There are near-infinite resources for learning about WordPress development, from YouTube channels to blogs such as this one. While in-depth articles and courses have plenty of value, following WordPress developers on Twitter can also be surprisingly informative.
In fact, Twitter can be a key way to keep up with WordPress development and the people behind the Content Management System (CMS) itself. In this article, we’ll introduce you to 15 WordPress developers you should be following.
Let’s get to it!
- 1 1. Helen Hou-SandĂ
- 2 2. Sergey Biryukov
- 3 3. Mike Schroder
- 4 4. Lisa Sabin Wilson
- 5 5. Brad Williams
- 6 6. David Bisset
- 7 7. Michelle Schulp
- 8 8. RocĂo Valdivia
- 9 9. John James Jacoby
- 10 10. Pippin Williamson
- 11 11. Matt Cromwell
- 12 12. Devin Walker
- 13 13. Shawn Hesketh
- 14 14. Carl Hancock
- 15 15. Chris Coyier
- 16 Conclusion
1. Helen Hou-SandĂ
Helen Hou-Sandà is a WordPress Lead Developer and Director of Open Source Initiatives for 10up. When she’s not blogging about food, music, and other personal projects, she’s tweeting about WordPress.
2. Sergey Biryukov
Sergey Biryukov is a WordPress core committer sponsored by Yoast. As you might know, most WordPress developers with commit access aren’t employed directly by Auttomatic, which makes the CMS all the more open. Biryukov is also the co-founder of the Russian WP community, and his Twitter feed contains plenty of valuable nuggets about the platform.
3. Mike Schroder
Mike Schroder is a full-time WordPress contributor and lead developer sponsored by GoDaddy (you can find our own GoDaddy Pro review here). Unlike some of our other favorite WordPress developer accounts, Mike also shares a lot of personal views on his feed, which makes for a refreshing change of pace.
4. Lisa Sabin Wilson
Lisa Sabin Wilson spends her time working as COO of a web development agency that focuses on WordPress, called WebDevStudios. She’s also the author of the popular WordPress for Dummies books. Despite their titles, these books happen to be spectacular resources for WordPress newbies and enthusiasts alike.
5. Brad Williams
Brad Williams is part of the WebDevStudios family, alongside Lisa Sabin Wilson. In fact, he’s the CEO and has helped grow the agency into a WordPress powerhouse that’s worked with clients such as Microsoft and Starbucks. When he’s not running the agency, Brad helps co-author the Professional WordPress books, which are an advanced resource for developers.
6. David Bisset
David Bisset is a WordPress Developer with a sizable following, thanks to his extensive work with the CMS and plugins such as BuddyPress. Bisset is also a regular speaker on the WordPress circuit, including at events such as WordCamp and BarCamp.
7. Michelle Schulp
Michelle Schulp is another regular within the WordPress conference circuit, both as a speaker and an attendant. She runs her own web development and design agency. On top of her experience with WordPress, she also happens to have one of the most interesting feeds on this list thanks to her regular commentary and blog posts.
8. RocĂo Valdivia
RocĂo Valdivia is a WordPress wrangler working at Automattic. She also happens to be a huge proponent of open-source software, which makes for a perfect match. Like many other developers on this list, RocĂo regularly speaks at WordPress conferences across the world. Although she does post in English regularly, RocĂo also talks about WordPress in Spanish.
9. John James Jacoby
John James Jacoby is a WordPress veteran with plenty of projects under his belt. He used to be a part of Automattic, and now he’s working on WordPress plugins such as Sugar Calendar and Easy Digital Downloads.
10. Pippin Williamson
Pippin Williamson is an experienced PHP developer, who works alongside John James Jacoby in developing WordPress plugins and tools. He can also lay claim to working on Easy Digital Downloads (a crowd favorite when it comes to selling digital products), Sugar Calendar, AffiliateWP, (a popular affiliate plugin), and many more.
11. Matt Cromwell
Matt Cromwell is part of the team behind the fantastic GiveWP (which works seamlessly with Divi) and WP Business Reviews plugins. On top of his work in the plugin ecosystem, Matt regularly shares his thoughts on what’s going on in the WordPress community. He also moonlights as the administrator for the Advanced WordPress Facebook group, which you should definitely check out if you’re interested in development.
12. Devin Walker
Devin Walker is another of the talented WordPress developers behind the GiveWP plugin. In fact, he’s its creator, so calling himself a WordPress enthusiast possibly falls a little short of the mark. On top of his plugin development work, Devin happens to be a regular WordCamp speaker. It’s also worth noting the GiveWP account is very active on Twitter, which makes it a must-follow if you use the plugin.
13. Shawn Hesketh
Shawn Hesketh has an extensive background in graphic design, web development, print materials, marketing strategies, and much more. He’s also the guy behind WP101, which is probably the most popular set of WordPress video tutorials on the web. If you like to learn using videos and you’re new to WordPress, WP101 is one of the best places to study the ins and outs of the CMS.
14. Carl Hancock
Gravity Forms is one of the most popular WordPress form plugins on the market, which is saying a lot (and it works great with Divi!). Carl Hancock is the CEO and founder of that plugin. As far as his tweets go, Carl likes to talk about tech and WordPress news, and he also shares a lot of his personal views.
15. Chris Coyier
Chris Coyier has more followers than anyone else on this list of developers. That’s because he runs the massively popular CSS-Tricks website, and is the co-founder of CodePen. Although neither of those are WordPress-specific resources, they’re some of the best places to go if you want to learn more about CSS.
Conclusion
One of the best parts of using WordPress is that you become part of a massive worldwide community. There’s no other CMS with such a variety of contributors. If you follow the right people on social media, you can keep your finger on the pulse of the WordPress community.
More importantly, if you’re a WordPress developer or you’re learning the ins and outs of the platform, following these accounts should help you massively. You’ll get insights into what it’s like to run successful plugins, find out what’s going on with the latest WordPress developments, and much more.
Who is your favorite WordPress developer to follow? Tell us about them in the comments section below!
Article thumbnail image by Julia Tim / shutterstock.com
Why has my comment been deleted? I posted a very talented developer, as per your statement above “Who is your favorite WordPress developer to follow? Tell us about them in the comments section below!” but the comment has been removed.
Awesome compilation. I’m happy to see these amazing women make the list. They are inspiration to a lot of young girls.
WordPress powers 40% of all websites worldwide, is supposed to be a worldwide community. Yet this list, and many others exactly like it are US centric, and very white. Believe it or not there’s developers and places besides the US and developers that are Black and Brown. White non-Hispanic people are less than 60% of the US population, And only 30% of the worldwide population! I am a white person and believe these “most popular” lists need to be better curated. We can do better than this. Not a single this WP list out because they’re almost all guilty of it.
No Black women or men? At all?
@iamkarmenk is missing from this list! She’s an amazing Developer and it is a SHAME she didn’t make it.
This list lack diversity and inclusion of black developers who sell us your themes. Reprint this list.
Very disappointed to see that there are no Black or Brown developers on this list… Do we not exist or have we just not come up on your radar yet…? Absolutely nothing against those featured on the list, but moreso the weak journalism and research. No representation from Africa or Asia… but the Divi meetups that happen on these continents are springing up almost monthly and the communities are lush and vibrant.
Hi Christina –
Sorry to have disappointed you, and to have fallen short in terms of diversity and inclusivity in this roundup.
The WordPress community is without a doubt and a far-reaching one, and there are accomplished developers outside of North America and Europe who deserve recognition. I appreciate you taking the time to bring this up in the comments section, and will strive to do better in future posts.
I was just about to respond to mention the same thing. I will be following none of these people as they are always the ones touted and get all the recognition that they already have and need not more.
Great selection Will! Really proud to see the spanish Rocio Valdivia among so many giants! She is an incredible professional and she deserves a lot of success!
Thanks, Ramon!