Dollie is an expansive site management solution for WordPress that we love here at WP Mayor. However, it’s also perfect if you wish to generate revenue using a cutting-edge, revenue-generating tool. This post will show off Control HQ, and discuss how it can be part of your own WordPress monetization revolution!
Redis is revolutionizing caching with its rapid performance and scalability. Ideal for WordPress sites with high user load requirements, it optimizes read and write operations. Whether it’s small-scale cache or a full-blown backend solution for static content, Redis has you covered. Learn to harness its power for a faster, more responsive website.
In this post, we take a look at some of the top WordPress companies, agencies, and studios. Create and develop your new website with the best teams in the world and find the price-point that matches your budget.
Are you looking for a WordPress development agency to customize your website?
WordPress development agencies will put together a team of coding and design specialists to customize your site, such as creating a custom theme or plugin. They may also offer services like WordPress migration and maintenance, along with digital marketing.
In this article, we will share some of the best WordPress development agencies that can help create the high-quality, custom website you are looking for.
Why Use a WordPress Development Agency?
One of the best things about WordPress is that it’s easy to use. Most people won’t need to hire a designer or developer to create a website.
However, once your site starts making money, you might consider building a custom website, custom WordPress theme, or custom plugins. In that case, you will need to find a developer to help you get the job done.
You could hire a freelance developer to create the code you need. But for larger jobs, it’s often better to use a WordPress development agency. This is a team of professionals who combine their expertise to offer a mix of services.
These services can include website development and design, plugin and theme development, website maintenance, WordPress migration, consulting, marketing, and more.
Of course, hiring a WordPress development agency will cost more than a freelancer, so they are typically used for enterprise and large-scale websites. Depending on your needs, you may want to get quotes from several theme developers, web designers, and agencies.
If you want to make the most of the speed and security of WordPress.com’s VIP managed hosting services, then you should also look for an agency that is a WordPress.com VIP partner.
With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the best WordPress development agencies you can hire to take your website to the next level.
10up is a web design and consulting firm with decades of experience in open-source platforms like WordPress.
Their services include website design, custom plugin development, and website optimization.
They also contribute hours of development to the WordPress.org project by submitting patches and employing dedicated staff to work on it.
10up has also developed 25 free plugins, including MPL-Publisher, which can help you turn your blog posts into an ebook. They have contributed to the core jQuery project and sponsored jQuery Foundation by supporting their website.
10up is also one of the featured WordPress.com VIP Gold partners. The company has an impressive list of clients with brands like TechCrunch, WP Engine, and GoDaddy, along with organizations like the World Economic Forum.
rtCamp is a top global design and development agency that specializes in WordPress solutions at an enterprise scale.
Their services include custom theme and plugin development, WooCommerce development, and more. They can also migrate your website from another platform to WordPress.
They have created several free plugins and themes like rtMoto and rtPanel for the community.
Like 10up, they are WordPress.com VIP Gold partners. Their clients include Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and household brands like General Electric.
Human Made is a UK-based WordPress design and development agency that provides enterprise-grade WordPress solutions. They are also an official WordPress.com VIP partner.
Their services include custom WordPress design and development, plugin development, theme development, and hosting.
They give back to the WordPress community by sponsoring 12 contributors to various open-source projects.
They also offer several free and paid WordPress plugins, including WP Remote, BackupWordPress, and WordPress Menu Exporter.
They specialize in enterprise-scale development for global brands like News UK, USA Today, TechCrunch, Sony, PayPal, Skype, Airbnb, and many more.
Multidots is an award-winning WordPress development agency with over a decade of experience. They specialize in helping businesses publish content at an enterprise scale.
Their services include custom plugin development, theme development, WordPress implementation, WordPress migration, and website optimization.
They are the creators of MultiCollab, a plugin that allows you to add collaboration to the WordPress block editor, similar to Google Docs. They also sponsor 7 contributors to the WordPress core and are WordPress.com VIP Gold partners.
They have helped enterprises like Ask Media Group, PepsiCo, MIT, Warner Bros, and Ford grow their business websites. They also created a centralized sneaker data repository for Sneaker News.
Fixel is a small and versatile design agency based in Oregon. The company was founded in 2008 when a group of freelancers decided to accomplish more by combining their skills.
Their services include web design and development, as well as branding. They can build quality websites quickly using the WordPress block editor, including eCommerce and membership sites.
Since they are a small agency, you will work directly with the team instead of going through managers. This setup streamlines the process and helps you achieve your goals quickly.
Their recent clients include LegitScript, Lia Griffith, and Better Fellow.
Modern Tribe is a WordPress design and development agency with a twist. They are a collaborative organization of freelancers and experts. Overall, they have 72 talented teammates in 5 countries and 45 cities.
Modern Tribe has built several hundred websites, and they usually work on more than 20 projects simultaneously. The company offers a wide range of services, including WordPress expertise, strategy, user experience design, and more.
They have designed websites and built software for Fortune 500 companies, government institutions, as well as startup companies. Their clients include the New York Times, Harvard, eBay, Mozilla, MTV, and ESPN.
DevriX is a European technical WordPress development agency. They focus on WordPress maintenance, customized digital solutions, and ongoing development.
They provide custom WordPress plugin development, website redesign, and website maintenance services. They focus on delivering scalable and secure WordPress websites within many industries, including healthcare, finance, and eCommerce.
DevriX also regularly contributes to the core WordPress platform. In fact, they have 9 WordPress core contributors on the team. They have also contributed 14 useful free plugins, including DX Out of Date and DX Unanswered Comments.
Their clients include the BBC, Forbes, Inc., and Yahoo!
WebFX is a custom WordPress development agency that provides personalized website development services to businesses. They also focus on search engine optimization.
They create WordPress websites that are responsive, mobile-friendly, and SEO-optimized. They have a track record of delivering superior WordPress development services with guaranteed results.
Their clients include Hilton, Verizon, Fujifilm, the YMCA, Rowan University, and Solar Alliance.
Noesis.tech is a leading WordPress development agency that offers custom WordPress solutions for businesses of all sizes.
Their services include website design, custom plugin development, and website optimization. They lead the way in innovating across many industries, including eCommerce, ePublishing, eLearning, and eCommunity.
They are WordPress.com VIP Top Silver partners, and their clients include Colgate, Netflix, Kay Beauty, Sharekhan, and The Bombay Canteen.
The Code Company is an award-winning agency that offers WordPress development services with a specialization in digital publishing.
Their services include custom WordPress theme development, eCommerce development, and website optimization. They also offer WordPress development and migration, complex integrations and custom functionality, and media and publishing consulting.
They work with media companies and digital publishers of all sizes, from small startups to large global organizations. Their clients include eBay Ads, California Sun, The Dispatch, Mumbrella, and Pedestrian Group.
Alley is a highly-respected WordPress agency that specializes in creating custom digital experiences for publishers, nonprofit institutions, museums, and brands.
Their services include custom WordPress development, website optimization, and editorial workflow systems.
They are WordPress.com VIP partners and have published several new open-source packages for PHP, JavaScript, and WordPress developers.
Alley has worked with some of the biggest names in media and publishing, including The New Yorker and National Geographic.
Americaneagle.com is a reputable WordPress development agency and WordPress.com VIP partner that provides a wide range of web services to businesses of all sizes.
They offer many different services, including custom WordPress design and development, eCommerce development, complex integrations, WordPress migrations, and digital marketing.
They actively contribute to the WordPress community by sponsoring WordCamp events. They also contribute to the WordPress core code, themes, and plugins through their team of experienced WordPress developers.
They are known for creating award-winning websites for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to Fortune 500 companies. Their clients include WeatherTech, the NYC Department of Education, Werner, and State Electric Supply Co.
XWP is a full-service WordPress website development company based in Australia. They can build and design a new website with all the features you need. Alternatively, they can customize your old site existing or personalized themes and plugins.
They are experts in developing custom websites, themes, and plugins. They can also migrate your current website from another platform to WordPress.
In addition to working with clients, they contribute to WordPress.org, including regular contributions to WordPress core releases. They have also contributed to many free WordPress plugins.
XWP is a WordPress.com VIP featured partner agency with a global team of WordPress experts. Their clients include Pantheon, Rolling Stone, Jetpack, Unsplash, GoDaddy, and Cloudinary.
WPExperts is a Pakistani digital agency that specializes in WordPress development services. They are WordPress.com VIP partners and provide customized WordPress solutions to businesses of all sizes.
Their services include custom theme and plugin development, WordPress migration and maintenance, and digital marketing. They are certified developers for WooCommerce, BuddyPress, LearnDash, AffiliateWP, Easy Digital Downloads, and more.
WPExperts’ clients come from a variety of industries, including eCommerce, healthcare, and education. Some of their clients include Zillow, Square, Stripe, the University of Southern California, and Sony Pictures.
If you need a website built quickly, then the best WordPress agency is Fixel. They have a small and responsive team who can quickly build a website with a Gutenberg layout.
On the other hand, if you need someone to develop your specific custom ideas, then 10up and Human Made are great choices. They have decades of experience in creating custom websites and plugins and have worked with some of the world’s biggest brands.
But what if you need a complex WordPress project like a large eCommerce or eLearning website? In that case, we recommend rtCamp and Multidots because they specialize in helping enterprise-level customers on a global scale.
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WordPress beta versions give the makers of WordPress an opportunity to share an upcoming release with developers and beta testers before it is released to the masses. By doing this, WordPress can gain valuable insight from the people who use WordPress the most. They can be made aware of bugs, problems, or even suggestions that might make a release better. WordPress beta testing is one of many reasons WordPress continues to be the most popular CMS for web development.
What is a WordPress Beta?
Before any new release of WordPress, developers and beta testers are allowed access to a beta version of WordPress. This beta version enables developers and testers to experience an upcoming release, and report any bugs or problems they encounter. WordPress beta versions usually include features that are scheduled to be released, but not always. There are times when certain features or plugins that are present with the beta version don’t make it to the final release.
That being said, there may be features that come with a new release that the beta version didn’t include. Beta versions are always made available before minor and major WordPress releases. A minor release typically offers mostly security updates, and almost never includes new features. A major release is planned and usually includes new features, plugins, and themes.
Why Would/Should You Beta Test WordPress?
Compatibility with Themes and Plugins
There are a couple of reasons why you might want to be a WordPress beta tester. First of all, when WordPress releases a new version, you might be concerned about how it will perform with the themes and plugins you have installed. If you are a Divi user, you should know that our team conducts extensive testing before and after a new version of WordPress is released. We check all modules, the Divi Builder, widgets, blocks, templates and template parts, amongst other aspects of both WordPress core and Divi as a whole to ensure that everything works well together.
Whichever theme you use, you should get on top of things and ensure that the upgrade will be a smooth one by testing any new version of WordPress on a staging site. Using a staging site ensures that you can test out how your theme, essential plugins (like WooCoommerce), and other crucial elements (like web forms) will work together without having to worry about causing problems with your live site.
Performance and Responsiveness on Browsers and Devices
Secondly, it’s a good way to check for kinks on all screen sizes, browsers, and devices. After all, not everyone uses Chrome on an iPhone. With so many people having their content delivered by smaller devices and on smaller screens, it’s a good idea to test these areas to determine if there is a problem, especially with how pages load on each device.
Valuable User Input
Lastly, WordPress needs input from not only developers but from everyday WordPress users. It helps the developers of WordPress to know how their software is used by people that may not necessarily be the overly techy types. Secondly, it’s important for users of different native languages to do testing. After all, WordPress is available in over 160 languages, so it makes sense for those who speak a language other than English to participate.
How to Beta Test WordPress
There are a couple of ways that you can beta test WordPress. The first is to use the WordPress Beta Tester plugin. The second option is to use a hosting provider that gives you the ability to choose beta versions of WordPress when you install a new site, whether it be live or staging. Let’s explore each method and how to test each one.
Using the Beta Tester Plugin
For this example, we’re going to use the Twenty Twenty-Two theme to install and test the WordPress Beta Tester plugin. As previously mentioned, we suggest using a staging site. This is applicable in both situations, whether you are looking to upgrade your current version of WordPress, or install a beta version. One of our hosting partners, Cloudways, suggests this method.
Navigate to Plugins > Add New. Search for the WordPress Beta Tester plugin in the WordPress repository. Click Install Now.
Activate the plugin. Next, navigate to Tools > Beta Testing to configure the plugin.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t stress the importance of backing up your database before proceeding with using the plugin. There are backup plugins to help with this. Additionally, it’s a good idea to pay attention to the development blog on a daily basis to keep up to date on the latest changes during beta. As we will discuss a little later, you can also visit the Alpha/Beta forum, which will also help you to identify any potential fires you may have to put out after updating your version of WordPress to beta.
Also, please be aware that once you have switched to a beta version of WordPress, you may not be able to downgrade it. Be sure to proceed with caution.
Core Settings
In the core settings of the plugin, you’re given the option of choosing point release or bleeding edge. Point Release is the most stable choice of the two. It includes all of the work that is in the latest stages of development for the latest release.
While the plugin states that it should be fairly stable, it’s a much safer choice than Bleeding Edge. Choosing the latter option should only be done if you are a WordPress rockstar with no fear of the unknown. It’s highly likely that your site may occasionally break. If you have decided that the beta testing path is an essential part of your techy dev life, feel free to choose this option. Those of you who are just looking to see if your theme or plugins will be compatible with the newest version of WordPress should choose point release.
By default, nightlies will be your only option. This means that on a daily basis, the beta version of WordPress will be updated with the latest fixes and additions. Once you have made your selection, click Save Changes.
Extra Settings
The extra settings give you a couple of options. First, you can tick the skip the successful auto update emails if you don’t want to receive admin emails every time the beta version of WordPress is updated. The second option title New Feature Testing is used for testing new features. It works by adding constants to be set in your wp-config.php file. Constants are things like enabling debug mode, gaining information on database queries, or protecting your wp-config.php file from hackers, amongst other things.
When enabled, the plugin will add the following constant to your wp-config.php file:
define( 'WP_BETA_TESTER_{$feature}', true );
This will enable advanced users the ability to test new features for WordPress, which is useful if you’d like to make major changes to WordPress. If you deactivate or remove the plugin, the constant will be removed from the file.
Upgrading WordPress
Once you have saved your choices, it’s time to upgrade WordPress. Please make sure you’ve made a backup of your site’s files and database before proceeding. To update, navigate to Updates in the WordPress admin panel. From there, click Update to latest 6.0 nightly. This will install the latest somewhat stable version of WordPress in beta (depending on the core settings you chose in the last section).
Using a Hosting Provider
There is an additional way to install the latest beta version of WordPress. Some hosting providers such as Pressable offer the ability to choose the latest beta version of WordPress in the hosting dashboard. This is a quick and easy way to install the latest version, and quickly revert to a more stable one should you need to. For example, Pressable has a handy drop-down menu that will allow you to choose several versions.
Upgrading with this method allows you to make a quick backup, create a staging environment, and upgrade WordPress all in one place.
How to Submit Bug Reports While Beta Testing
The first thing to keep in mind is to take good notes. You’ll want to document any bugs or problems you encounter. This is a crucial prerequisite to submitting a report. There are two ways you can report bugs and issues. First is the reporting bugs page on the official WordPress website. This is used primarily for existing, released WordPress versions. Secondly, you can create a post on the Alpha/Beta support forum. This is where you’ll report any bugs or issues you come across when testing a beta version of WordPress. Let’s discuss the process for each.
Reporting Bugs page
Be sure to share your documented notes on the Reporting Bugs page on WordPress.org. When submitting a report, there are a few steps you’ll need to take.
Step 1: Check Out the Good First Bugs Page
Before submitting a report, check out the Good First Bugs page that will help you get familiar with the process. There are more than 100 examples of tickets created by other users. They are either already being worked on, or are assigned to a WordPress developer. After you have perused the Good First Bugs page and have a good idea on how to formulate your ticket, click the Create a New Ticket button.
You’ll be prompted to sign in to your WordPress.org account by entering your username (or email address) and password. If you don’t have an account, you can create one now.
Step 2: Search for an Existing Ticket
Before submitting a ticket, it’s a good idea to check to see if someone else has submitted a similar ticket. On the new ticket page, there’s a link to search for existing tickets. This is a good place to start. Chances are, if you’ve found a bug within the latest beta version of WordPress, someone else has. Check here first before proceeding to creating a new ticket.
Step 3: Create a New Ticket
Once logged in, you’ll be forwarded to the create new ticket page. There will be a series of tips listed for you to follow to create a good ticket. Those include ensuring that your WordPress version is current, documenting any steps needed to replicate the problem, whether or not you deactivated plugins when your issue occured, and including any relevant information that can be helpful to developers.
Fill out the form including a summary (title) for your ticket, as well as a description of the issue. You’ll also need to choose a type – a bug, enhancement or feature request. Next, choose the severity of your bug. Specify which version of WordPress you’re using, and choose the component that is experiencing a problem. This can be a general problem to something more specific such as issues with the menu, login and registration, taxonomies, rewrite rules, and more.
Next, you’ll need to choose the workflow keywords that should be associated with your ticket. These can be keywords related to design, dev, or needed enhancements. The next area of the form involves contributor focus. Is it a UI issue, does it have to do with accessibility, or is there an issue with CSS or javascript? The focus helps devs to understand what type of issue it is and where to focus.
Next, set the action for your ticket. Do you need to create a new ticket, or is it an existing one? Finally, attach any files you may have that could be helpful when the developer starts work on it. Be sure to preview your ticket before creating it.
Alpha/Beta support forum
Alternatively, you can report any bugs you’ve found on the Alpha/Beta support forum. This forum allows you to provide feedback and report bugs on beta versions of WordPress. As in any forum, you can either search for your issue, or create a new topic. In order to post or create a new topic, you will need to be logged in. Here are the steps you should take to report a bug on the Alpha/Beta forum.
Step 1: Search for a Similar Issue
Before creating a new topic, be sure to search the forum for topics related to yours. With over 115 pages of forum topics, it’s quite likely you’ll find a similar issue.
Step 2: Follow the Guidelines
Make sure to read the forum welcome topic to maximize the odds of getting a response. Ensure that your plugins and beta version of WordPress are up to date. Keep in mind that this is a forum for the latest beta version of WordPress, so don’t post any topics about specific themes or plugins.
To create a new topic, you’ll need to fill out a form that outlines your issue. First, name your topic. Make it relevant to your issue. Secondly, link to the page that references your issue. Make sure that it is accessible to everyone, and not on a local network. Next, input a message that is as detailed as possible. Break down the issues you are having with detailed notes. The more information, the better. Be sure to include topic tags. This increases the chances that your topic is seen. Lastly, using the tick box options, select whether or not you want to be notified of follow-up replies by email. This is important to do because it will keep you from re-checking your topic to see if anyone has replied.
WordPress Beta Testing Has Advantages
WordPress is open source for a reason. It is designed to be built by the WordPress community. Through beta testing, we can continue to improve the features of the WordPress Editor and the functionality of the WordPress core to make WordPress better for all of us. Being able to test unreleased versions of WordPress with your themes and plugins before it’s released gives users a great advantage. (We’ve all encountered WordPress errors that need to be fixed.) Plus, WordPress is always in need of everyday users to notify them of any bugs they may run across during testing. If you are interested in becoming a beta tester for WordPress, check out their help wanted page to see current needs.
Are you a beta tester? If so, let us know the things you typically test for in the comments below.