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Taylor is a web developer from Michigan, passionate about WordPress, accessibility and performance

Taylor Wilkinson


<p>Being a web developer involves much more than just coding! But there&#8217;s lots of coding too, of course 🙂<br><br>This list is sorta kinda divided into these three categories: Business Tools, Code Tools and WordPress Related Tools</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Gear</h2>



<ul>
<li>Operating system: <span class="answer">mostly MacOS</span></li>



<li>Microphone: <span class="answer">Blue Snowball</span></li>



<li>Webcam: <span class="answer">Logitech 922</span></li>



<li>Monitor: <span class="answer">LG UltraWide 29&#8243;</span></li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">My Favorite Coding Tools</h2>



<ul>
<li>Code Editor: <span class="answer">VS Code</span>
<ul>
<li>Theme: Shades of Purple</li>
</ul>
</li>



<li>Terminal: <span class="answer">iTerm/Windows Powershell</span></li>



<li>Version Control: <span class="answer">BitBucket, GitHub</span></li>



<li>JavaScript Frameworks and Libraries:
<ul>
<li>React</li>



<li>Gatsby</li>



<li>NextJS
<ul>
<li>Faust.js</li>
</ul>
</li>



<li>Vue </li>
</ul>
</li>



<li>Animation libraries
<ul>
<li>GSAP </li>



<li>rellax</li>



<li>anime.js</li>
</ul>
</li>



<li>CSS Frameworks and Libraries (I prefer none):
<ul>
<li>Tailwind</li>



<li>Bootstrap</li>
</ul>
</li>



<li>CMS: <span class="answer">WordPress</span></li>



<li>Favorite WordPress Plugins:
<ul>
<li>Advanced Custom Fields</li>



<li>WPGraphQL</li>



<li>Gatsby WordPress</li>



<li>FacetWP</li>



<li>WordFence</li>



<li>Yoast</li>



<li>Gravity Forms</li>



<li>Contact Form 7</li>



<li>WooCommerce</li>



<li>MemberPress</li>



<li>CPT UI</li>



<li>Password Protected</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Business Tools</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.loom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Loom</a></h3>



<p>Loom has become one of my go-to communication tools for working with clients and collaborating on teams. Essentially, Loom is a browser extension that allows you to quickly and painlessly create screen recording videos you can easily share with a link. It can also be an amazing sales tool, because Loom allows you to see if the person watched the video and for how long. <br><br><a href="https://www.screencastify.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Screencastify</a> is a good alternative I&#8217;ve also used for years. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.waveapps.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wave</a></h3>



<p>I use Wave for accounting and invoicing. Wave is <em>free</em> and is more than enough for my needs.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://clockify.me/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Clockify</a></h3>



<p>Very simply, Clockify is a free time-tracking tool with a lot of nice features. I like how easy it is to manage time for different projects, get reports and invite clients to projects. Personally, I also like how bare bones their desktop app is.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.openphone.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenPhone</a></h3>



<p>OpenPhone is a VoIP, or virtual phone service, and allows me to keep a US number I can use for business clients. It has a sleek interface, and I love using their web and mobile apps. I had been using a similar service before finding OpenPhone, and I&#8217;m happy to report I don&#8217;t miss calls anymore! OpenPhone also has some nice features like allowing you to set business hours.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.siteground.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SiteGround</a></h3>



<p>There are a lot of subpar hosting services out there that haunt my nightmares. SiteGround is NOT one of them, and I recommend it to anyone who needs reliable WordPress hosting. In my humble opinion, it is the best bang for your buck by far, providing fast hosting, daily backups, great support and all the featured you would want.</p>
