What kind of developer do I need?

[Stuart_Walker]

I have a WordPress website and a third-party application that has an API.
I want to be able to sell a service, collect (a small amount of) data from the customer, then pass that to the 3rd party through the API.

In an ideal world, I'd be able to take a JSON from the 3rd party and lodge it in a specific client folder for their use but this is a nice to have.

I'm assuming I don't want a simple Wordpress e-commerce developer but what do I need?
Speak to me as though I am a child. Dammit Jim I'm a writer not a developer!

 

[fisicx]

Pretty much any developer will be able to do this for you. Setting up an API usually isn’t complicated but it is time consuming. I average about 7 hours to research, implement, test and deliver and API. Which means this could cost you anywhere from £300 upwards depending on whom you choose to do the work.

If there are extras the cost goes up.

Have you checked the application doesn’t already have a plugin?

 

[Paul Carmen]

Have you got a spec; it's all a bit vague to give much info; e.g. are the customers B2B, B2C etc, what information do you need to collect and how, is that using forms, how do they get to the forms, is it via some form of marketing, or emails, or web pages etc.

You can then map the functionality you need and create some processes to work out costs.

Often the big difference on websites and processes like this is the usability and automation mapping, as if you need something to convert well, as @fisicx says the API isn't that big a piece of work or that important. Building a great data/form/funnel process that then links to or uses an API is often more beneficial.

This is the sort of thing we develop for our customers, mixing usability with data capture and process automation. Feel free to drop me a message if you want to discuss it further without sharing anything sensitive on the forum.

 

[Stuart_Walker]

Pretty much any developer will be able to do this for you. Setting up an API usually isn’t complicated but it is time consuming. I average about 7 hours to research, implement, test and deliver and API. Which means this could cost you anywhere from £300 upwards depending on whom you choose to do the work.

If there are extras the cost goes up.

Have you checked the application doesn’t already have a plugin?

Yes I have already checked. The app is aimed at B2B resellers so they kind of expect users to have in-house resources to implement it and to be frank their documentation is good but aimed at people who are certainly not me!

 

[Stuart_Walker]

Have you got a spec; it's all a bit vague to give much info; e.g. are the customers B2B, B2C etc, what information do you need to collect and how, is that using forms, how do they get to the forms, is it via some form of marketing, or emails, or web pages etc.

You can then map the functionality you need and create some processes to work out costs.

Often the big difference on websites and processes like this is the usability and automation mapping, as if you need something to convert well, as @fisicx says the API isn't that big a piece of work or that important. Building a great data/form/funnel process that then links to or uses an API is often more beneficial.

This is the sort of thing we develop for our customers, mixing usability with data capture and process automation. Feel free to drop me a message if you want to discuss it further without sharing anything sensitive on the forum.

Yes understood and I'm certainly not at the point where I have a spec. I know what I want to do but at the moment it is undocumented.
the key at the moment for me is understanding the skillset I need to be buying. As I said in my original post, your basic WordPress 'developer'* probably won't be able to do this but I am unsure who would and what their competencies would be. Python? C++? (I'm just writing words here)


*I'm thinking here about people who can implement a theme, get plugins to work but can't program anything that isn't a fairly simple app.

 

[Paul Carmen]

The app bit is the spec you need, along with the overall aim and process, as passing data around to the app is the key and could be simple (if it has a WordPress app/plugin it may do the data configuration for you).

If not, a company or individual will need to know how it and the process flow works; e.g. is it webbook or an API, what's the API code (probably JSON), what data source is this connecting the API with on where; e.g. a form system on website etc.

 

[antropy]

I'm assuming I don't want a simple Wordpress e-commerce developer

You probably don't want a "simple" one but a good Wordpress e-commerce developer is indeed what you need.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

As I said in my original post, your basic WordPress 'developer'* probably won't be able to do this…

*I'm thinking here about people who can implement a theme, get plugins to work but can't program anything that isn't a fairly simple app.

Then they aren’t a developer.

If this going to be installed on a Wordpress site all you need is someone experienced at setting up an api. You don’t need to worry about the language.

 

[antropy]

Then they aren’t a developer.

Exactly. A lot of people who "build" websites with WordPress aren't even developers, they can't read or write code, they just install and configure plugins ?‍

But an actual developer would be able to do this.

Paul.