This is just a reminder to let go. To let go of things you're not going to pursue. Of things that are never going to get the full attention that they deserve. Of things that are cluttering your todo list. Of things that you feel obligated to do because you once thought of them. I'm a gatherer of things, a collector of things by nature. That's my modus operandi. However, as much as I like to collect things, I'm also keenly aware of the power of letting go. So, to that end, I've let go of a lot of "things" to in the last couple of days and perhaps you'll recognize some things to let go of as ... Continue reading »
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About mental and physical health
My working days consist of my sitting behind my computer all day. I'm not sure what the percentages are of people having similar work scenarios, but I'm guessing they're pretty high. This sedentary work life is something I struggle with. I like being active during the day, but it's hard to be active when you're just sitting in your chair all day. Apart from the obvious health risks of just doing anything actively all day, I started experiencing mental effects as well. I felt locked up in my own mind. I was having trouble unwind at the end of the day and not think about work anymore after ... Continue reading »
WordCamp Soltau Recap
Last weekend Taco, Karin and I from team Yoast attended a new kind of WordCamp. A WordCamp Retreat. Located in the North of Germany we experienced a very relaxed WordCamp with some interesting differences from your regular WordCamps. I've written a full recap for WP Tavern which was published this morning, and this is one of the things I mentioned there: Most of this was made possible by the location. Hotel Park Soltau is located in the North of Germany surrounded by woods and heath. The hotel was reserved for WordCamp attendees only. Everyone stayed there, ate there, and ... Continue reading »
On Theme Onboarding in WordPress
One of the actions that raise a lot of questions over for clients over at WP ServicePoint is the moment when a client decides to switch to a new design, a new theme. It's one of those actions that is surprisingly poor handled by the vast majority of the themes out there. A few of the questions I saw in our mail queue made it very obvious that there are themes out there that really shouldn't be handled by new to average WordPress users. That's a bold statement, right? Well, yes it is, but it's also true. And yes, some of those themes were the kind that tries to solve every damn website ... Continue reading »
“It’s almost like our unconsciousness is a kind of failure”
You know I'm all about applying perspective as much as possible when living our daily lives. It's also one of the topics we frequently discuss with our kids – 10, 16 and 18yo. One of the questions we entertained ourselves with over NYE was about how the world looked / worked before the internet. When googling for examples we stumbled upon a very interesting article I'd like to share with you. The following quote is what especially caught my attention: “When you wake up, you have this gift of a blank brain. You could fill it with anything. But for most of us, we have this kind of ... Continue reading »
Demo Screencast Preparation Steps
I love discovering new cool WordPress plugins/solutions and I love it even more if the developer has taken the effort to create a demo video of the plugin in action. However: https://twitter.com/remkusdevries/status/751377394062286848 So, let's address that. What is my opinion about that? I think it comes across unprofessional and sloppy. There, I said it. Now, it's very easy to criticize something, but it takes effort to actually come up with a solution. Or rather, in this case, steps to take to prevent sloppy demo videos. On that note, I'd like to share with you the ... Continue reading »
Transactional email alternatives (for Mandrill App)
Like many of you, I'm sure, I found an email from Mandrill App in my inbox today that explains them merging their service with the parent company MailChimp. I'd be fine with the merge in itself, I love MailChimp, but what I don't like about this move is this section: Our billing and pricing model is also changing. MailChimp will generate one consolidated bill that covers your MailChimp and Mandrill charges. Mandrill credits will be sold in blocks of 25,000 emails. Blocks will start at $20 per month. This goes into effect once your accounts are merged. We're using Mandrill App for ... Continue reading »
Learning JavaScript in WordPress, Deeply
If you've followed the development of WordPress the last couple of years, you couldn't help but notice that more and more parts of WordPress, such as the Customizer, are using primarily JavaScript instead of PHP. With WordPress 4.4, the latest version available currently, the amount of JavaScript used has increased once again. During the State of the Word 2015, Matt Mullenweg made it very clear that this trend will continue to grow in the years to come and urged every single WordPress developer out there to start learning JavaScript. I've been thinking about learning JavaScript ... Continue reading »