Leon is available for hire
Hire LeonLeon Chevalier
Verified Expert in Engineering
WordPress Developer
Location
Barcelona, Spain
Toptal Member Since
February 25, 2020
Leon is a talented full-stack WordPress, PHP, and JavaScript developer with expertise in site speed optimization. He's experienced in leading tech teams and completing software development projects on time and within budget. Fluent in four languages, he's a developer who's as happy talking strategy with the board as he is debating standards with coders.
Portfolio
Discover Healing
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon CloudFront CDN, WooCommerce, JavaScript, PHP...
The Creation Station
WooCommerce, Stripe, Infusionsoft, Kubernetes, Azure, JavaScript, PHP...
Clear Factor Ltd
Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), WordPress API, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, PHP...
Experience
Availability
Part-time
Preferred Environment
Slack, Microsoft Project, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Windows
The most amazing...
...thing I've developed is a turn-key WordPress content generation solution that combined logic-based AI with human microworkers.
Work Experience
WordPress Developer
2020 - PRESENT
Discover Healing
- Conducted an extensive initial audit of site issues, including optimization and security.
- Optimized the WordPress installation to diagnose and fixed many performance issues.
- Achieved an average Core Web Vitals score of 96/100 sitewide.
- Performed complete plugin performance review and reduced the number of used plugins by 20%.
- Coded extensive custom changes to the "My Account" area of WooCommerce, including easy user avatars.
- Coded a customized advanced permissions system to extend WordPress's roles and capabilities system.
- Installed security plugins, instigated security procedures, and documented security practices.
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon CloudFront CDN, WooCommerce, JavaScript, PHP, WordPress, Site Speed Optimization, Core Web Vitals, WordPress eCommerce, WordPress Design, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, DevOps, Avada, CSV File Processing, Payment APIs, Google Optimize, User Management, MySQL, Auditing, Web Security, Infrastructure, Security
Freelance Full-stack Developer
2019 - 2020
The Creation Station
- Developed enterprise level franchise management software along with a beautiful customer-facing front-end. All powered by WordPress.
- Designed the software architecture and framework (Azure, Kubernetes).
- Developed the back end (WordPress with custom plugins).
- Designed the front end (custom WordPress template with Bulma CSS).
- Integrated the system with various third-party providers (InfusionSoft, Stripe, WooBox).
- Streamlined aspects of their current email marketing automation.
- Trained their staff and created comprehensive documentation.
- Performed extensive customization of WooCommerce, including a recurring payments module.
Technologies: WooCommerce, Stripe, Infusionsoft, Kubernetes, Azure, JavaScript, PHP, WordPress, WordPress eCommerce, WordPress Design, WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, Client Portals, User Management, MySQL, Infrastructure
Freelance Web Developer
2019 - 2019
Clear Factor Ltd
- Created a slick, well-targeted brand for the company and established their web presence.
- Ensured the hosting setup was secure and monitored, with a custom-built WordPress to CDN deployment plugin.
- Designed the logo and branding.
- Project-managed the website launch with other developers.
- Designed the documentation (Lightpaper and Whitepaper).
- Set up email marketing (Amazon SES, Email Octopus).
Technologies: Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), WordPress API, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, PHP, WordPress, MySQL
Freelance Full-stack Developer
2019 - 2019
TFC Leisure Ltd
- Designed the Friday Night Fives subsection of the website.
- Set up the WordPress back end with custom post types, fields, and page templates.
- Set up the payment gateway and integrated it with the site.
- Created a super-fast Vue.js front-end to serve fixture results.
- Integrated the site with an aging legacy PHP framework.
- Trained their staff and created system documentation.
- Optimized the SEO of the website and set up analytics reporting.
- Created a new web API using the Laravel PHP framework.
Technologies: Worldpay, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, WordPress, MySQL, Auditing
Technical Co-founder
2018 - 2019
Block Influence Limited
- Co-founded Block Influence and worked as the technical co-founder. I left the company in 2019.
- Designed the logo and created the complete company branding.
- Created and designed the website and set up the WordPress back-end with custom caching and user registration.
- Created a successful off-site SEO campaign with several top-three rankings achieved.
- Used the Twitter API to create a database of influencers in the sphere and ran a custom algorithm to rank them in order of influence.
Technologies: Twitter API, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, WordPress, Elementor, MySQL
Technical Co-Founder
2017 - 2018
MatchedBetting.com
- I co-founded Matched Betting and worked as the technical co-founder.
- I did all design and development.
- I setup an extensive WordPress backend with many custom features.
- I setup and configured the membership system with different levels.
- I setup and ran the email marketing system.
- I build the community forum and ran it successfully (1000+ members).
- I built custom WordPress plugins.
- I ran successful SEO campaigns to build traffic and community.
Technologies: Linux, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, WordPress, WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, DevOps, MySQL
Freelance Technical Lead
2003 - 2018
Powerleague Group
- Acted as the project manager for the relaunch of Powerleague's website. Worked as a facilitator between the various stakeholders, specifically the design and development agencies and the management team.
- Brought the project in on time and within budget.
- Saw a six-time increase in eCommerce sales and went on to oversee all online demand generation.
- Programmed Playermatch's player-matching system using PHP, CodeIgniter, and jQuery as part of the launch.
- Handled paid traffic using Adwords, Facebook, and email marketing with Dotmailer and Campaign Monitor for the whole group in 2017/2018.
- Provided ongoing technical support and development for the Powerplay brand over many years.
Technologies: jQuery, CodeIgniter, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, DevOps, Google Analytics, CSV File Processing, Payment APIs, Auditing
Experience
Discover Healing
https://discoverhealing.com/Discover Healing needed immediate and urgent performance optimizations to both the back end and front end of their WordPress installation.
The back end would regularly take over 60 seconds for pages to load, making admin a terrible chore. The front end was averaging around 13 seconds for a pageload, despite caching. Previous developers had been unable to resolve the issues.
⇢ I was able to diagnose and fix hard-to-find issues with rogue plugins
⇢ I was able to improve the front-end load time by 60%, despite the requirement to stick with a heavy theme and third party tags
⇢ I wrote custom code to improve their user permissions
⇢ I wrote custom code to streamline the WooCommerce My Account system (including easy custom avatars)
The back end would regularly take over 60 seconds for pages to load, making admin a terrible chore. The front end was averaging around 13 seconds for a pageload, despite caching. Previous developers had been unable to resolve the issues.
⇢ I was able to diagnose and fix hard-to-find issues with rogue plugins
⇢ I was able to improve the front-end load time by 60%, despite the requirement to stick with a heavy theme and third party tags
⇢ I wrote custom code to improve their user permissions
⇢ I wrote custom code to streamline the WooCommerce My Account system (including easy custom avatars)
The Creation Station
https://www.thecreationstation.co.uk/The Creation Station needed mentoring, branding and design, web design, web development, third-party vendor integration, and project management.
I helped them to create a new product to add to their offering, whilst assisting them to streamline their current business.
⇢ I designed the website for the new product offering
⇢ I designed the technical architecture for an enterprise-level franchise management system
⇢ I co-developed the franchise management system
⇢ I integrated the system with various third-party providers
⇢ I streamlined aspects of their current email marketing automation
⇢ I trained their staff and created documentation
I helped them to create a new product to add to their offering, whilst assisting them to streamline their current business.
⇢ I designed the website for the new product offering
⇢ I designed the technical architecture for an enterprise-level franchise management system
⇢ I co-developed the franchise management system
⇢ I integrated the system with various third-party providers
⇢ I streamlined aspects of their current email marketing automation
⇢ I trained their staff and created documentation
Clear Factor
https://clearfactor.io/Clear Factor needed mentoring, branding and design, web design, web development, and security set up and monitoring.
I helped them to create a slick, well-targeted brand for their company and establish their web presence. Security is very important for Clear Factor, and I ensured their hosting setup was secure and monitored with a custom WordPress plugin to deploy website changes to a CDN.
⇢ I designed their logo and branding
⇢ Created a custom WordPress plugin to deploy to secure hosting
⇢ I co-produced and edited their intro video
⇢ I created their pre-launch landing page
⇢ I project managed their launch website with other developers
⇢ I designed their documents (their Lightpaper and Whitepaper)
⇢ I set up their email marketing (Amazon SES, Email Octopus)
I helped them to create a slick, well-targeted brand for their company and establish their web presence. Security is very important for Clear Factor, and I ensured their hosting setup was secure and monitored with a custom WordPress plugin to deploy website changes to a CDN.
⇢ I designed their logo and branding
⇢ Created a custom WordPress plugin to deploy to secure hosting
⇢ I co-produced and edited their intro video
⇢ I created their pre-launch landing page
⇢ I project managed their launch website with other developers
⇢ I designed their documents (their Lightpaper and Whitepaper)
⇢ I set up their email marketing (Amazon SES, Email Octopus)
Powerleague Group
Powerleague needed mentoring, web design, web development, analytics, optimization, and third-party vendor integration.
I helped them over many years as a tech lead, marketer, developer, and designer.
⇢ I was the lead Powerplay developer for many years, handing front-end design and back-end dev using the Code Igniter Framework. This was a very complex system used to power the entire business. I handled the code evolution over many years, including PHP upgrades.
⇢ I project managed the relaunch of the Powerleague website in 2016
⇢ I handled paid traffic (Adwords, Facebook) and email marketing (Dotmailer and Campaign Monitor) for the whole group in 2017/2018
I helped them over many years as a tech lead, marketer, developer, and designer.
⇢ I was the lead Powerplay developer for many years, handing front-end design and back-end dev using the Code Igniter Framework. This was a very complex system used to power the entire business. I handled the code evolution over many years, including PHP upgrades.
⇢ I project managed the relaunch of the Powerleague website in 2016
⇢ I handled paid traffic (Adwords, Facebook) and email marketing (Dotmailer and Campaign Monitor) for the whole group in 2017/2018
Skills
Languages
PHP, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, HTML, Perl, GraphQL
Frameworks
CodeIgniter, Laravel, Bootstrap, Bulma, Unity3D, Corona SDK
Libraries/APIs
jQuery, REST APIs, Vue, Infusionsoft API, Twitter API, WordPress REST API, WordPress API, Stripe
Tools
Adobe Photoshop, Google Optimize, Adobe Illustrator, Git, CasperJS, Google Analytics, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Microsoft Project, Slack, Infusionsoft, Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), Amazon CloudFront CDN
Platforms
WordPress, WooCommerce, Linux, Windows, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Kubernetes, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Docker, Android
Storage
MySQL, SQLite
Other
WordPress Design, WordPress eCommerce, Landing Page Design, Landing Page Optimization, Site Speed Optimization, Core Web Vitals, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, CSV File Processing, Client Portals, User Management, Auditing, Web Security, Infrastructure, Security, WooCommerce Subscriptions 2, Web App Security, Security Analysis, WordPress Multisite, WordPress Multi-user, Avada, Payment APIs, Elementor, Worldpay
Paradigms
DevOps, Jamstack
Education
1997 - 2001
Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Modern European Languages
University of Durham - United Kingdom
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