/blog
Notes from the WordPress trenches
What I learn while building plugins, fixing sites, contributing to core and going to WordCamps. Written so the next person has an easier time than I did.
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How I maintain a WordPress site: a checklist
The weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly checklist I follow for WordPress sites I look after. Take it and make it yours.
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I found a backdoor on my own site. Security habits I actually follow
A hidden plugin folder with PHP files pretending to be JavaScript. How I found it, what I did, and the habits I keep now.
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Making WordPress fast without a pile of plugins
I rebuilt this site and went from 16 plugins to 1, and from 109 database tables to 21. What I found, what I removed, and what…
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Headless WordPress: when I’d use it, and when I wouldn’t
Headless is a good tool for a specific problem. What you give up, when it is worth it, and when a light block theme is the…
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AI in my WordPress work: what actually helps
Where AI saves me time as a WordPress developer, where I keep it away from decisions, and why my plugins never let it publish on its…
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Your first WordPress contribution
You don’t need to write PHP to contribute to WordPress. The shortest path I know from zero to your first credited contribution.
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WordCamp Rajasthan: More Than a Conference, A Journey of Learning and Connections
Contributor Day with first-time contributors, AI in every hallway conversation, Hawa Mahal, and a very sweet sambar. My WordCamp Rajasthan.
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First Week at Babcock Power: A Week of New Beginnings
My first week at Babcock Power: the 14th floor on OMR, a desk with real stationery, the long underground parking, and driving home while the sun…
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Work From Anywhere — When Work Meets Real Life
A month of working from anywhere after months of night shifts. Slow mornings, home food, my son in my video calls, and lungi mode.
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How to Automate Your macOS and Linux Development Setup in Minutes
I got tired of setting up new machines by hand, so I wrote a script that installs what you choose and sets up Git and SSH,…
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Auto Memoirs: what we built, and what it taught me
An AI content plugin Mohan Raj and I built in 2024, and why it changed how I think about AI and writing.
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ulti’matt
Wix made an ad attacking WordPress, Matt shared it on his own blog, and more people watched it because of that. Two lessons I took from…
