Category: Web Development

Luke Woodward: Robots Write The Docs

I get to work with some pretty smart and creative people, and Luke is one of them. He’s a Senior Engineering Manager with 10up and of the smartest guys I know.

This is his talk on using automated tools to generate human-readable documentation for WordPress (and non-WP, really) projects.

Contributions to WordPress Core at all-time high

Okay, let’s just get this out in the open: I don’t have any problem working in the background, but sometimes I like seeing my name in the credits.

I love the WordPress community, from blog writer to core developer. And I love giving back to the community: from answering questions at the OKC WordPress Users Group monthly meetup and in IRC to writing patches for core. I enjoy using WordPress to help folks communicate their message to the world, do business, or just keep family and friends updated on life.

The altruistic part of me loves seeing the fruits of my labor when someone is able to do something amazing with WordPress.

But that self-centered part of me loves seeing props morganestes as a Trac ticket is closed. It is a small reminder that I’m fighting Impostor Syndrome on a daily basis, and I see it as a blow landed against the fake me.

I’m excited about the release of WordPress 3.9 today for lots of reasons, but one that really stood out to me when I read the release blog post was this:

There are 267 contributors with props in this release, a new high.

That’s nearly 100 more than the last release! That’s 266 people around the world that I’ve been able to collaborate on a huge project that changes lives daily. That’s pretty cool in my book.

I’m excited to be a part of the Core Contributors group, and hope to continue the into 4.0 and beyond.

Even if it is to feel the slight rush of seeing my name in Trac. 🙂

WordPress is Community

I just attended my 13th WordPress Users Group Meetup, my tenth (out of 11) in the past year. Tonight when I looked around the room, I saw another example of what I’ve come to believe about WordPress:

it’s not the software, it’s the people

Tonight’s meeting was a perfect cross-section of WordPress users. Here’s a sampling of the folks who came:

  • a woman who has never used WordPress and wasn’t even sure what it was
  • a Web developer who uses a variety of frameworks (including WP) depending on the job
  • the guy who used to have my job and is now a direct competitor in our niche market
  • an 8th grade English teacher who builds WordPress-based sites for ministries in her “spare” time (because teachers have so much “spare” time, right?)
  • an Automattic employee who works with the WordPress mobile apps (which I’m writing this on, by the way)
  • an attorney who doesn’t even use WordPress but wanted to check it out

What I didn’t see was just as important: no one-upsmanship, no disparagement, no “devs vs. designers” throwdown (although that one may be fun). It’s just a handful of folks who want to get together to share some pastries and knowledge.

Our little group is a reminder for me that while the scrumtrulescent, splendiferous software that makes up WordPress is built on open source code, it’s the openness of our community and the dedication of local volunteers that keeps it running.

And I’m happy to be a part of it.

Posted from WordPress for Android