Software Engineering in WordPress, PHP, and Backend Development

Author: Tom (Page 26 of 427)

Fix WordPress, PHP, MariaDB, and Homebrew

TL;DR: If you find yourself setting up a new environment and you run into problems running WordPress, MariaDB, and PHP there are a few things to remember. Here’s what and here’s how to fix it.


I’m working on a longer post about how I set up my latest development environment but, in the mean time, hit a wall when working with the following requirements:

We recommend servers running version 7.4 or greater of PHP and MySQL version 5.7 OR MariaDB version 10.2 or greater.

Note that I use Homebrew to manage all of my packages and use Laravel Valet, WordPress, MariaDB, and PHP along with wp-cli. I’ll more on this in an upcoming post.

I’ve been talking with a few people on Twitter about it and it turned into a fun discussion.

Anyway, if you’ve followed any of this – or even if not and you’re experiencing this – then here’s a resolution for you.

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The Good Old Days of WordPress (Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, Too)

TL;DR: If you’re a drive-by reader coming from Google or another search engine, this probably isn’t the type of post you’re looking for (insert the Obi-Wan meme here). But if you’re someone who’s read this blog for any length of time, then feel free to stick with me for a bit.


I’m writing this post in the Classic Editor and it’s the first post in a very long time that I’ve used said editor.

  • I’m not anti-blocks,
  • I’m not anti-Gutenberg or FSE,
  • This isn’t a post that has an agenda for anything related to anything like that.

Instead, I just felt like using the Classic Editor. It’s comfortable because I’m used to it and it works really well. I also use the Block Editor which is a bit uncomfortable because I’m not as used to it and that doesn’t work as well because it’s still in its infancy [but it’s maturing daily and it’s going through more testing at a faster rate than the Classic Editor likely ever did].

And this is somewhat of a metaphor for what I’m going to talk about in the rest of the post. So if you’re ready for a little bit of a longer article than usual – and one that isn’t as technical – keep reading.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays (From 2021 to 2022)

For those who have read this blog for the last few years, you know:

  • I don’t really do retrospective posts for each year,
  • I take the time off for the rest of the year from blogging.

To own dismay, I haven’t blogged regularly this year (but such is life and unforeseen responsibilities 🙂) but the points still remain true.

So as we collectively get ready to end this year (which some people are referring to as 2020, Part 2 🤷🏻‍♂️), here’s to some time offline.

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Advice From What I Know Now

TL;DR: The rest of this stuff is just a short list of other things I would tell my previous self (or maybe someone else just entering the industry) if I were just getting started.


At the beginning of the month, I started writing a few articles rooted in the idea of if I knew then what I knew now as a software developer working in WordPress. And in the first post, I wrote:

So in the next set of posts, I’m going to talk about a few different things that I’d tell my past-self – or The New Class of WordPress Developers – on what to expect or how to process things when working in this industry.

WordPress Then, WordPress Now

If you’ve not read any of the other posts, you can find them all here:

  1. WordPress Then, WordPress Now
  2. Where to Start With WordPress Development?
  3. You Should Write About Your Work
  4. Play By The Rules and Be Careful What You Write
  5. Know Your Strength, Hire Your Weakness

And this will be the last post I write in this series (and if you’ve been subscribing to the podcast, then it’s going to be the last episode for this ‘season’ of episodes).

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Happy Thanksgiving

Despite the fact that I don’t know how many people read this the day it’s published – or that it matters, really – I’ve almost always shared a note of thanks on Thanksgiving Day on this site for just about as long as I’ve been writing on this blog.

Why would I stop this year?

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