WordPress GitHub Workflows: Version Control Best Practices for Development Teams

Customization, robust data management, intricate functionality — these are some of the complexities of modern WordPress projects. This greater complexity often requires wider development team collaboration. Without proper workflows and tools, a project can quickly become tangled and inefficient.

Version control, the ability to track changes as teams collaborate on a project together, provides a way to manage WordPress complexities. GitHub is the leading platform for version control. Developers use Git, a version control system, to collaborate on the WordPress site’s themes, plugins, custom code, and database challenges.

This article will delve into essential WordPress GitHub workflows and best practices designed to streamline WordPress development for teams, ensuring code integrity, efficient collaboration, and fewer headaches.

Why Use GitHub for WordPress Development?

GitHub offers a number of unique benefits for development teams collaborating on WordPress projects.

• Collaboration and Synchronization: Multiple developers can engage in code collaboration without overwriting code. Github also makes it easy to merge code.
• Version History and Rollbacks: Developers can track every change, who made it, and why. GitHub for WordPress also lets you revert to any previous version if issues arise.
• Code Review and Quality Assurance: Developers can easily facilitate pull requests (PRs) for peer review, improving code quality and catching bugs early
• Branching and Feature Development: Teams can work on new features or bug fixes in isolation without affecting the main live site.
• Deployment Automation: Automation can be integrated into the workflow with continuous input/continuous deployment (CI/CD) for WordPress.
• Documentation and Project Management: Developers better manage issues and milestones with project boards for tracking tasks and collaboration discussion.

Key Concepts for WordPress GitHub Workflows

If you are new to GitHub for WordPress, there are several key terms that are unique to development on this platform.

• Repository: The project’s central storage location on GitHub.
• Commit: A snapshot of changes to the code.
• Branch: An independent line of development.
• Merge: Combining changes from one branch into another.
• Pull Request (PR): A proposal to merge changes, allowing for code review before taking the changes live.
• Clone: Copying a remote repository to your local machine.
• Push/Pull: Uploading/downloading changes between local and remote repositories.
• Git Ignore: Files and directories Git should ignore (such as wp-config.php and wp-content/uploads/) to avoid issues related to sensitive information or unnecessary bloating.

Setting Up Your WordPress GitHub Workflow

Getting started using WordPress GitHub workflows is a straightforward process. Here are some best practices to help guide your initial set up with GitHub workflows.

Choose Your Repository Structure

Depending on the complexity of your WordPress site, you may want to do a full WordPress install, which would include the following files: wp-content, wp-admin, and wp-includes. This is a simpler approach that might better suit small teams, but it can present some challenges for core updates.

An alternative is to use GitHub workflows for theme/plugins only. You only use version control for your custom themes and plugins. This is a more common approach for agencies, allowing you to use Bedrock/Composer for core development work.

Once you have this figured out, create a repository on GitHub. Then push your live WordPress site files to the GitHub repository.

Local Development Environment

Once your repository structure is defined, set up your local development environment. WordPress hosting providers, including Pressable, can provide helpful GitHub integration tools. This is crucial for isolated development.

Install Git on your local PC where you’ll be working on your WordPress site. You may find the Gitium plugin helpful for continuous deployment for your WordPress site.

.gitignore Configuration

You will likely want to exclude sensitive data (such as wp-config.php locally), uploads, cache, and unnecessary build files. This is an important part of the workflow process for security and managing your repository size.

Database Management

Your WordPress database should not be a part of your version control in Git. It’s better to use tools like WP Migrate DB Pro or local scripts for syncing between environments.

Initial Commit

You’re ready to get started. Now you can pull your base WordPress installation and custom assets from your GitHub repository to a local folder.

Recommended WordPress GitHub Workflows (Branching Strategy)

Once you have your GitHub repository and local development environment set up, you can begin organizing your GitHub WordPress workflows.

GitFlow or Simplified GitFlow (Most Common)

• main (or master) branch: This represents the live, production-ready code for your site. Only stable, fully tested code should be located here.
• develop branch: This integrates all new features and bug fixes. Consider this your main development branch.
• feature branches: These are created from the develop branch for individual tasks and features. Each developer works on their own feature branch. They merge back into the develop branch via PRs.
• hotfix branches: These are for urgent fixes on the main branch.
• release branches: These are used for preparing new major versions.

Pull Request (PR) Process

Your PR process is used for feature completion. You open a PR from feature to develop. This allows for code review by teammates. Then a PR is used for testing on a staging environment (linked to develop). Finally, use a PR to merge into develop once the feature is approved and tested.

Deployment Flow

A deployment flow moves the code from develop to staging when you are testing new features. It’s also used to move code from main to production for live site deployments after develop is stable and merged into main.

Best Practices for WordPress GitHub Workflows

Despite its simplicity, working in GitHub for WordPress can take some getting used to if you are unfamiliar with development platforms. These best practices will help you more quickly get comfortable with these workflows.

• Commit often and commit small: Make frequent, atomic commits with clear messages.
• Code review everything: This practice is crucial for quality, consistency, and knowledge sharing.
• Use descriptive branch names: Make it clear what each branch is focused on, such as feature/new-contact-form and bugfix/login-error.
• Leverage issues and project boards: Use these tools to track tasks directly in GitHub.
• Automate wherever possible: Start using CI/CD for WordPress testing and deployment.
• Commit to regular syncs: Pull changes from develop frequently to avoid merge conflicts.

Tools and Integrations to Enhance Your Workflow

As you grow more comfortable with WordPress GitHub workflows you can begin working in these helpful tools and integrations.

• GitHub Desktop: This app lets you perform Git commands through a graphic user interface (GUI) rather than a command line interface.
• WP-CLI: This tool allows you to manage your WordPress site functions, including database sync and theme/plugin management, through a command-line interface rather than through a WordPress admin dashboard.
• Composer/Bedrock: Bedrock restructures the WordPress file system to better manage configuration settings for different environments, including development. Composer lets you manage project dependencies in a composer.json file.
• Deployment Tools: Deployer, Capistrano and other managed hosting Git integrations help with simplifying and automating deployment tasks.
• Continuous Integration (CI): Tools such as Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI, and GitHub Actions help automate the building and testing code.

Transforming Your WordPress with GitHub Workflows

Bringing GitHub into your WordPress development process brings all sorts of improvements including greater collaboration and synchronization among developers, access to version history and rollbacks, stronger code review and quality assurance, more efficient feature development, the ability to automate your deployment, and more effective documentation and project management of your site projects.

Adopting robust GitHub workflows is not just about convenience and reducing complexity, but also about professionalizing your WordPress development process, ensuring scalability, and delivering higher-quality projects.

Ready to transform your WordPress projects? Consider implementing these GitHub practices.

Pressable Supports GitHub Integration

Pressable makes it easy to use GitHub with your WordPress site through the GitHub integration tools we offer to customers. In addition, we provide a hosting foundation that delivers unmatched speed, security, and reliability. Your site’s page loads are optimized to deliver an efficient and consistent experience to your visitors. Pressable gives you the technical confidence you need to focus your attention on managing the other parts of your site, including your WordPress GitHub workflows.

Pressable—part of the Automattic family that also includes WordPress.com, WordPress VIP, and WooCommerce—offers experts with the skills and knowledge to effectively manage your WordPress site. If you’re thinking about switching to managed WordPress hosting, schedule a demo to see how Pressable can support your continued optimization and growth.

Obatarhe Otughwor

Obatarhe is a passionate WordPress enthusiast, dedicated community volunteer, and tech advocate with a proven track record of delivering exceptional customer experiences. With a background as a Product Expert at Google, he brings extensive technical expertise across various domains including WordPress support, remote technical assistance, and software development. Known for his empathetic approach and problem-solving mindset, Obatarhe consistently earns 5-star ratings by understanding each customer’s unique needs and providing thoughtful, tailored solutions. In his current role as a Customer Success Engineer, he excels in delivering personalized service that not only resolves issues effectively but also builds lasting customer trust and satisfaction. Beyond customer support, Obatarhe is skilled in Python, JavaScript/Node.js, PHP, Laravel, HTML, CSS, and Git. He has developed and deployed an election campaign tracking API using Node.js, hosted on Heroku and GitHub and also contributing to some WordPress plugin open source projects showcasing his ability to translate ideas into functional solutions. When he's not working, Obatarhe enjoys traveling and capturing breathtaking landscape photography—blending his love for technology and nature into a well-rounded lifestyle.