WordPress Training on the Fly – Keeping Abreast of Change Management in Design Environments

A lot of WordPress (WP) websites are built by those claiming to be WP ‘developers’ who are actually much closer to being pre-purchased WP template editors. Developers can change the PHP coding in a theme at will without breaking anything, whereas theme editors are limited to making changes to any WP theme within the parameters allowed only by the theme creator.

This can sometimes be frustrating for the editor’s client, who might request some changes to a WP theme that the person they hired is unable to produce. It’s also tricky because the so-called WP ‘developer’ ends up with egg on their face if asked to simply change the size of a logo div but is unable to comply.

But such issues may soon become a thing of the past if WP theme creators or indeed web hosting companies were to offer access to a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) which can assist greatly when dealing with change management in software and theme editing issues.

A DAP is effectively a teaching layer of software that runs alongside the primary package to which it is allied. In the case of editing a WordPress theme, a DAP could act as a friendly, helpful WP expert on hand to help but only when required.

Crucially, a DAP hyper-personalizes its output by its AI ‘understanding’ the learning style and workflow habits of its users as individuals. This means that the assistance available from a DAP quickly becomes offered at different levels for differing operators, who might be logged in on a per account basis on any shared computer.

Rookie training for WP installation and first steps

A DAP can help WP newbies to build a site by providing interactive guidance and walkthroughs, in the form of checklists, video examples and suggestions on, say, widgets and plug-ins.

Contextual tooltips and pop-ups can explain the functions of different WordPress features and options as users attempt to create their site. After being shown a video of a famous WP ‘one click install’ (never as easy as it sounds!) then a newbie can be signposted by an AI-assisted DAP bot in the necessary steps to have a site up and running.

For example, someone attempting to build a contact page could be prompted by the DAP to use a ‘contact’ template from the page creation options menu then install a reliable and basic plugin like Contact Form 7. The contact page can be active in moments using a simple shortcode once the plugins parameters are set, again assisted by the DAP. 

CF7 is almost certainly the most established and most used contact form plugin on the WP smorgasbord; after all, it’s been downloaded and in daily use over 5 million times to date, so it must work well enough!

A DAP can also offer newbies a personalized setup process based on their specific needs; for example whether they’re looking to build an online shop, a blog, a portfolio of photography / graphic design or whatever. 

Configuring search engine optimization (SEO) settings can be a daunting task in itself for an inexperienced WP site creator, but a DAP can ensure that every image used in any post is SEO-friendly in terms of its title and description tags. Likewise, posts can be scanned instantly for keyword density, relevance, use of <h2> tags and all the steps necessary to make any WP site as Google-friendly as it can be. 

Users could also submit help requests directly through a DAP, streamlining the process of getting technical support; rather than having to log into a WP theme support help page each time they want to query a feature of a theme or plugin.

Integrating drag and drop tools can also simplify the WordPress design process as absolutely no coding is required. Then again a DAP can also assist users in writing basic PHP, so in any case that’s the best of both worlds. 

 The WP editor’s more advanced friend

It’s not only newbies that DAPs can help. Let’s imagine that a very small creative design agency consists of two WordPress developers, college friends Sarah and Mike. Sarah is a PHP project expert and can write code with her eyes closed while listening to a podcast about creating a recipe for cheese dip.

On the other hand, Mike is not so adept at coding and would normally hand any PHP edits over to Sarah, but he’s a whizz on Photoshop and knows everything there is to know about WP managed hosting.

Clearly, these two partners have a formidable skill-set between them. But if a DAP could be used that allowed Mike to learn coding on the fly, and at the same time enable Sarah to brush up on her Adobe Illustrator skills, the pair would be unstoppable.

A DAP would quickly understand the inherent skill levels already possessed by Sarah and Mike respectively and would customize its output accordingly, even if the pair were logged in at different times on the same workstation.

For example, if Mike constantly made rookie PHP code errors such as using PHP entry inside HTML code, instead of including that PHP code inside a PHP string value, not inside the HTML text itself, the DAP would highlight the error and offer a tooltip so that Mike would correct his errors on the fly.

Most importantly, once Mike had learned to use the juxtaposition of PHP strings and HTML snippets correctly, the DFAP would stop prompting him.

DAPS – software that eventually never needs to be used

That’s the true strength of a DAP, because in a perfect world, when every software user learned to create perfect PHP code or faultless workflows in , say, Adobe Illustrator, the DAP allied to that software would remain silent in the background;  only needing to show itself when the operator made a mistake.

A software user might not have even remembered that the DAP was running until an update changes the nature of the software’s tools, and then the DAP would perhaps remind Sarah not to use the lasso tool to select complex outlines in a layer – but use the AI-driven layer mask creator instead.

AI will make experts of us all

Like all other technology, from learning how to fix a dripping tap by watching a YouTube video or Googling up how to wire a mains plug, even learning the intricacies of MAC OS VPS setups, nothing in the world is the mystery that it was until some form of tech taught you a workaround.

So it will be with DAPS. When WordPress themes start being supplied with, say, a trial one-week subscription to a DAP platform, theme editors will be able to make changes to the most complex of PHP edits without fear of breaking a theme and having to re-install and start again from scratch.

From teaching Sarah how to use image editing software to helping someone’s Great Grandpa to change the privacy settings on his iPhone’s Safari browser, DAPs will make the future of change management in home and leisure software to be a seamless process that is no longer intimidating to non-experts.

Keep your eyes out everyone, because the winners in this change management conundrum will be those who accept how AI will assist rather than hinder; but AI will certainly overtake those who refuse to bend with the breeze of digital adoption.