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Loading WordPress Tries to Download a File

February 23, 2016 / Tom / 0 Comments

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a few clients contact me saying that their website won’t load. Instead, their current installation of WordPress tries to download a file whenever they access their site.

This doesn’t matter if you try to access wp-login.php, /wp-admin, or any of the usual directories. Further, if you look at the permissions on each of the files, everything looks in order.

WordPress File Permission Scheme

On top of that, there are no suspicious (read: malicious) files in place that would be redirecting a user’s request or anything like that.

So what gives?

How to Get Started With WordPress

February 22, 2016 / Tom

For those who have been working with WordPress for some time, it’s easy to forget how to explain to others how to get started with WordPress.

That is, we take for granted what it’s like to set up a web server, database, PHP, install the software, find a theme, and install a few plugins. And I know: None of that has much to do with development, per se, but it can be a gateway drug for many.

I know more than a handful of WordPress developers who got started by just installing the software, writing a few posts, and finding out what it could do.

In an attempt to revisit the basics and help usher in a new class of people who may end up contributing to the community, I’ve written a series of posts geared directly to people like that.

Scaling WordPress (And Doing It Right)

February 19, 2016 / Tom / 0 Comments

Scaling WordPress is a hot topic among developers.

For some, it’s just something you do through a variety of tools and practices that you learn over time. For others who are involved with development in other languages, it’s a fool’s errand.

As far as I’m concerned, WordPress does scale though it takes some strategies to get it to work (such as a proper use of transients, caching, etc.). But there are varying degrees of what it means “to scale,” right?

That is, depending on how many users you have, the type of content you’re serving, the level of demand your site has based on the interaction of the visitors, and some other factors will all contribute to whether or not your site is going to scale.

But if we’re working on a larger project and we know it’s going to need to scale, how do we know we’re doing everything correctly?

Writing Beautiful Code in WordPress

February 18, 2016 / Tom / 0 Comments

Writing beautiful code in WordPress is a topic that any programmer, at some point in his or her career, is going to consider. I say this if for no other reason because it’s something that’s almost a right of passage for any programmer.

When it comes to writing code, there are some who get into it because they have a real love for solving problems using computers. Others get into it for others reasons. Maybe it’s because someone urged them to do so, maybe it’s because technology is going to continue to be ever present in our lives.

If you’re of the former, then I think your appreciation for code isn’t as high as for those who get into it for a different reason. I’m not trying to generalize, but I’m speaking from observation.

So anyway, when it comes to writing beautiful code in WordPress, how do we even go about doing that?

What is a Better Blogging Experience?

February 17, 2016 / Tom / 0 Comments

I first shared that Eric and I are working on a set of plugins that will lead to a better blogging experience, it spawned a handful of questions many of which ended up in my inbox.

On one hand, I love that because it shows there’s interest in what’s happening (and if you want to continue to follow along with what is happening, then don’t forget to sign up for the mailing list), but on the other hand, it also sets an unclear level of expectations.

Pressware Plugins For a Better Blogging Experience

As far as the former is concerned, that’s awesome. But for the latter? I’m no fan of that. Instead, I’d rather set a realistic level of expectations, so those who are interested know what to expect.

Tom McFarlin

Loading WordPress Tries to Download a File

How to Get Started With WordPress

Scaling WordPress (And Doing It Right)

Writing Beautiful Code in WordPress

What is a Better Blogging Experience?