David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com I'm a coder not a fighter Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:55:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Will Code… For A Trip To WordCamp San Francisco http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/04/23/will-code-for-a-trip-to-wordcamp-san-francisco/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/04/23/will-code-for-a-trip-to-wordcamp-san-francisco/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:34:19 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=854 tl;dr summary: Looking for work to fund a first-time trip to #wcsf. Also an indirect way of advertising myself.

Organizing WordCamp Miami has amazing benefits attached to it. But it has downsides. One of those being i had to greatly limit client work for a period of time leading up to the event so I could effectively plan and focus my energies. So although work is ramping back up, my travel budget is pretty much hovering around $0.

I have attended great conferences in the past (like WordCamps in Phoenix and Orlando, Front-End Developers Conference in Tampa, and Pressnomics, etc.) but San Francisco is on my “bucket list”. I have viewed the livestream for the past few years (if you follow me on Twitter, then you’ve seen the tweets come out like a neverending tide) but always wanted to attend in person at least once.

So, here’s the deal:

  • I want to attend WordCamp San Francisco 2013. Never been to that WordCamp or even the city. I want to experience it, meet people i’ve only seen online, etc.
  • I don’t beg or accept “donations” – even if people actually wanted to do that. It’s not a pride thing, but I love to code and i’m not disabled or anything like that.
  • I would like to accept a project or projects that total $2,000 USD – which i feel is a safe amount for travel, hotel, and food. Extra funds will go in me buying beers for worthy WordPress developers (or something like that).
  • I would like to finish the project(s) BEFORE I travel to San Francisco.
  • I don’t wish to share a hotel room to cut costs. I snore like you wouldn’t believe and i’m too self-conscious. I have other reasons.

What type of work will you do?

Pretty much anything in my skill set, but WordPress (especially BuddyPress) work is what i’m after. A small WordPress / BuddyPress project would cover my expenses but i’m also willing to consider billing hourly for small projects or consulting work. Because little things do add up.

How about sponsoring?

I’m not even sure this exists anymore, but since i got asked this question my response is: I would consider it. Just don’t make me walk around naked at the event with a sign around me advertising your services.

So for those who “contribute”, what’s in it for them?

Besides my thanks? I’ll gladly thank them in public of course, maybe to the point of putting up a one-page site. Since i’m being given work and not a donation, the work hopefully will be my way of saying thanks.

How how to we contact you – either to mock you or bring something legit?

The contact form is at the bottom of my homepage or click here.

What happens if you don’t reach your total?

I’m not asking for work to feed my three children – that i have. If i simply can’t go, then i’ll sit home watching it on the livestream for the third year in a row. The world won’t end.

]]> http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/04/23/will-code-for-a-trip-to-wordcamp-san-francisco/feed/ 0 WPwatercooler (April 15, 2013) http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/04/15/wpwatercooler-april-15-2013/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/04/15/wpwatercooler-april-15-2013/#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:22:24 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=897 Jumped into the weekly WPwatercooler show following WordCamp Miami and WordSesh, and it was 30 minutes of fun.

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]]> http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/04/03/dradcast-april-3-2013/feed/ 0 WPCandy (February 2, 2013) http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/02/02/wpcandy-february-2-2013/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/02/02/wpcandy-february-2-2013/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2013 14:30:40 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=904 Honored to be on the WPCandy Podcast w/ Ryan. We mostly talked about WordCamp Miami and BuddyPress.

Here’s the direct link to the mp3 or you can listen to it on wpcandy.com.

]]> http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/02/02/wpcandy-february-2-2013/feed/ 0 GPL / WordCamp Twitter Drama Wrapup http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/01/22/gpl-wordcamp-twitter-drama-wrapup/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/01/22/gpl-wordcamp-twitter-drama-wrapup/#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:30:49 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=227 Interesting day. It all started with Jake Caputo’s Automattically Blackballed post and Twitter exploded (or resurged, if you prefer that term) with debates over GPL and who can (or who no longer desires to as a result) sponsor or speak at official WordCamps. This blog post isn’t to share my views (so if there’s more below of one side vs. another, it’s just concidencse). I simply am sharing the best tweets of today.

]]> http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/01/22/gpl-wordcamp-twitter-drama-wrapup/feed/ 0 My Take On WordPress and Application Frameworks http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/01/06/my-take-on-wordpress-and-application-frameworks/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/01/06/my-take-on-wordpress-and-application-frameworks/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2013 15:08:28 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=222 After reading Justin Tallant’s well written thoughts on why WordPress is not an application framework and Chris Lema’s response, I decided to quickly jot down my thoughts on the subject. I work with a number of programmers that are experienced in a number of different levels, so I have heard Justin and Chris’s side before. I think you should read both posts, as they are interesting reading for debate.

As a freelancer, I do projects in WordPress and CodeIgnitor (either/or but sometimes together). I can understand where both sides are coming from. However Justin’s viewpoint that WordPress should stick to being blogging software makes just as much sense as requiring the use of CodeIgnitor or Rails for only “complex” or (fill in the blank here) projects. Both corners have their pros and cons – hence why i use both of them – but to paint WordPress into a general bucket of “blogging” or “CMS” is limiting and lacks imagination.

Justin’s viewpoint is not unique – I know many people that primarily code in Rails, CI, or another PHP framework that think WordPress is great – but great only for blogging and that’s about it. “They should stick to that” is the general mentality.

I also know other people that want to use WordPress for literally everything when either (1) Custom PHP Framework would be more flexible/make more sense and/or (2) those people don’t have the coding snuff to properly tweak WordPress into what they need and it ends up biting them or the client in the end. These people also need to know their and WordPress limitations.

I personally predicted months ago that there’s going to be a lot more talk in 2013 about “application development” (which is vague really) and WordPress. About WordPress sticking to what it does best – and if/when/how it should expand. About WordPress being bloated software and others discussing how efficient it is. Looks like i’m right on these predictions so far. We aren’t even seven days into 2013.

The fact that mobile has taken center stage and that applications are such a hot topic (some say blogs aren’t as cool as they used to be) I think is putting WordPress under the gun a bit. Could PHP frameworks and Rails do things that would be difficult for WordPress to do? Yes. But could a lightweight developer approach Rails as easily as WordPress? Probably not.

Final thought: Discussions are great, but actions speak louder. The best way to shape the WordPress future is to get involved.

]]> http://www.davidbisset.com/2013/01/06/my-take-on-wordpress-and-application-frameworks/feed/ 2 My PressNomics Experience http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/11/12/my-pressnomics-experience/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/11/12/my-pressnomics-experience/#comments Mon, 12 Nov 2012 05:15:02 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=218 As I sit on my flight back to Ft. Lauderdale, I sit and reflect on the last three days. I’ve got nothing else better to do because there’s no in-flight entertainment, no internet. Thanks US Airways. I’m flying like a pack of animals.

There’s a different feeling then what i usually experience after most other conferences and WordCamps, and i’m trying to put my finger on it. It’s a different feeling because i think it’s been a truly unique experience. WordCamps hold a broad range of WordPress users – from the experienced (mostly, if you have been using WordPress enough, names you recognize) to small business owners to those just starting out. Many are local due to the nature of WordCamps. It’s a smorgis-board of knowledge. Smorgis boards are great, but can be a waste if you aren’t after consuming everything. With PressNomics, it was a seven-course meal. A narrow and focused stream of knowledge and expertise in which there wasn’t a time when you weren’t learning something. For those who attending the last WordPress summit, perhaps this experience isn’t that unique.

I’m not even quite sure how i even got invited. If you count freelancing a business of one, sure. But i’m not a core developer, creator of a widely successful theme or plugin, or have a business with employees. But i discovered in the past few days my challenges, problems, concerns, and lessons learned aren’t that different from the people that DO have a business or popular product. That overall fact alone was an incredible motivational catalyst. I talked with some people I just met – then looked them up later on the Internet – and i almost had to change my pants. “Oh, wow I just spoke with THAT guy who did THAT? Holy cow. And s/he wasn’t a jackass to boot”.

As “just” a freelancer i’ve been inspired to push even further toward joining an agency or creating one of my own. We’ll see where that path takes this.

As WordPress developers (and as coders/developers/designers in general) we are incredibly fortunate to be in the position of a high demand of work AND people (who should be your moral enemies or competitors) actually helping you out. Not because you are paying them, but because they are decent people that want to help. Sometimes i think we forget about that – and maybe the most positive reminder to come out of events like these is that “we are all in the same boat, we are family, and we want to help support others in creating cool stuff”.

Many people will and have already have sung PressNomics praises. But if i were in Page.ly shoes, I would want honest criticism too. Honestly, there isn’t that much. I’m sure if someone were to ask what they could do better next year, the answer might fall on “have better Wifi”. As an event coordinator, I can relate how that is simply out of your hands.

But I certainly hope to see improvements in future events. There can always be more of a verity of speakers and topics. For example, more topics for the freelancer or small business would be welcome. Perhaps some female speakers will make it to the speaker list next year as well. As coordinator of WordPress Miami, I’ve learned it’s almost impossible to please everyone and it’s just as impossible to search out and confirm speakers (someone at PressNomics couldn’t speak, and they did an excellent job finding a last minute replacement).

Also, I would like to see more businesses being represented at the next Pressnomics. While some attendees couldn’t make it for good reason, I certainly hope PressNomics continues to make an earnest effort in inviting key WordPress business representatives – even if their business might overlap with existing attendees and sponsors. Mark Jaquith said it best – “collaboration” is key. You can’t have true collaboration without embracing your whole family. Families have their rough spots but they stick together. I’m sure in the future we will see more WordPress business – small and large- represented.

PressNomics got many things right. If you are going to throw an event in Arizona, you need to be within walking distance of San Tan. Also, PressNomics should keep the same amount of attendees in the future IMO (or maybe a little bit more). And if you have those plastic mustache again, please put a demo bottle with a mustache attached on the table. I wasn’t immediately sure what body part to put the mustache on.

In closing, PressNomics as an event worked. The fact that it wasn’t an official WordCamp or Automattic event didn’t hurt at all. In fact, it might have helped. For someone like me – (for the moment) a business of one who can’t get around to every other WordCamp, or has a direct communication level with everyone in the community – this was time well spent. I hope to be back next year and see you there.

]]> http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/11/12/my-pressnomics-experience/feed/ 2 Slides From WordCamp San Francisco 2012 #wcsf http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/08/05/slides-from-wordcamp-san-francisco-2012-wcsf/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/08/05/slides-from-wordcamp-san-francisco-2012-wcsf/#comments Sun, 05 Aug 2012 16:35:56 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=202 These are the slides i’ve seen so far for #wcsf 2012 through various tweets and notes. I’ll update as more slides become public, but feel free to add any that I might miss via the comments. This is just meant to be a clean, straightforward list. Thanks!

Matt Mullenweg: State Of The Word 2012

Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/photomatt/wordpress-state-of-the-word-2012
Video: http://wordpress.tv/2012/08/06/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2012/
Blog Post: http://ma.tt/2012/08/state-of-the-word-2012/

Scott Kingsley Clark: All You Can Eat Content Types
http://www.slideshare.net/sc0ttkclark/wcsf-2012-all-you-can-eat-content-types

Drew Strojny: How Not To Design A Default Theme
https://speakerdeck.com/u/drewstrojny/p/how-not-to-design-a-default-theme

Chuck Longanecker: How we used the WordPress.org platform to build, grow, scale and sell Hello Bar.
https://speakerdeck.com/u/longanecker/p/the-hello-bar-story

Paul Gibbs: State of BuddyPress
http://www.slideshare.net/DJPaul/the-state-of-buddypress-2012-13875300

Sara Cannon: Designing for The Modern Web
http://www.slideshare.net/saracannon/designing-for-the-modern-web

Andy Peatling: Mistakes I made using jQuery, and how to avoid them.
http://www.slideshare.net/apeatling/mistakes-i-made-using-jquery-and-how-to-avoid-them

Lliya Polihronov: High Performance WordPress
http://www.slideshare.net/vnsavage

Adii: The Business Of Code
https://speakerdeck.com/u/adii/p/the-business-of-code

Randy Hoyt: Custom Post Type Relationships: Subordinate Post Types
http://randyhoyt.com/wordpress/subordinate-post-types/

Kurt Payne: Foundations of Faster Plugins
http://kurtpayne.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/foundations-of-fast-plugins4.pdf

Ilya Grigorik: Measure All The Things!
http://www.igvita.com/slides/2012/wordpress-performance/#1

Isaac Keyet: State Of Mobile
http://www.slideshare.net/isaackeyet/state-of-mobile-13874063

Ryan Imel: State Of The Themes
http://speakerdeck.com/u/ryanimel

Matt Perry: Story of Ghist
http://stkywll.com/wcsf12/

I got a few links from the Goggle Docs #wcsf notes, which features some good additional information. Make sure to check that out.

]]> http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/08/05/slides-from-wordcamp-san-francisco-2012-wcsf/feed/ 0 WP Engine Now Has “Git-Push-To-Deploy” http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/07/24/wp-engine-now-has-git-push-to-deploy/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/07/24/wp-engine-now-has-git-push-to-deploy/#comments Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:00:11 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=197 I’ve been using WP Engine for about a year now, but heavily over the last six months. The usage has increased because i’m basically recommending it to any and all WordPress clients. So yes, i guess you can call me a fan. I’m a fan primarily because the features and services they offer are streamlined for the kind of sites that i build. Case in point the development/staging server you can create with a single click.

Well WP Engine has released a Git-push-to-deploy for their customers. This is the pitch from WP Engine on this cool feature: “In other ecosystems, software engineers have benefitted from using version control as a best practice for years, but the concept has mostly been absent from the WordPress space. This is despite the reality that 1 in 6 websites are running on the CMS. WP Engine, as a leading WordPress Hosting platform, is hoping to bring this practice into the mainstream of WordPress by offering our customers a git-based version control and deployment solution.”

You can’t really disagree with that. And Git right now is the bee’s knees. But in general any version control is usually a good thing:

1. Developers can manage source code to maintain integrity
2. Backups of code are created easily
3. Collaboration on development teams is much easier

So now developers can now take advantage of WP Engine’s staging area and version control in their development projects, making WP Engine a great WordPress developer platform.

I was really fortunate to get a heads up on this feature and i’m excited to see it in action. Admittingly I’m helping WP Engine here spread the word, but they deserve it in my mind. And if you ever see how often I actually write a blog post, you’ll know that when i do it must be important.

If you don’t know about WP Engine, check them out. They have over 4,000 customers and 46,000 domains. And a money-back guarantee thing.

]]> http://www.davidbisset.com/2012/07/24/wp-engine-now-has-git-push-to-deploy/feed/ 0 BuddyPress Plugin – Community Activate v0.2.0 http://www.davidbisset.com/2011/06/12/buddypress-plugin-%e2%80%93-community-activate-v0-2-0/ http://www.davidbisset.com/2011/06/12/buddypress-plugin-%e2%80%93-community-activate-v0-2-0/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:05:12 +0000 David Bisset http://www.davidbisset.com/?p=186 Had some time this weekend to make some updates to my plugin. Things are coming along, however remember that this plugin is still a work in progress and not approved for production. Use at your own risk.

What’s different w/ this version?

- Bug fix showing an incorrect error message when successfully activating a user on the waiting list.
- Biggest change is now there’s a control panel in the backend that allows you to (1) change general settings, including the ability to assign the number of activations allowed per user and (2) recent activations, which is something i plan on turning into something bigger later (right now it just shows last 100 activated people).

I welcome feedback and comments as always (for more of a backstory and what the plugin actually does see my last blog post).

Following the “just launch it” mantra!

Click here to download Community Activate v0.2.0 for BuddyPress.

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