WordPress News: How to use GIT for WordPress Development

Do you like Time Travel? Do you also like saving your work files? Well now you can do both at the same time by using Git to save your files while keeping track of each change, to each file along the way. Once you’ve saved (committed) a file in the project, the old version is saved forever allowing you to travel back through time to make changes or revert back to old files when needed.

Imagine your just uploaded your beautiful new custom theme to your WordPress site and you realize that you forgot to save your old CSS file and you’ve just overwritten the old one on your web server. You now have no way to revert back to your latest version of the old layout in case you have problems with browser compatibility in the new layout.

Git is a very powerful version control system that allows you to keep track of all your files during a project so losing file version along the way will never happen. This requires a few extra steps during your saving process, but it has saved the skins of many programmers from all over the world every day. Now, we should all try to save backups of our projects and files to protect from data loss and keeping old versions. Git takes that idea but saves each version of that file since it was created. It also protects someone from editing a file at the same time someone else is, preventing overwriting of each others new version.

Let’s take a look at the Git structure to get a clear picture of how the system checks out and references each file.

Git file reference structure

This table shows us how Git associates each file to the master project. Each time a change is made, a “snapshot” of the entire file structure is made. This allows us to see our project in front of us, while old versions are saved and hidden from view unless we physically use our time travel capability to revert. Additionally, if no changes were made to a file in a new commit, the old version will automatically be referenced instead of uploading the unchanged file into the project commit. These basic features are why Git is so powerful and efficient, that might explain why 42.9% of professional software developers reporting that they use Git as their primary content version control system.

To learn more about Git the features and the benefits, please refer to these links from which this article was sourced.

• Beginner Tutorial: How to use GIT for WordPress Development
• Git Basics
• Git: Community Information Article
• Eclipse Community Survey 2014 Results

Interview with Danielle Baldwin: Social Media/Content Strategist, WordPress Developer

This is L. Danielle Baldwin. She is a Social Media/Content Strategist, WordPress Developer and The Founder of the very first WordCamp RDU in 2009.

Why did you start using WordPress?

I started using WordPress back in the day when it was called b2 cafelog around 2002. From there I have just followed the application and was able to watch it morph into what WordPress has become today. I started using it initially as a blogging tool but very soon after I got the hang of it, I started using it to create blogs for other people.

Interview with Daniel Payne

Daniel Payne of Tualatin Web has been developing commercial web sites since 1995 and programming since 1975. So it made sense to me to get some key insights from someone who has been in the business for a number of years.

Q: What made you decide to become a member of the WordPress community and to become involved in organizing the PDX WordPress meetups?

A: I first heard about WordPress in 2008, after I had already created and sold my own content management system, it become clear that the team at Automattic had a much superior product so I decided to focus on customizing WordPress for business users. Later on I signed up at MeetUp.com and then discovered the Portland WordPress Meetup group. After attending a few meetings I started to get more involved, and eventually became an organizer. I wanted to give something back to the WordPress community, and also at the same time raise awareness for my own web development company, Tualatin Web.

Q: How long have you been working with WordPress?

A: My first WordPress install was in 2008. I started coding web sites in 1995, and computer coding in 1975.

Q: What made you choose to use WordPress‘s CMS over other methods of content management systems?

A: I also looked at Joomla, Drupal, Concrete, Wix, etc. It seems like every month we have yet another CMS. WordPress was the most intuitive CMS to learn, use, and develop for. WordPress is also the #1 CMS in the world, so it makes most business sense to specialize on the leading tool.

Reverbnation Master Plugin

Our guest speaker for our WordPress class,  Mr Dan Portis-Cathers is not just a Musician, he also designs WordPress webpages for music industry clients. He pointed out that a blogger with a music page needs a plugin that plays music.

Many of the Artists that I feature on my student site are found on the website known as Reverbnation . This website began as a way for local musicians to harness the power of social networking to get the word out that their band is the next big thing or to communicate/ collaborate on music related projects

Reverbnation now boasts that it is home to over 3.5 million bands, venues and music professionals. It is a great site to meet new bands, maybe get some cds to review, and network with others in the industry.

Naturally, the Reverbnation Master Plugin became a plugin of choice for my DISTROTECH student site as my blog deals primarily with Progressive Rock music, and Linux.

Reverbnation Master

After downloading, the Reverbnation Master Player Plugin was very easy to install.

• Use the WordPress Installer/Updater
• Activate from the “Plugins”administration panel,
• Click over to the Widget Page>Reverbnation Master Widgets.
• Configure the settings.

That’s it! Once installed the Plugin allows plenty of customization. Show maps of listeners, feature album art, lyrics, announcements. In short all of the Widgets that are on the Reverbnation site are included in this Plugin. HTML5 Player, HTML5 Fan Collector, Tune Widget, Merchandise, Mail, and so much more.

Have a look at this demo at wordpress.techgasp.com . If you have a music site and want to promote it, this Plugin is one that you can’t live without.

 

What is a Web Server?

When thinking of Web Servers this is the most common picture that comes to mind.
-Picture is from Wikimedia

A Web Server is a computer system hosting web-centric applications and resources that is accessible through the World Wide Web.

This statement does not justify the Web Server as it is the meat of the Web. Web servers allow the internet to create gossamer links to bring forth the World Wide Web that we as spiders hunting for information or distraction click from link to link traversing a tangled web of electrons pushing and pulling through the internet landing on web servers near and far.

How Do Web Servers Connect?

With links of gossamer strands that you insert into your web presence. These links though have to provide directions to the correct server where the webpage we so desperately need resides.

The link is your Internet Protocol, an address that ties all the parts and pieces together on the web.

Interview with Japh Thompson on WPWeekly

The WPWeekly Podcast (147) on WP Tavern featured an interview with Japh Thomson and his work at Envato. He worked in support before becoming the WordPress Evangelist for ThemeForest. The discussion covered the challenges of overcoming criticism in social media for a company with the best intentions for the WordPress Community. Other topics included new features in WordPress, WordPress News, and the WordPress Contributor Experience Survey.

WordPress Theme Frameworks

To begin, you will need to understand what is meant by WordPress Theme Framework. Technically (according to the WordPress Codex) any stand-alone Theme can act as a Framework. This is in the sense that any stand-alone Theme that allows you to make alterations to it, can be used as a framework.

What is a WordPress Framework?

There is a bit of confusion when it comes to the term WordPress Theme Framework. While the concept is that a Theme Framework is a bare bones, well-designed WordPress Theme for a developer or designer to build many client sites upon, some people think that a WordPress Theme Framework is an ultra-basic theme that has next to no formatting. When someone refers to WordPress Framework they may also be referring to the archive of code used to create Parent Themes.

Interview with WordPress Web Designer Brian Balla

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Brian Balla. Brian is a WordPress Web Designer located in Portland, Oregon.

In 2009, Brian Balla left a 9 to 5 corporate design position to embark on a career as a freelance web designer and WordPress specialist. Since then, Brian has been able to retain a client roster of over 55 small to medium sized businesses in five states and two continents. With a background in small business, Brian is passionate about helping business owners and scrappy start-ups make their websites work harder for them. From one-page informational websites to complex enterprise level applications, Brian offers his clients expertise in a variety of areas including web design, WordPress development, standards compliance, analytics interpretation, and search engine marketing and optimization.

How did you get introduced to WordPress?

During high school and college, most of my free time was spent either writing or building websites.

After college, my web design hobby went to the “back burner” and laid dormant for several years as I immersed myself in suits and ties and 8 o’clock meetings. Fast forward to the fall of 2006. As I was searching for a restaurant for dinner later that evening, I came across a website with the link “Powered by WordPress = Code is Poetry”. This reminded me of my days designing and developing. I skipped the menu and I followed that link. Fast forward again to several weeks after that. I had fully immersed myself in the world of WordPress and began building and breaking things faster than I could keep track.

WP Weekly Podcasts: An Untapped Resource

If you’ve been looking for a fun and informative source for WordPress news and info checkout WordPress Tavern: WP Weekly Podcasts, a great resource for WordPress news, reviews, and interviews. Contributor Jeff Chandler is the host of WP Weekly Podcasts provides community members with great advice from WordPress developers, contributors and other web based companies, who provide insights that you would not have access to anywhere else.

How to Change Your WordPress Display Name

To change the display name on your WordPress site so it appears as you and not your username, Go to Users > My Profile > Display Name.

Type in your new name.

Interview with Scott Gere of Gere Donovan Creative

The following is an interview with Scott Gere, partner and account director at Gere Donovan Creative, with offices locations in Anchorage and Portland.

I chose to interview Scott because I know him and his family personally and I admire their work ethic and quality of work. I also admire their business and the way they have chosen to build and run it – keeping it small and more personable and treating their employees well. Scott and his wife Monica are admirable people who, in my opinion, excel in the marketing industry.

Jessica: Who are you and what is it that do you do?

SCOTT: I’m partner and account director at Gere Donovan Creative, an agency that specializes in integrated marketing and particularly websites, email, e-commerce, etc. Among other things, we’ve been building websites since 1994.

Jessica: In what instances do you use WordPress and when do you choose not to?

Interview with WordPress Developer Corban Cloud

I got the chance to sit down with my close friend Corban Cloud, who works at Gravitate Studios here in Vancouver, Washington. He had some interesting things to say about WordPress:

Nate Shoemaker: How long have you worked with WordPress?

Corban Cloud: Two years.

NS: Do you consider yourself a WP developer?

CC: Yes.

Interview with WordPress Developer, Jeremy Wilson

By Isobel Lennox

For the Clark College WordPress class, each current student was assigned to give an interview regarding WordPress to any persons of our choice. I chose WordPress developer and cat enthusiast, Jeremy Wilson. The interview has been modified into a comic strip. You can also read the text version of the article.

Enjoy!

How to Become a Professional WordPress Developer

“How To Become A Top WordPress Developer” by Smashing Magazine’s WordPress writer, Jonathan Wold, was written in 2012 but still holds true today.

…becoming a top WordPress developer is hard work — very hard work. It’s going to take a lot of time, energy and determination. If you’re looking for an easy checklist or some “fast pass” to the top, you’re going to waste your time. Being one of the best is hard, and statistically speaking, the odds are stacked against you.

The article covers the basic steps and practices you need to take to earn the name “WordPress developer.”