Techniques to Follow on Theme Development Mode

Underscore is the best place to start for a Starter Theme.  It’s decorated as perfect for starting a suitable ThemeForest marketplace oriented theme. The theme is a combination of the right amount of lean, well-commented, modern, HTML5 templates.

TABLE PREFIX

Installing WordPress I used to change the default database Table Prefix from “wp_” to something like “wp_xamp1e_”.  It’s a good practice for security reason and useful to handle multisite!

Cache Busting

Browser caching is a big problem when we are changing theme code repeatedly and reloading the browser to see the changes. But, sometimes browser cache codes or website styles and we thought our updated code is not working. The browser cache is effective when the website is LIVE  but not good when it’s on the development process. So, Cache busting is the real genius for not catching any code or style as it reloads the website on the real-time module.  Google to learn more.
Put the below code in functions.php :

// http://localhost/ieatwp/ = website url on developmet mode
if ( site_url() == "http://localhost/ieatwp/" ) {
    define( "VERSION", time() );
} else {  
    // for live server
    define( "VERSION", wp_get_theme()->get( "Version" ) );  // Theme style.css Version is calling here
}

// Now use the VERSION like below on CSS & JS enqueue
function ieatwp_assets() {
    wp_enqueue_style( "ieatwp", get_stylesheet_uri(), null, VERSION );// ieatwp = Theme text domain
    wp_enqueue_script( "ieatwp-main", get_theme_file_uri( "/assets/js/main.js" ), array(
        "jquery"), VERSION, true );
}
add_action( "wp_enqueue_scripts", "alpha_assets" );

useful PLUGINS

Below plugins are very useful in theme development time

• Developer
  This plugin will help you optimize your development environment by making sure that you have all the essential tools and plugins installed.
• Debug Bar
  Adds a debug menu to the admin bar that shows query, cache, and other helpful debugging information. A must for developers!
• Debug Bar Actions and Filters Addon
  This plugin adds two more tabs in the Debug Bar to display hooks(Actions and Filters) attached to the current request. Actions tab displays the actions hooked to the current request. Filters tab displays the filter tags along with the functions attached to it with respective priority.
• User Switching
  This plugin allows you to quickly swap between user accounts in WordPress at the click of a button. You’ll be instantly logged out and logged in as your desired user.
• Query Monitor
  Query Monitor is the developer tools panel for WordPress. It includes some advanced features such as Ajax and REST API debugging, and the ability to narrow down its output by plugin or theme.
• Monster Widget
  The Monster widget consolidates all 13 core widgets into a single widget enabling theme developers to create multiple instances with ease.
• Show Current Template
  A WordPress plugin which shows the current template file name, the current theme name and included template files’ name in the toolbar.
• Regenerate Thumbnails
  Regenerate Thumbnails allows you to regenerate all thumbnail sizes for one or more images that have been uploaded to your Media Library.
• Envato Theme Check
  It is an easy way to test your theme and make sure it’s up-to-date with the latest Envato review standards. With it, you can run all the same automated testing tools on your theme that Envato Reviewers use for WordPress theme submissions.
• Post Meta Inspector
  A quick and easy way to see post meta associated with any given post. When activated, this plugin prints your post meta keys and values inside of a post meta box.
• Meta Inspector
  This Meta Inspector plugin is a more elaborate version of the Post Meta Inspector. In addition to post meta, it also displays term and user metadata. Lastly, you can easily update any meta value simply by clicking the meta field and editing inline. Meta will be saved when focus on the meta value changes.
• Log Deprecated Notices
  This plugin logs the usage of deprecated files, functions, and function arguments. It identifies where the deprecated functionality is being used and offers the alternative if available.
• Simply Show IDs
  Simply shows the ID of Posts, Pages, Media, Links, Categories, Tags and Users in the admin tables for easy access. Very lightweight.
• RTL Tester
  This plugin adds a button to the admin bar that allow admins to switch the text direction of the site. It can be used to test WordPress themes and plugins with Right To Left (RTL) text direction.
• Theme Test Drive
  Theme Test Drive WordPress plugin allows you to safely test drive any theme on your blog as administrator, while visitors still use the default one.
• Post Duplicator
  This plugin was created to make an exact duplicate of a selected post. Custom post types are supported, along with custom taxonomies and custom fields.
• WordPress Reset
  Resets the WordPress database back to it’s defaults. Deletes all customizations and content. Does not modify files only resets the database.

Above plugin description is collected from each plugin description in WordPress plugin repository page. I will try to add more techniques that can be taken on Theme Development Mode in the future.

Thanks for reading!