Tom McFarlin

Software Engineering in WordPress, PHP, and Backend Development

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Using WordPress Simple Settings For The Settings API

Though I still this project may be useful for some, I've updated my personal opinions on this.

When it comes to working with WordPress, it’s no secret that I’m a fan of using the WordPress APIs as much as possible, and not circumventing the built-in functionality with vanilla PHP.

Arguably, one of the most complicated APIs to work with is the WordPress Settings API. It’s unintuitive, requires some small details to manage, and also requires a bit of repetitive code.

For many developers, the unintuitive nature and the way in which sections, settings, and options are built begs for a cleaner interface. And if you’re one of those developers, then you should check out Clif Griffin’s WordPress Simple Settings project.

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Why I Prefer To Use Hungarian Notation

When it coms to dynamic programming languages such as PHP and JavaScript, one of the things that people often debate is the use of hungarian notation.

Like most things with programmers, the debate can easily become something that resembles a religious argument. The debate normally hits on the following two points:

  1. You shouldn’t have to use Hungarian Notation – the context of your code should provide enough information.
  2. You should use Hungarian Notation – it helps with readability of the code.

For whatever it’s worth, I prefer to use Hungarian Notation. And though I’m not exactly one who elevates things to a heated debate, I’ve found as much as I’d like context to provide me with enough information, I don’t always see this as being the case in projects.

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Run a Viable Business Book Launch

A couple of weeks ago, I shared that I was recently interviewed by Curtis McHale’s latest eBook Don’t Be An idiot: Learn To Run a Viable Business.

Last week, the book officially launched so it, along with the videos from those who participated, are all available for purchase. Here’s the run down (and a coupon code) for those of you who are interested in the book.

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My Day-To-Day: Using Reminders To Get Things Done

Earlier this year, I talked about how I use Things to help get things done. Since that post, a few things have changed.

As I alluded to last week, I’ve been purging a lot of stuff in my online life in an attempt to greatly increase the signal to noise ratio such that I’ve really only got the things I need to get done (or things that I enjoy doing) in order to make sure that I am as focused as can be with as few distractions as possible.

One of the transitions that I’ve been working on in the last few months is migrating my “Getting Things Done” model from Things to Apple’s Reminders application.

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