Web Engineering
Custom-built websites and complex WordPress work — never just a theme with your logo on it. Equally at home extending an existing site as starting fresh.
Web & Software Engineering · Bloemfontein / Remote
Web & software engineering, without the agency bloat.
I design, build and fix websites, online stores and custom software — WordPress, WooCommerce, integrations, APIs and the systems that hold them together. No account managers, no hand-offs. You talk to the person who writes the code.
- Based in
- Bloemfontein, remote-ready
- Comfortable in
- Legacy & existing code
- Approach
- Right tool, not one stack
What I do
Four kinds of problems I solve
Most projects fall into one of these. If yours doesn't, that's fine too — tell me about it.
eCommerce
WooCommerce builds, custom checkout and pricing logic, and payment or shipping integrations that work properly — plus stores that have slowed down or quietly broken.
Custom Software & Integrations
Internal tools, APIs and automation that connect the systems you already use — for when off-the-shelf software almost does the job.
Rescue & Optimisation
Inherited codebases, unexplained bugs, and integrations that quietly stopped working. Diagnosis first, then a fix — not a rebuild for its own sake.
Why Silverback
A small studio, on purpose
Silverback Dev Studios is deliberately small. That's not a limitation I'm working around — it's the whole point.
You work with the developer
No project manager relaying instructions. You work directly with the person writing the code, start to finish.
Engineering-first problem solving
I'd rather understand why something's broken than paper over it — usually a smaller, more durable fix than starting again.
Legacy code doesn't scare me
Plenty of developers only want greenfield work. I spend a lot of my time in code I didn't write, figuring out what it's actually doing.
The right tool for your problem
WordPress suits some jobs. Custom PHP, Angular or Python suit others. You get whichever fits — not whatever I'd prefer to use.
Built to be maintained
Code that another developer — or future me — can open in a year and understand. Clever tricks are for puzzles, not client work.
Websites, stores and software
Most developers pick one lane. Working across all three means the connections between them — payments, stock, CRMs — are rarely a mystery to me.
// Real-world engineering
Selected problems I've solved
[eCommerce · Integration]
Two-way WooCommerce and IQ Retail synchronisation
- Problem
- A newly rebuilt WooCommerce store needed to replace the integration from its previous eCommerce platform and remain synchronised with IQ Retail. Product and stock data had to move in both directions, while orders and customer information also needed to stay aligned.
- Engineering
- Built a custom integration layer between WooCommerce and IQ Retail using REST and XML, with manual and bulk synchronisation, scheduled cron-based updates, individual order and product syncing, connection testing and error handling. The process also exposed catalogue discrepancies left behind by the previous platform and integration.
- Outcome
- Created a complete two-way synchronisation workflow for products, stock availability, orders and customer data, with both on-demand and scheduled operation.
[WordPress · Rescue]
Keeping a custom WordPress site alive through a forced PHP 8 upgrade
- Problem
- A client faced an urgent hosting deadline: their custom WordPress site was not compatible with the PHP 8.x version their provider was about to enforce. Initial testing showed that the existing site would break once the upgrade went live.
- Engineering
- Audited the custom theme and supporting codebase, identified PHP compatibility issues and worked through the affected code until the site could operate correctly under PHP 8.x. The existing WordPress administration functionality and ACF-based content setup had to remain intact throughout the migration.
- Outcome
- Brought the existing site up to PHP 8.x compatibility before the hosting deadline, allowing the client to retain the custom platform instead of facing a broken production site.
[Custom Software · Routing]
ADV routing built around messy real-world map data
- Problem
- Wanted to build a routing application for South African adventure and backroad riding, but OpenStreetMap road-surface data proved too inconsistent for reliable out-of-the-box routing. Individual gravel roads could contain multiple conflicting surface classifications, making conventional surface-based scoring unreliable.
- Engineering
- Built a Python-based routing system around OpenStreetMap data and developed a rule set better suited to South African road conventions — favouring appropriate backroads and recognised road-name patterns, allowing suitable tracks where motor-vehicle access was permitted, avoiding major N and M routes unless overridden, steering away from large city centres, and accounting for gated roads. Added manual drag-and-drop route adjustment and GPX export.
- Outcome
- Produced a working ADV-focused routing application that could generate practical backroad routes despite inconsistent source mapping data, while still giving the rider manual control over the final route.
Client feedback
What it's like to work with Silverback
“Werner delivered an excellent PHP plugin for WordPress/WooCommerce, drawing on extensive experience in the field. His code quality, design, and task planning were excellent, and he communicated regularly, tested his work thoroughly, and backed it with clear documentation. Werner is an asset to any team — highly recommended.”
“Excellent developer of the highest quality! His explanations are very thorough and the work is outstanding. Will definitely hire again.”
“Werner understood the requirements from the outset and translated my vision into an awesome finished product — even filling in the blanks and building processes on his own initiative where needed. He's been just as willing to help with touch-ups and bug fixes since launch. I'd recommend his services to anyone.”
“Werner is what we should all aim to be — a true professional, passionate about his craft. Always available for clarification, communicates clearly and concisely, and consistently under-promises and over-delivers. We were impressed enough to start another project with him.”
Technology index
// Technical index — tools in regular use
- WordPress
- WooCommerce
- PHP
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- Angular
- Blade
- Sage / Bedrock
- Python
- REST APIs
- Third-party integrations
- Performance optimisation
How it works
Four stages, no surprises
-
01
Understand
A proper conversation about what you're trying to achieve and what's currently in the way — before any talk of a build.
-
02
Plan
A clear scope and approach, in plain language, so you know what's being built and roughly what it'll take.
-
03
Build
Development with regular check-ins — not radio silence until a big reveal at the end.
-
04
Launch & Support
A careful launch, and continued support afterwards. Software needs maintaining — I stick around for that.