Real challenges in WordPress projects

I spoke at WordCamp Jinja 2026 on Real Challenges in WordPress Projects (and Solutions). After more than 60 WordPress projects, I’ve learned that building a site is about much more than picking a theme, installing plugins and writing code. Some of the biggest challenges come before development even starts.

The questions every project runs into

• How well do we really understand the client’s requirements?
• How do we manage changing expectations and timelines?
• How do we handle a frustrated client?
• How do we choose the right theme or page builder?
• How much design knowledge should a WordPress developer have?
• When should we customise a theme, use a plugin, or build something ourselves?
• How do we avoid cluttered websites?
• How do we plan for SEO, performance, security and maintainability from day one?

Don’t be design-blind

One idea runs through all of it: you don’t have to be a designer, but you shouldn’t be design-blind. A good WordPress developer needs more than technical skills. They need patience, problem-solving, communication, business understanding and design thinking — and the judgement to make the right technical call for each project.

The goal

Learn from real project challenges, so we build better WordPress websites and deliver better projects. I’ll be writing up more of the lessons from the talk here.