years is platform stability. WordPress evolves—but it rarely breaks. I’ve seen countless frameworks break backward compatibility just to chase trends. WordPress doesn’t do that. It balances progress with care.
That’s why I can return to a client site I built eight years ago, and it still works. Maybe a few updates are needed, but the core structure is sound.
This kind of long-term reliability makes WordPress perfect for maintainable, client-friendly builds. You don’t have to rewrite everything every two years. You can build once, build right, and focus on value—not versioning.
The Plugin System: A Backend Developer’s Playground
Plugins are where I spend most of my time. They let me extend WordPress in any direction I want. Over the years, I’ve written:
- Custom SSO (single sign-on) integrations
- API bridges to ERPs and payment gateways
- Backend logic for content approval workflows
- Custom reporting tools using WP Admin UI extensions
- Cron-based importers that parse massive datasets nightly
The plugin system is structured but flexible. I don’t have to jump through hoops to extend functionality. I just write my logic, register the plugin, and go.
And I don’t have to rely on bloated third-party solutions if I don’t want to. I can build exactly what’s needed—no more, no less.
Working with Content, Without Managing It
As a backend developer, I don’t want to manage content. I want to empower people who do.
That’s why I’ve always appreciated how WordPress separates logic from content. Editors and marketers can do their thing in the admin area—whether that’s creating posts, building pages with the block editor, or managing media—without needing to involve me.
And when they need something custom—like a new content type, a specific taxonomy, or custom validation—I can build it in code, deploy it through version control, and let the content team take over.
I’m not locked into a rigid CMS structure or forced to build everything through config files. I can write code to reflect real-world needs.
The Community: Quiet but Deeply Skilled
I’m not a big forum guy. I don’t hang out in Discords. But when I need an answer, the WordPress developer community always delivers. Whether it’s digging through the Codex, finding a plugin on GitHub, or reading a detailed blog post—there’s almost always someone who’s solved the same problem before.
And if there’s not, I can build the solution and share it.
WordPress may not be flashy or trendy, but it’s backed by some of the most battle-tested developers in the industry. People who understand not just code, but software that lives in the wild, used by real clients with real business needs.
Why I’m Still All-In
After 25 years, I could have pivoted to other stacks permanently. I’ve worked with Laravel, Node.js, Python, heck even old-school CGI scripts. They all have their strengths. But I keep coming back to WordPress because it’s:
- Practical
- Scalable
- Developer-friendly
- Well-documented
- Deeply extensible
- Future-ready (especially with the REST API and full-site editing)
For backend developers, WordPress is a solid, reliable, and powerful platform that still respects the fundamentals of good engineering: clear separation of concerns, composability, and performance-conscious architecture.
I don’t need it to be “cool.” I need it to work—and it does.
Final Thoughts
Twenty plus years is a long time to stick with anything in tech. But WordPress has earned that loyalty.
Not because it’s perfect. But because it continues to provide a stable, flexible foundation that lets me solve real problems for real people—without reinventing the wheel every time.
As long as clients need custom logic, data integrations, secure user flows, or performance-focused builds—I’ll keep choosing WordPress.
Not because it’s trendy.
Because it works.