Please share a brief history of your work with WordPress:
After building a few web sites, mostly hand coded in HTML and CSS, I started to realize that I needed to make this process more efficient. I started using WordPress in 2008 after trying out a few other open source CMS’s and haven’t looked back.
What is your favorite plugin? Widget Logic
Tell us about your latest WP project:
I just finished building a web site for some good friends: subieguys.com I’m also working on a WordPress theme that’s tailored for small businesses.
Share one WP tip:
Have some fun and customize individual posts with Noel Jackson’s Art Direction plugin.
What inspires you? Other peoples’ amazing work.
Any tips for people just getting started with Blogging or using WP?
For blogging, set up a local server with MAMP or XAMPP, install WordPress and just start writing something everyday. Start publishing to the web when you are comfortable enough for others to read it. For using WordPress, download some themes and install a few test sites on that local server and just start breaking stuff.
Do you have a WP hero?
There are a quite a few people that we’re all very fortunate to have working on the WordPress core, and the User Interface. WordPress would not be the awesomeness that it is without them. Taking a step back a bit, I’m also thankful for those who got involved in the Web Standards Project about 13 years ago and really fought hard to bring some sanity to how web browsers rendered web pages. Designers and developers would be spending a good amount of time coding workarounds just to make basic web pages look halfway decent if it weren’t for them. Much of the innovation we’re experiencing with the web right now might not have ever happened.
What is your motto? I’m an 80 percenter.
What is the most relevant tweet you have read in the last month?
Sarah Parmenter, @sazzy:
<blockquote>”Speakers” don’t speak for fame, certainly not for fortune – we get up because we enjoy aspects of it, and hope attendees do too.</blockquote>
I can only hope you all keep this in mind while I’m speaking at WordCamp Chicago.
What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you at a conference?
I’m not allowed to mention it here.
Why did you choose your topic for WC Chicago?
I just wanted to share some stuff I’ve learned that I think will be helpful to others. We all have our different ways of learning. This session is for those of us who learn visually, from real life examples, and maybe by breaking a few things, too.
What do you hope the attendees will get out of going to your session?
At the very least: a few tips they can use. I’m really hoping that a few attendees will walk away from this and make some cool things happen.
If you’ve got any questions about Slow Cooked WordPress you can shoot me an email: josh@nxnweb.com
or via twitter where I go by: joshfeck
