WordPress developer in North London: custom features, integrations and fixes

When a website needs more than an off-the-shelf theme, Metropolis Web Design builds it properly: custom features, connections to other systems, and fixes for sites that aren’t working. We’ve built custom content management systems, CRM tools and PHP web applications since 2004. Work is priced after a free review.

Get a quote Call 07946 640 799
Map and directory of practitioners and clinics on the Yes to Life website, built by Metropolis Web Design

Yes to Life · A searchable map and directory of practitioners and clinics.

What can you build?

Far more than brochure websites. Over the past twenty years we’ve built:

  • systems to manage your website’s content and your customers (custom CMS and CRM tools)
  • bespoke online tools and databases (PHP web applications)
  • maps, galleries and other services pulled into your site, such as Google Maps, OpenStreetMap and Flickr (API integrations)
  • pages with simple boxes to fill in, so you can update them without breaking the layout (Advanced Custom Fields)

What have you built for clients?

A few examples of custom development from real projects:

  • Yes to Life: a radio show archive, support groups and mapped directories for the UK’s integrative cancer care charity.
  • Jack Petchey’s Speak Out Challenge: a large set of Flickr galleries pulled in through a custom API tool, linked to YouTube videos and event listings.
  • Biofuels International: magazine websites connected to a custom CRM, serving adverts within their news grids.
  • Hampstead Photographic Society: a system that shows off members’ photographs, choosing images for the page headers at random, plus a private members’ area.

A photography club that runs its own galleries and diary

Hampstead Photographic Society has been running since 1937, and its members’ photographs are the heart of the club. We built its WordPress site around them: members’ galleries, competition galleries and exhibition galleries, with the page headers picked at random from members’ own photographs, so the site looks different every time you visit.

We designed it so the club can keep it up to date without us: adding new galleries and keeping the events diary current. There’s also a private area for members.

When do you need a developer rather than a theme?

Themes and plugins are fine for simple sites. You need a developer when your website has to:

  • keep track of lots of similar things, such as directory entries, listings, events or members
  • connect to other systems, like a CRM, maps, payment providers or a third-party API
  • do something specific to how your business or charity works
  • stay fast and reliable as it grows
  • stop plugins clashing with each other after every update

Can you fix a website someone else built?

Yes. We’ve spent a lot of time helping clients whose websites and web applications weren’t working well, or at all, and getting them back into good shape.

Common problems include plugins that clash after updates, custom code nobody documented, slow pages and features that have quietly stopped working. We’ll look at what’s there, explain it in plain English, and tell you whether fixing or rebuilding makes more sense.

How does a development project work?

Every project starts with a free review, so you know what’s involved before you commit to anything:

  • You tell us what you need the website or system to do.
  • We review it, ask questions and look at anything that already exists.
  • We send you a quote for the work.
  • We build it, test it properly and show you how it works.
  • We stay around afterwards for changes, fixes and new features.

Will I be able to edit a custom-built site?

Advanced Custom Fields lets us give each part of a page clear, simple boxes to fill in, so you can update the words and images without breaking the layout. This website is built that way too.

WordPress development we’ve done

WordPress development: common questions

It depends on the job, so we price it after a free review of what you need.

Yes. We’ve built integrations with tools like Google Maps, OpenStreetMap and Flickr, and connected magazine websites to a custom CRM.

Mostly, yes. We also build custom content management systems, CRM tools and PHP web applications.

Yes. We’ve helped plenty of clients whose sites were built by someone else. We’ll review it first and tell you honestly what we find.

Yes. We’ve built private members’ areas and mapped directories, for example for Hampstead Photographic Society and Yes to Life.

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Tell us about your website

A free, no-obligation chat is the best place to start. Call 07946 640 799 or send us a message.

Get a quote Call 07946 640 799