Coding WordPress With Android

We’ve already seen that it’s possible to do WordPress coding on the iPad, but what about coding with Android? This article will go over the development of WordPress via a tablet running Google’s Android OS.

Choices, Choices, Choices

The beauty of Google’s Android OS is that it can be used as an operating system on several different makes and models of tablet. However, this can also make it difficult to pinpoint which Android tablet offers the best experience. The diversity among manufacturers allows for several different combinations of hardware to be used for each device, and in the tablet arena, when it comes to Android, you definitely get what you pay for.

Any recommendation as to which Android tablet works best for coding could definitely be debated, so to be generic, we’ll talk about WordPress coding on the Android OS in “general” – however I will admit that my lower grade Vizio Tablet running Android can hold it’s own when it comes to coding on the fly.

Starting From Scratch

Generally speaking, you can do everything from a tablet (within reason of course). What you might consider doing first would be to setup your essentials, i.e domain and server. Once setup, there’s quite a large buffet of apps you might consider using.

Adobe Proto

Adobe Proto is a wireframe and prototyping app. Those who might be skeptical about paying for this app should know that it’s worth every penny if you don’t feel like using a good old fashioned pen and paper. You can use this app to quickly put together a wireframe layout using either a preset grid or a custom grid to reference as you’re building your website.

Check out Adobe Proto

ConnectBot for Installing WordPress via SSH

ConnectBot is a Secure Shell (SSH) client. If you have the ability to create a database on your server via phpMyAdmin you should be able to setup a database for WordPress via this app, however if you cannot – you will need to set it up on your hosting server prior to installing the WordPress directory. If you need help setting things up with SSH, check out this tut on installing WordPress via the shell over SSH.

Check out ConnectBot

AndFTP for File Upload/Check Out

Once you’ve got WordPress set up and installed, it’s important to be able to edit your files. AndFTP allows you to check out your files from your server and bring them down to your Android device to edit in a code editor. Once you’ve made your changes you can also use AndFTP to upload them to your server. It’s a fairly lightweight app that packs a lot of features, one in particular worth mentioning is its ability to manage more than one FTP configuration.

Check out AndFTP

Code Editors

There are plenty of code editors available on the Google Play market, however finding one that meets all your needs may take some time and testing.

DroidEdit

DroidEdit is a very simple source code editor. For anyone looking to have something on their device to just edit code on the fly, this would be a great solution. You can easily consider it a glorified notepad for an android device. It has several features you would come to expect from any NotePad++ type editor, such as syntax highlighting for several languages, undo/redo, keyboard shortcuts, and search & replace to name a few.

Check out DroidEdit

WebMaster’s HTML Editor

WebMaster is a very feature rich code editor with JS, HTML, PHP, and CSS syntax highlighting and code completion. It has a built in undo/redo feature which is handy when working via a smaller device as well as built-in preview. Cosmetic perks of this app include a very attractive landscape view and the ability to choose between light and dark color schemes.

Check out WebMaster HTML Editor

Android Web Editor Lite/Pro

Android Web Editor is a very robust code editor. It contains all the features a developer might need on the go. This app rolls file creation, editing, and FTP access all into one. The actual editor window itself is presented nicely with line numbering, syntax highlighting, and the usual features you might expect from a code editor on your Mac or PC. One feature that sets this app apart from the other editors is its ability to run code via its own server, which means you can debug your PHP before ever deploying your files live.

Check out Android Web Editor

Conclusion

If screen size isn’t a concern for you, developing on just about anything is possible these days. What applications have you found that make coding WordPress easier?