60+ Interview Questions and Answers for WordPress Developer

Before hiring a WordPress developer, you should have these top WordPress Questions in your mind so that you get the desired candidate for your company.

The one who gives proper and accurate answers to these questions is the one perfect for your organization. Having deep knowledge about these WordPress Questions and Answers is somewhat makes you expert in WordPress.

Interview Questions and Answers for WordPress Developer

Q1. What do you think WordPress is?

It is an open source content management system designed for everyone, emphasizing, friendliness, performance, security, and ease of use. Great software with minimum setup, simple and predictable.

Also, WordPress offers powerful features and functions to design websites for any kind of business growth.

Q2. Is a WordPress website safer to use?

WordPress as an open source of platforms, with lots of security plugins, is safe and still one requires regular updates preventing from hacking and loss of data.

Q3. What are the minimum requirements to run WordPress?

As per WordPress dot org hosting requirements, the following are the minimum requirements:

• PHP 8.2 limited compatibility and greater than PHP 7.4
• MySQL 5.6
• The mod_rewrite Apache module
• HTTPS support

Q4. In which year WordPress was released?
WordPress was released in the year 2003.

Q5. Are there any disadvantages to using a WordPress website?

This is one of the most frequently Asked WordPress SEO Questions and Answers.

You can utilize WordPress CMS for variety of websites for example online shopping websites, or creating member based websites, photograph exhibitions and some other sort of webpage you can consider.

One can make use of WordPress to create a large 100+ pages corporate website or use it to create social networking website or use it for online shopping websites. So as such there aren’t any disadvantages or limitations of using WordPress and it is a well capable CMS to create any kind of website.

Q6. List some features of WordPress.
WordPress controls over 28% of the web and this figure aren’t restricted it rises each day. Everything from basic sites, to web blogs, to complex entryways and venture sites, and even applications, are worked with WordPress.
Here is a portion of the highlights of WordPress.

• It’s Simplicity
• Simpler distributing devices
• Web index Optimized
• Client Management
• Media Management
• Simple Theme System
• Simple Extendability with Plugins
• Simple Installation and Upgrades
• Multilingual Support
• Worked in Comments System
• Custom Content Types
• Supportive

Q7. What is a plugin in WordPress? List plugin that comes with WordPress.
WordPress Plugins are a bit of code that contains at least one capacities written to stretch out and add to the usefulness of a current WordPress site.

WordPress development plugins are the key highlights for developers while building up the WordPress sites, these plugins assume an imperative job in configuration reason, realistic reason, nearly in each angle. WordPress offers free, premium plugins.

The center of WordPress is intended to be lean and lightweight, to augment adaptability and limit code swell. Plugins at that point offer custom capacities and highlights so every client can tailor their site to their particular needs.

The following is the rundown of plugins that accompanies WordPress establishment.

• Akismet
• JetPack
• Yoast SEO
• Social media sharing plugins
• iThemes
• All In One SEO
• Contact form 7
• Posts and Pages
• Sliders and Widgets plugins
• User Registration
• WooCommerce
• W3 Total Cache

Q8. Where is WordPress Content stored?
WordPress contents are stored in the MySQL database on the server.

Q9. what are the differences between posts and pages in WordPress?
Posts and Pages are the content types in WordPress.

Posts are coordinated and recorded in a sequential request with the most recent posts at the best. Posts are meant to be shared and commented on.

Pages are static will be static content, so an about us, contact us page and so forth. They are perpetual and timeless sections.

Q10. When WordPress started it was known for blogging. Do you have to utilize it as a blog?

When WordPress was initially launched by Matt Mullenweg it was an alternative to the Blogger platform. It was used by most for writing blog sites and showcasing their posts.

However, as days evolved so did the CMS and now having a blog is not a compulsory requirement for WordPress. You can utilise its CMS values and make its use to create other kinds of websites that are not necessarily blogging or news websites.

Q11. What are the advantages of using WordPress an SEO point of view?

WordPress utilizes a silos structure and as such has been coded to be an SEO-first CMS. It has plugins for SEO benefits like adding alt tags, meta tags and descriptions as well as schema. Utilizing these SEO plugins one can easily rank their websites in popular search engines like Google and have good SEO for their WordPress-based websites.

Q12. Why does WordPress use MySQL?
Why does WordPress use MySQL? Is the second general WordPress questions and answers asked by interviewer. MySQL is a broadly accessible database server and is amazingly quick. It is an open source, and it is accessible at no expense additionally it is upheld by some minimal effort Linux has so its simple for anybody to have their site.

Q13. Is it possible to rename the WordPress folder?
Indeed, it is conceivable to rename the WordPress folder. On the off chance that WordPress is as of now introduced, you need to sign in to the weblog as the administrator and after that change the settings

WordPress address (URI) :
Blog address( URI) :

In the wake of rolling out the improvements, you can rename the folder or index with the WordPress file in it.

Q14. Can you suggest some of the merits of WordPress?

Here are some of the merits of using WordPress as listed below:

• WordPress offers a famous quick 2 minute installation
• It is regularly updated and major updates happen bi-annual
• It comes loaded with SEO plugins which make it a search engine friendly CMS
• With loads of themes available one can change the design of the website at will
• Flexible
• User-friendly
• Developer-friendly
• It can make use of translation and multilingual plugins to create a multiple language website
• Featured plugins
• Shortcodes and mobile-friendly

Q15. Do you know of any standards which need to be followed for plugin development?
First we need to set up an unique name of the plugin

• Secondly we need to create the plugin folder-path.
• Third we need to create folders and sub-folders within the original one for enclosing other PHP and JS files. Even POT file required for translations and image assets are needed.
• Thereafter create the plugin CSS file and have information about the plugin there
• Thereafter we need to create installation guide and how the plugin will get activated or get deactivated.
• Thereafter instructions on how to remove the plugin from the WordPress including removing files and database details if any created.
• Finally a readme file with all the instructions about the above and any licensing instructions
• The plugin file should enclose any other functions for the proper path of the plugin.

Q16. What are the types of hooks in WordPress and mention their functions?
There are two types of hooks in WordPress

• Action hook
• Filter hook

Hooks allows users to create a WordPress theme or plugin with shortcodes without changing the original file. Action Hook enables you to embed an extra code from an outside asset, while, Filter hook will just enable you to include content or content toward the finish of the post.

Q17. How do you enable debug mode in WP?
You can enable debug mode in WP by editing wp-config.php file and changing WP_DEBUG constant value to true.

Q18. What is the prefix of WordPress tables by default?
wp_ is the prefix for WordPress

Q19. Can you let us know about WordPress database tables and how many of them are there by default?
Here are listed 11-12 WordPress tables that one gets with installation:
1.wp_options
2.wp_users
3.wp_links
4.wp_commentmeta
5. wp_comments
6.wp_term_relationships
7.wp_postmeta
8.wp_posts
9.wp_term_taxonomy
10.wp_usermeta
11.wp_terms
12. wp_usermeta

Q20. As per WordPress codex what is the WordPress query loop?

As per codex.WordPress.org the loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts.

Q21. In case your WordPress website gets hacked can you list some steps you should take?

• First and foremost one should install security plugins in order to scan all the WordPress files. Some of the security plugins are Solid WP Security, WordFence, Sucuri etc.
• Delete all the default WordPress files and again reinstall all the latest WordPress files and folders so as to avoid any malware affected files.
• Check wp-config and htaccess files
• Change the WordPress salts and keys and database prefix
• Change all the passwords and delete all the FTP users and create fresh.
• Change cPanel and hosting passwords and WordPress admin passwords and admin access
• Check themes and plugins and update all of them to the latest version.
• Update WordPress core to the latest version
• Finally check PHP version and make it to the latest version compatible with WordPress CMS.

Q22. As per WordPress codex what are template tags?

As per codex.WordPress.org template tags are used within the blog’s templates to display information dynamically or customize your blog. There are several template tags.

Q23. What is a Child Theme in WordPress?
The Child Theme is an augmentation of the Parent Theme. In the event that you make changes to the parent theme, any update will fix the changes. With a child theme, the customizations are protected on an update.

Q24. What is the essential feature you look for the theme?
Theme choice varies as indicated by the prerequisite, yet a perfect theme would be something that would not limit to utilize the number of pages, plugins or static landing page.

Q25 What are importers in WordPress?
In WordPress, Importers are plugins that give usefulness to import a mass XML document with any number of records. It empowers to import Posts, Page, Custom Posts and Users information in an XML record.

Q26. What do you mean by Custom field in WordPress?
What do you mean by Custom field in WordPress? This is the Advance WordPress Interview Questions and Answers ask. Custom fields are otherwise called post meta. Post meta is a component in WordPress which permits present writers on including extra data at the time composing a post. WordPress stores this data as metadata in key-esteem sets. Clients can later show this metadata by utilizing layout labels in their WordPress themes whenever required.

Q27. How can you disable a comment in WordPress?

• To disable a comment in WordPress,
• Login to your WordPress admin panel
• Go to the settings menu
• Under settings menu click on Discussion
• Uncheck “Allow people to post comments on new articles” checkbox
• Click on save changes button

Q28. How to run a database query on WordPress?
WordPress query function enables you to execute any SQL question on the WordPress database. It is best utilized when there is a requirement for explicit, custom, or generally complex SQL queries. For progressively fundamental questions, for example, choosing data from a table, see the other WordPress database functions such as get_results, get_var, get_row or get_col.
Syntax

 $wpdp->query(‘query'); 

Q29. Which is the considerably best multilingual plugin in WordPress?
WPML is the best multilingual plugin in WordPress.

Q30. Does WordPress use cookies?

Yes, with GDPR and other privacy laws kicking in WordPress has facilitated the use of cookies and acceptance of cookies for verifying users.

Q31. Why is MySQL is used in WordPress?

• The accompanying highlights of MySQL fulfill the utilization of MySQL in WordPress and make it simple for anybody to have their site.
• Availability of database server
• Extremely fast
• Open source
• Free of cost
• Supported by many low-cost Linux hosts.

Q32. You added a plugin but it is not showing its menu in the WordPress dashboard. What will you do?

In case when the site is hosted on WordPres.com and in the free version it doesn’t have plugin options. Or else if you are a user who has access privileges less than that of an administrator, in those cases as well you aren’t able to see the menu created by the plugin.

Q33. You got locked out of your WordPress website and the front end shows a blank screen. What will you do?

When you copy and paste certain codes from other websites along with wrong formatting then in those cases this happens. Using the wrong area to use the code also results in this kind of situation.

Q34. Can you suggest some of the popular contact form plugins in WordPress?

There are many popular plugins that one can make use of for creating contact forms in WordPress. Contact forms are important to gather information from people who might be interested in your service.

Some of the most popular ones right now are WP Forms, Contact form 7 and Ninja Forms. There might be other contact form plugins as well.

Q35. Why do you need to use a static front page in WordPress?
Some users want to have a WordPress installation to become more actionable than a mere blog site. A static front page thus gives their page a similar look to a real website page with better functionalities.

Q36. You have a widget and it does not show up in your page or blog sidebar. What will you do?

If your widget is not showing up in your WordPress CMS page or blog sidebar, here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

Check the Widget Settings:

Go to the WordPress dashboard and navigate to Appearance > Widgets.
Ensure that the widget you’re trying to display is added to the correct sidebar or widget area.

Verify Visibility Conditions:

Some widgets or themes have visibility settings that control where the widget is displayed based on pages, posts, or user roles. Check if there are any such conditions that are preventing the widget from showing up.

Inspect for Conflicts:

Check if there are any plugins or themes that might be conflicting with the widget. You can do this by deactivating other plugins one by one and checking if the widget appears.

Theme Support:

Ensure that your current theme supports the widget area where you are trying to place the widget. Some themes do not support widgets in all areas.

Check for Code Errors:

If the widget involves custom code, review the code for errors. Check the functions.php file if you’ve added code snippets that might affect widgets.

Cache Issues:

Clear your site’s cache from your caching plugin if you have one installed. Also, clear the browser cache.

Console Errors:

Use your browser’s developer tools to check for JavaScript errors in the console that might be affecting the widget’s functionality.

WordPress Version:

Ensure that you are running the latest version of WordPress, as well as the latest versions of your theme and plugins.

Widget Logic:

If you are using a plugin like Widget Logic, check that the logic you’ve entered is correct and does not exclude the widget from displaying on the page you want.

Check for Updates:

Sometimes the issue might be because of an outdated widget that needs an update to be compatible with the latest WordPress version.

Contact Support:

If you have tried all the above and the widget still doesn’t show up, contact the widget’s support or the theme’s support for help.

Debug Mode:

Enable WordPress debug mode by adding define(‘WP_DEBUG’, true); to your wp-config.php file to see if any errors are being outputted that could give you a clue about the issue.

Q37. How is it different from creating a site on wordpress.org from wordpress.com?
It is more or less the same to create a site on wordpress.org and wordpress.com. The only difference lies in using the plugins and the choice of themes that come with various traits.

Q38. Are the deactivated plugins capable of slowing down a WordPress site?
No, the deactivated plugins are not capable of slowing down your WordPress site. The WordPress sites only work with the activated plugins, and it simply does not care about the deactivated plugins or any other matters.

Q39. Is it true that WordPress.com offers more security than WordPress.org?

Yes, it is generally true that WordPress.com offers more security than WordPress.org, and this difference largely stems from the nature of how each platform is structured and managed:

1. Hosting and Maintenance: WordPress.com is a hosted platform, meaning it takes care of all the hosting and maintenance aspects of a website, including security. WordPress.org, on the other hand, is a self-hosted platform where the user is responsible for finding their own hosting and maintaining their site, including managing security.

2. Automatic Updates: WordPress.com automatically updates your site to the latest version of WordPress and applies security patches. In contrast, with WordPress.org, while updates are available, applying them is the user’s responsibility. Failing to update promptly can leave a site vulnerable to known security exploits.

3. Plugin and Theme Restrictions: WordPress.com restricts the use of certain plugins and themes that might pose a security risk. With WordPress.org, users have the freedom to install any plugin or theme, but this also means they must be vigilant about using well-coded and trustworthy options.

4. Security Monitoring and Backup: WordPress.com provides robust security monitoring and regular backups as part of its service. With WordPress.org, users need to set up their own security monitoring and backup systems, or use third-party plugins and services for these tasks.

5. Expert Support: WordPress.com offers expert support which can be crucial in addressing security concerns quickly. WordPress.org relies on community support, and while the community is knowledgeable, response times and expertise can vary.

6. Customization vs. Security: The trade-off is that WordPress.org offers more customization and control, which can be important for more complex websites. However, this also means the responsibility for security is largely on the user, requiring more technical knowledge and vigilance.

It’s important to note that while WordPress.com offers more built-in security features, WordPress.org sites can be made equally secure with proper maintenance, security plugins, and good practices. The choice between the two platforms should consider factors like the level of control and customization needed, as well as the user’s ability to manage the security aspects of their website.

Q40. Do you want to not suggest WordPress always for your users? Can you cite some examples where you would want to do that?

WordPress is a versatile and widely-used content management system (CMS), but there are scenarios where it might not be the best fit for a client’s needs. Here are some situations where you might not recommend WordPress:

1. Highly Customized Enterprise Solutions: For large-scale, enterprise-level websites that require complex, custom-built solutions and integrations, WordPress might not be ideal. While WordPress is customizable, a fully bespoke system or another enterprise-level CMS might be more suited to these specific needs.

2. Advanced E-commerce Requirements: While WordPress, with plugins like WooCommerce, can handle e-commerce, it might not be the best choice for very large-scale or complex e-commerce sites. Platforms specifically designed for e-commerce, like Shopify or Magento, could offer more specialized features and scalability for such projects.

3. Very Basic Websites: If a client only needs a very basic, static website with a few pages and no need for the CMS functionality, simpler solutions like static site generators or even hand-coded HTML/CSS might be more efficient and less resource-intensive.

4. High-Performance, Resource-Intensive Applications: For websites that require extremely high performance and handle massive amounts of traffic or data processing (like large-scale web applications), a more robust framework or a different platform might be necessary.

5. Specific Technology Requirements: If a project requires a specific technology stack (like MEAN or MERN stack) for integration with other systems or to meet certain technical requirements, WordPress, which is PHP-based, might not be suitable.

6. Limited Budget for Ongoing Maintenance: WordPress requires regular updates and maintenance for themes, plugins, and core software to ensure security and functionality. Clients unwilling or unable to invest in this ongoing maintenance might need a simpler, more hands-off solution.

7. Preference for a Different User Experience: Some clients might prefer the user experience or specific features of another CMS or might be accustomed to a different platform. In such cases, it’s better to go with what the client is comfortable with.

8. Highly Customized Backend Requirements: If a project requires a highly customized backend or unique database interactions that go beyond the standard WordPress capabilities, a different framework or platform might be more appropriate.

9. Compliance and Security Requirements: In cases where there are stringent security and compliance requirements, such as for government websites or financial institutions, a more secure and controlled environment than what WordPress typically offers might be necessary.

It’s important to assess the client’s specific needs, technical capabilities, and the nature of the project before deciding whether WordPress is the best choice. While it’s a powerful and flexible CMS, it’s not always the one-size-fits-all solution.

Q41. Can you create a static website using WordPress?

Yes, you can create a static website using WordPress, a platform primarily known for dynamic content. By utilizing ‘Pages’ instead of ‘Posts’, you can develop a website with fixed content that rarely changes. WordPress offers a range of themes, some specifically designed for static websites, allowing for a clean, unchanging layout. You can organize these pages into a simple navigation structure, avoiding features typical of dynamic sites like comment sections or post feeds. Although WordPress is a dynamic CMS at its core, its flexibility and ease of use make it a practical choice for building and maintaining static websites as well.

Q42. Which one is considered as the better CMS than WordPress?
Undoubtedly, WordPress tops the list when it comes to the ease of use and popularity of a convenient CMS.

However, also, there are other CMS like Shopify, Squarespace and Wix, which are considered as one of better CMS for creating a site. Drupal CMS is also there and is known for providing the utmost security features.

Q43. How do you update your content on WordPress?

It depends on how the site is built but by using posts, post types, widgets as well as pages one can update the content on the website.

Sometimes the content also appears from plugin panels as well as theme customizers and you should check for them and can update the content from there as well.

Q44. Custom post type or custom database tables, which one is best to use for your plugin development?
If someone is coding as a core developer then custom database tables make more sense because one can make use of the coding in the theme functions and can call those database fields and create their unique functionality.

However, if someone needs only a specific thing like testimonials or services section then it doesn’t make sense to go for such coding when a post type can easily solve your purpose in this case.

Q45. Is there a way of writing WordPress series or series of posts?

The answer to this one of the very common WordPress Questions and Answers is yes, there are ways to organize a series of plugins.

If you want to write a series of posts in WordPress, you need to use the organizing of the plugin series.

Q46. Does WordPress come with a hosting feature compatible with Amazon web services like EC2, EBS, RDS, etc.?
Yes, you can easily host your WordPress site using the Amazon web services such as EC2, RDS, EBS, etc.

Q47. Why should one not modify any of the WordPress file present inside wp-admin and wp-includes means core?

One should not opt for hacking the WordPress core file whatever you are doing on it; you need to rework it. Thus, it is better not to hack the WordPress core file.

Q48. What are the meat tags on WordPress?
Meta tags are referred to as the keywords and the descriptions that come with the option to display the information about the page or the website.

Q49. Explain the components that become visible on the home screen of WordPress.
Have a look at the answer to one of the most important WordPress Questions and Answers:

• Dashboard menu:The dashboard menu component on the home screen comes with the menu navigation option for the posts, pages, media library, and comments from the left corner of the screen.
• Welcome:The Welcome component from the home page allows you to customize the WordPress theme with a click on the customize your site button. There is also a center column that offers useful links for page creation, web page front end viewing, blog posts creating, etc. Also, the last column comes with the links to the widgets, menus, comment settings, etc.
• Screen options:The screen option on the homepage comes with the various displays of the different widgets, which you can show or hide on the screens. It also includes the checkboxes with show/ hide on different screen options. At this same time, it allows you to customize the various sections on the admin screen area.
• Quick draft:The quick draft comes with the mini post editor for writing, saving, and publishing the post from the admin dashboard. This also contains the title and draft with some notes regarding the draft and save it as a draft.
• Activity:The activity on the home screen allows the latest comments, published recent posts. It also comes with the reply, deletes, edit, approves, or disapprove option for the comments. You can, at the same time, move the comments to spam.
• WordPress News:The WordPress news displayed on the home screen comes with the latest news related to the latest updates for software updates on WordPress.
• At a glance:This component on the home screen comes with the display of the overview of the posts, numbers, pages, and comments on the blog area.

Q50. Can you access the SEO of a WordPress site to make it show on Google’s first page?
WordPress comes with in-built SEO search engine advantages. You can easily have the additional plugin for WordPress to help it along with the SEO rank to come on the first page of a search engine like Google.

Q51. Where does the difference lie between character 23 and x23?
The 23 refers to the octal 23, whereas the x23 refers to the hex 23.

Q52. In WordPress, objects are passed by value or by reference?
All the objects are passed by value on WordPress.

Q53. Explain the pages in WordPress.
This is one of the most important WordPress Questions and Answers. The pages on WordPress should not be confused with the posts.

The pages are static on the site and do not opt for changes quite often. You can also add various pages that include the details or information about the user and the site.

Q54. Explain the posts in WordPress:
The posts on WordPress comes with the blog writing and posting option on your site. The posts on your site are listed as the reverse in chronological order on the front-page area of your blog.

Q55. How can you edit a comment on WordPress?
To edit a WordPress comment, you need to use the dashboard of your WordPress site. From the panel, the area goes to the Comments option. From there, you can select edit to edit a comment to add it on your WordPress site.

Q56. What is the moderate comment in WordPress?
Moderate comments refer to the comments by the visitors on a post that you haven’t yet published directly unless the admin is providing it.

It is named moderation. In case you want to change the comment moderation set, go for the select Setting option in the dashboard area. Now you need to check the option for “Comment must be manually approved.”

Q57. How can you allow only the registered users in the comments on WordPress?
Here is the answer to one of the most popular WordPress Questions and Answers. To allow the registered users only, you need to go for checking the ” Users must be registered and logged in to comment” option from the Discussions area under the Settings option.

Q58. How do you install WordPress to your system using the basic steps?
Well, the following are the fundamental steps to install WordPress to your system:

• Start with downloading and unzip the latest WordPress version from the official website.
• Now you need to create a database for WordPress on your system.
• Find and rename the wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.php. Then you need to add the database information.
• After that upload, the WordPress files to your webserver.
• Now you need to run the URL from the browser.
• Complete with setting the basic information such as title, username, password, and start using the site.

Q59. How many types of user roles are there in WordPress?
There are various types of user roles and user types in WordPress. Here is the answer for this one of the very common WordPress Questions and Answers:

• Author role
• Administrator role
• Editor role
• Contributor role
• Subscriber role

Q60. How do you ensure security using your WordPress site?
Ensuring the security on your WordPress site is of most importance due to the protection of data. Here are the various ways that you can apply to ensure security:

• Opt for using a Unique username and a password
• You can consider precautions to combat the Brute force
• Consider keeping the plugins, keeping and version along with the themes regularly updated
• Use protection from viruses and malware
• You can use a WordPress security plugin

Q61. How can you add a Custom dynamic sidebar to your WordPress?
How can you add a Custom dynamic sidecar is one of the most important WordPress Questions and Answers. The side bar area in your WordPress refers to the place where you can use your widgets along with the theme.

Also, the area is termed as the Widgetized area. The sidebar can be created using the register_sidebar function along with one argument of the parameters that comes with the option for setting the widget area.

You can wrap the $args array and register_sidebar() with separate functions named as ‘widgets_init’hooks. You can use the register_sidebar () method to add the sidebar on WordPress. Here are the syntax codes:

$args = array(
   'name' => __('Sidebar name', 'theme_text_domain’),
   'id' => 'unique-sidebar-id',
   'description' => '',
   'class' => '', 'before_widget' => '<li id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s">',
   'after_widget' => '</li>',
   'before_title' => '<h2 class="widgettitle">',
   'after_title' => '</h2>'
);

Wrap-up!
These 60+ WordPress Questions and Answers will help you to get brief details about WordPress and helps you to prepare for a good WordPress developer. This blog helps you with the best questions and answers asked by the interviewer while interviewing.