Hey there! Obviously, I’m Tom. Over the course of 14+ years, I’ve written extensively on topics around software engineering especially in the context of WordPress, PHP, databases, and other backend technology.
RECENT ARTICLES
- Use WP Bulk Plugin Updater to Automate WordPress Plugin Updates
- Case Study: Building TuneLink.io For Matching Music Across Services (with AI)
- Remove Empty Shortcodes 0.6.0
- Code Standard Selector for Visual Studio Code
- Move Fast but Understand Things
Articles
Since starting this blog, I’ve written over 2,000 articles about software development in PHP, JavaScript, MySQL, WordPress, and related technologies.
The full catalog is available in the archives.
If you’re looking for some valuable content, aren’t sure where to start, but are open to looking at some of the most popularly tagged content, then check out the following series:
Other Published Articles
In early 2012, I wrote about A Process For Professional WordPress Development for Smashing Magazine. This was one of my earliest posts on a major publication. From there, I began to participate more broadly often contributing to Envato.
For years, I produced screencasts and authored tutorials. At this point, many of the screencasts are out of date, but some of the more popular ones are:
I also have an archive of articles running about 17 pages deep regarding how to do things within WordPress. Note that Envato has opted to change of the date of some of these articles to appear more recent than they are (for reasons that I assume are to maintain SEO). But some of the more popular series I published are:
- Object-Oriented Programming in WordPress: A Summary
- Adding Custom Hooks in WordPress
- Creating Custom WordPress Administration Pages
- Internationalizing WordPress Projects
- Using Namespaces and Autoloading in WordPress Plugins
Again, though the context in which some of the ideas are produced or shared may be dated, the principles often transcend the version of WordPress that’s available.
Presentations
I’ve given a number of presentations at conferences and meet ups:
- WordCamp Atlanta 2013
- WordCamp Atlanta 2015
- WordCamp Atlanta 2016
- WordCamp San Diego 2016
- WordCamp Atlanta 2017
- WordCamp Atlanta 2019: Web Apps with WordPress
- Speaking at All Things WordPress North Atlanta
Podcasts
I’ve been a guest on a number of podcasts:
- WP Square One – About Pressware and Me
- Products, Services, Blogging, and WordPress with Matt Medeiros
- Talking WordPress as a Web Application Foundation
- Live in the Feast Podcast, Season 3
- The WordPress Economy, Employment, Strategies, and More with WP-Tonic
- Participating in Voices of the elePHPant
Books
And I’ve had the pleasure of co-authoring or contributing to a number of books on the topic.
- Discover object-oriented programming using WordPress by Carl Alexander
- Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog by Thörd Daniel Hedengren
- Refactoring Tweaks: 7+ Easy Wins to Make Your WordPress Code Better & Increase Your Profits by Tonya Mork
- The Ultimate Guide to the WordPress REST API by Cal Evans
Now, I work as a Senior Software Developer on the Research and Development Team at Awesome Motive where we help small businesses grow and compete with larger organizations. Primarily, my work revolves around building and maintaining software, workflows, and related infrastructure that keep our systems running smoothly.
Though I still enjoy writing, I don’t have the opportunity to do so as much as I once did. Such is life as you get older, build a family, try to more deeply participate in various interests and hobbies, and involve yourself in a number of different activities.
For those who are new, you can see much of my most popular work above. For those who are interested, you can continue to follow my blog.
Support
I’d also like to give a special thanks to Kinsta for hosting this site. If you’re looking for a premium managed host, then I’d highly recommend checking them out.
