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My presentation from WordCamp Atlanta 2013 geared towards beginner, intermediate, and advanced developers for how to level up your WordPress development skills through understanding the WordPress documentation, finding your niche, and educating yourself.
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Level Up Your WordPress Development Skills
@tommcfarlin
What’s Up?
8BIT.io — @8BIT
Plugins and Applications For Fun & Profit
Blog About WordPress Development
My Two Ladies
My Ladies & Me
Enough About Me
Let’s Talk About You
Level Up!
But Wait ... How?1. The WordPress Codex2. The WordPress API3. Coding Standards4. Finding Your Niche5. Educating Yourself
The WordPress Codex
What is it?
The WordPress ManualWritten for...
•Bloggers•Designers•Developers
Why It Matters• A Living Manual• Go here first (not Google!)• Do not settle for getting something working• The Codex helps you do it right!
How To Use It1. Search for what you’re looking for2. Reading how to do it “the WordPress way”3. Implement your solution
The WordPress APIs
What Are They?• APIs are a way to make something happen • They allow us to make WordPress do stuff• Functions that make development easier
How To Find Them• Bookmark the Codex • Identify what you’re trying to do• Find the associated APIs• Read, Practice, Implement
How To Use Them1. The function’s description2. The arguments it accepts3. What the function returns
Don’t Miss These!• WordPress Hooks• Plugin API• Widgets API• Settings API
Coding Standards
What Are They?• How code should be written for WordPress• Core• Plugins• Themes
Follow Them!• All code is GPL - let’s make it look good :)• Expectations for us and others• Create a cohesive experience
Finding Your Niche
Know Your MarketThe intersection of what you love doing and what you’re best at doing.
Strategy of Pursuit• I avoid theme development• I pursue plugin development It’s at the intersection of what I love and what I’m good at doing.
On ThemesIf you’re into:
• Design• Front-end Development (and Maybe Backend)
You’re more into presentation than functionality.
On PluginsIf you’re into:
• Server-side Development• Application-like Functionality• Extending WordPress
You’re more into functionality than presentation.
On BloggingIf you’re into:
• Education• Writing• Documentation
Sharing knowledge, information, or seeding discussion.
That’s Not All!
Educate Yourself
You’re Never Done• Several releases per year• New blogs, technologies, & practices emerge• Someone is more capable than you
Practical Tips• Follow those aligned with your niche• Read the comprehensive blogs• Design, code, or blog frequently• Don’t stop!
Questions?
