Author: Tom (Page 320 of 427)

Why Themes Are Presentation, Plugins Are Applications

July 23, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

I recently had a conversation with someone about why I tend to favor working on WordPress plugins over working with themes, and the short answer is that I enjoy working more on application-type functionality rather than working on a design layer, and, as such, I believe plugins are applications for WordPress.

I’ve talked a little bit about this in previous articles:

In short, I tend to strictly view themes as the presentation of data whereas I see plugins as something that should transcend themes and offer functionality to WordPress regardless of what the current blog looks like. This isn’t a revolutionary Idea. Most experienced WordPress developers and designers feel this way, but I figured I’d offer my two cents on the subject.

In a way, plugins are like apps for WordPress.

The Signal and Noise of Developer Maturity

July 22, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

I think that for many developers, it’s all too common for them to have heard or even to have said something along the lines: “That’s nice, but I could build that, too” or perhaps go even further and then say “that’s nice, but I could build it better.”

In fact, years ago, the classical example of this was:

I could’ve written Twitter in a weekend.

Surely some of you guys remember that.

Anyway, there’s another thing that’s interesting in the development community and that’s that we’re all taking advantage of the work of others who have come before us.

To use a cliche, we’re standing on the shoulders of giants.

And what I’m getting at has nothing to do with whether or not you could’ve written Twitter in a weekend, but that there are certain signals of developer maturity, and one of the first is recognizing that regardless of whether or not you know when to write it from the ground up, and when you know when to use the work of others.

Improve Your WordPress Development Skills – An Online Class

July 19, 2013 / Tom

Comments are closed on this post as I'm specifically looking for responses via email.

A couple of weeks ago, I teased Pressware to share the direction that I’m refocusing my efforts on WordPress-related projects.

One of the things that I’m hoping to begin doing more of – aside from building products for others – is to offer code reviews, consulting, and things like that.

For those of you who have read this blog for sometime, you know that one of the things that I enjoy the most about blogging, WordPress, and development is being able to help others (and be helped by others).

So, to that end, I’m currently looking to gauge interest in hosting an online class specifically for beginner WordPress developers who are looking to improve their WordPress development skills, but have no direction or strategy for where to start.

Backing Up WordPress To Dropbox

July 19, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

There are a lot of services out there that provide stellar experiences as it relates to backing up your WordPress installation, but one plugin I’ve always been fond of is WordPress To Dropbox.

In short, the plugin is a free plugin with a couple of premium upsells one of which I have found to be completely worth the purchase.

Additionally, this is one way that you can keep costs low for backing up your site if you aren’t able to pay for some of the premium services or if you’re already paying a pretty penny for Dropbox.

My Time On Week In WordPress

July 18, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

For those of you who know Matt Medeiros, you know that he’s the guy behind The Matt Report (which I was on a couple of of months ago) and also the guy behind a new show: This Week in WordPress.

Each Friday, he and a couple of guys in the WordPress community get together for a Google Hangout and talk all things WordPress – some news related, some design related, some development related, but ideally something for everyone who’s interested in WordPress.

This Friday, I’ve been invited to be a part of the show and I’m really looking forward to it.