15+ Essential WordPress Interview Questions & Answers For 2024

I have prepared a list of 15+ essential WordPress interview questions & answers below so that you can have a smooth interview process. I am here to help you with what WordPress topics to prepare, what plugins to know, what are some best practices & how to answer these questions interviewers tactfully. 

Q1. Do you know how many tables there are in WordPress by default?

There are 12 tables in WordPress by default & everything, like pages, posts, comments & settings, are stored in a database in a well-organized way in default tables. The 12 tables are listed below:

• wp-user meta
• wp_commentmeta
• wp_links
• wp_options
• wp_terms
• wp_posts
• wp_termmeta
• Wp_comments
• wp_postmeta
• Wp_term_taxonomy
• wp_users
• wp_term_relationships

Q2. How do you install WordPress on your system? Mention the steps.

Some basic steps to follow while installing WordPress on your system are;

• Firstly, you start by downloading the latest version of WordPress from the www.wordpress.org
• Create a user & database in MySQL.
• Then, you have to extract the downloaded files to upload them successfully to the web server. 
• In the next step, you must enter the administration details. 
• Then, you must run the WordPress installation script through domain access in a web browser.
• Then, you must follow the on-screen steps to complete the installation process & click on the “Installation WordPress” button.
• In the next step, you can see a screen showing “success” and then set a username & strong password to log in.

Q3. Can you explain the components that are available on WordPress’s Home Screen?

The HomeScreen in WordPress adds components such as;

• WordPress News: This component of WordPress Home showcases the latest news about WordPress software updates.
• Dashboard Menu: This refers to the component that provides navigation menu options for pages, media library, posts & comments on the left sidebar of the screen. 
• Screen Options: 
• Quick Draft: This refers to the component that makes drafts of the new posts, including a mini post editor to save, publish & write.
• Welcome: This refers to the home page component that helps to customize the WordPress theme by clicking on the “customize your site” button. 
• Activity: This home page component helps to display the most recent posts & comments. This also enables you to edit, approve, reply, delete, move to spam & disapprove comments. 
• At a Glance: This page component displays a summary of your blog posts, the number of published pages & posts, along with the most recent comments.

Q4. What are some useful & most exciting features of WordPress?

Some of the most useful & exciting features of WordPress are:

• User-friendly Interface
• Plugins & Plugin directory
• SEO-friendliness
• Daily updates 
• Blogging.
• Mobile responsiveness.
• Scalability.
• Open Source.
• Multilingual Support.
• Built-in SEO tools
• Community support
• Themes
• User management
• Media management
• You can easily add, remove, or edit additional editors to let others on your website for content management. 

Q5. What is a child theme on WordPress?

A child theme in WordPress refers to the theme that copies & overrides the styling, templates & functionality of the parent theme. It helps in customization without hampering the core files of the parent theme due to over-customization. 

If you want to create a child theme in WordPress, all you need to do is create a new folder in the directory “wp-content/themes” and then create a “style.css” file with the needed information & parent theme reference. You can also make a “functional.php” file for additional modifications.

Q6. What do you mean by hooks & explain different types of hooks in WordPress?

Hooks in WordPress refer to the element that enables one piece of code to change some other piece of code at particular points. With the help of hooks, a developer can change the functionality without making any edits to the core WordPress.

There are two types of hooks in WordPress, and they include Action hooks & Filter hooks. Action hooks allow you to start functions at particular points, & Filter hooks are responsible for changing data before they are exposed to view.

Q7. Can you explain the difference between WordPress Pages & WordPress Posts?

WordPress pages are the static element, whereas posts are the dynamic element of WordPress. After adding a post, WordPress posts get updated & the most recent post appears at the top, while the older ones shift to the bottom.

Posts are listed in reverse chronological order on the WordPress site. 

On the other hand, WordPress pages are like content pages or About pages, and they remain at their previous stage or the same stage even after adding various pages to the WordPress site. 

Q8. Why is MySQL used in WordPress? 

The widespread database management system that is used in WordPress is MYSQL. Below are some reasons to use MySQL in WordPress;

• As it offers open source.
• It is a widely available database server.
• It is assisted by low-cost Linus hosting.
• It is a high-speed database. 
• Strong community support.
• Compatibility with PHP encourages seamless integration & higher data management.

Q9. What do you mean by WordPress loop?

WordPress Loop refers to the PHP code that helps to retrieve & display posts on WordPress. A WordPress loop is very significant for the appearance of the content on WordPress sites, whether it is a single page, blog post, or custom post type. 

Loop is an essential component of WordPress, and it contains various template tags for organizing, publishing & publishing post content.

Q10. Can you name some of the best & popular WordPress Plugins?

A Plugin is usually incorporated into the applications to add practical functionality. Hence, the WordPress plugins define features to boost user experience & accessibility. These plugins make the content of your website more SEO friendly & help you secure a higher SEO score on your website. 

Some best & popular WordPress Plugins are:

• Yoast SEO
• Elementor
• Woo-Commerce
• Contact Form 7
• JetPack
• Gravity Forms
• Troublesome
• RankMath
• Schema Pro
• Wordlift
• PushEngage

Q11. What do you mean by custom field WordPress? 

The custom field in WordPress refers to the meta-data that enables you to gather arbitrary data in the WordPress post. With the help of a custom field, you can add additional data to your post. 

These are also known as post meta in WordPress. It would help if you used template tags in WordPress to let this data be displayed. For easy access & display of custom-filed data in your WordPress theme, use commands such as get_post-meta().

Q12. Can you name some popular primary programming languages that have been applied to WordPress?

As a WordPress developer, you should have proficient knowledge of some popular primary programming languages related to WordPress, and those are HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), PH (Hypertext processor), JavaScript & CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). 

While answering this WordPress interview question, you should state the reasons for using these specific programming languages in WordPress. 

Q13. What do you mean by WordPress importer? 

WordPress Importers are those that enable a developer to move data such as categories, blogs & more from one site to another site. You can also migrate various data by just using WordPress Importer. 

Some common examples of WordPress Importers are:

• Tags.
• Custom fields & post-meta
• Categories.
• Pages, posts & other custom post types.
• Authors.
• Comments

Q14. What will you do if your WordPress website is hacked? Mention the steps.

If your WordPress site is hacked, then you should take some basic steps, and they are;

• Recognize the hack by tracking the changes in the database & files.
• Take your website offline by shifting it to maintenance mode & protecting it from any damage.
• Re-install the latest version of WordPress.
• Restore your site using a clean backup.
• Start activating the security plugins to scan malware & remove them immediately.
• Then, update your passwords, such as database and admin & change the user-id for all users.
• Lastly, incorporate different security measures by installing security plugins, theme updation & password changing. 

Q15. How can a user improve WordPress website security?

As WordPress is a safe content management system, it is open to various malicious attracts or XSS, like other CMS. As a user, you can start a range of activities to increase the WordPress website security & these are as follows:

• You must use a secure WordPress hosting service provider.
• You should choose a secure WordPress theme. 
• You can set up a firewall.
• Make sure that the login process is secure.
• You must update the PHP version.
• You must upgrade the WordPress version.
• Install security plugins in WordPress.
• You must enable HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) & SSL (Secure Socket Layer) for your WordPress website. 
• Setting up a firewall.
• You must disable editing files within WordPress’s dashboard.
• You should change the database file prefix.
• Try to create a backup of your WordPress site.
• Handle user permissions on WordPress.

Q16. Explain WordPress Taxonomies.

WordPress taxonomies refer to features that combine or group data or content together in WordPress. Taxonomies help a WordPress developer group or organize posts depending on what things they have in common. Developers can also make custom taxonomies to manage web content effectively, such as blog topics or movie genres. 

Some famous examples of WordPress taxonomies include tags, categories & custom taxonomies.

Q17. What do you mean by Shortcodes in WordPress?

Shortcodes in WordPress refer to small pieces of code that are encoded in brackets, which enable users to incorporate dynamic content such as videos, galleries & forms into WordPress pages & posts without writing any code.

A shortcode is inserted anywhere on the site to offer a specific feature to a post, page, or any other web content. The custom shortcodes enable you to include functionality that would need complex PHP code very quickly.

Q18. What is the difference among WordPress.org & WordPress.com?

WordPress.org offers a product that is installed & downloaded over a web server, allowing users to have full command over a website. WordPress.com refers to a hosted platform that allows users to create websites & blogs without requiring other hosting services. 

Due to the limitations on themes and plugin installation, WordPress.com is more reliable & secure than WordPress.org. 

WordPress.com has limited SEO options, but you can get complete control over the SEO strategies or options with WordPress.org.

Q19. What do you mean by Template tags in WordPress?

Template tags refer to simple PHP functions that are applied to display the data & blog customization. These tags are highly used to develop themes.

Some common template tags in WordPress are:

• get _sidebar()
• get _the_author()
• get _celender()
• get _footer()
• get _header()
• the _permalink()
• post_class()
• wp_nav_menu()
• permalink_anchor()

Q20. How to add a new menu in WordPress?

To add a new menu in WordPress, you have to follow some steps:

• Access the Menu Editor, then go to Appearance> Menu.
• Then Create a New Menu> Assign a name> Click on the “Create Menu”.
• Add Menu items.
• Organize menu items.
• Manage menu locations at “Menu Settings.”
• Save Menu.

Q21. Can you state the major requirements for running WordPress?

The primary requirements to run WordPress are:

• PHP version 7.2 or higher
• MySQL version 5.6 or higher
• MariaDB version 10.3 or higher 
• Disk space minimum 1GB
• SSL certificate
• HTTPS support