I wish we lived in a world in which we could discuss code each day, not allowing political1 opinions to seep into the discourse. We could talk about the next exciting project around the corner. We could chat about a small startup getting its first big break or new investments into WordPress companies. However, I…
Imagine a future where you log into your website’s admin. You head over to the editor. This particular editor has all the tools and features in place that make you more efficient at producing whatever content you put out for the world to see. You immediately start tapping keys or dragging your mouse around the…
With full-site editing just around the bend, it is a fair question to ask whether the WordPress ecosystem is prepared for such a transition, particularly on the theme development side of things. It is no secret that theme developers have struggled to keep up with the barrage of changes between Gutenberg plugin updates and, ultimately,…
You’ve probably never heard of Robert B. Strassler. That’s OK, you’re not alone. Early in his career, Strassler worked in oil fields, but he always had an interest in the classics (the formal designation for the studies of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations). Eventually, Strassler’s hobby became an obsession. He went so far as to author his…
It is inevitable that when we publish a story on the Tavern that is remotely related to the block editor or the Gutenberg project, we receive negative comments. Despite sprinting along in its second year as part of core WordPress, there are still those who liken posts on the editor to Soviet-style mind manipulation and…
Laying out a webpage design and getting every element aligned perfectly can be a tough job. Even many developers rely on CSS grid frameworks. Granted, with the introduction of the flexbox and grid systems in the CSS language, such frameworks are becoming unnecessary. Whether it is getting the vertical and horizontal rhythm down or simply…
Lounge in your Baby Yoda sweats. Break out those knee-high Santa socks that you love to wear during the holidays. Slide into your Rocket City Trash Pandas tee and pretend the baseball season is going to happen this year. Sure, you can wear a suit and tie when you’re working from home. However, I invite…
The concept of digital gardens is not new. It predates the modern blog, but there may be a resurgence, albeit small, of the sort of curated content that grows within a digital garden. The term “digital garden” is not well-defined. In general, it is a collection of thoughts, unfinished projects, links, and much more. However,…
Josepha Haden, executive director of WordPress, provided a progress update on the 2020 goals in early March. As always, the timeline to hit certain goals can change based on roadblocks the development team hits and other factors. On the whole, the tentative roadmap looks feasible. Currently, WordPress 5.5 is set to ship on August 11,…
Now that WordPress 5.4 has successfully launched, it is time to begin thinking about version 5.5, which has a tentative release date of August 8, 2020. On Wednesday, Josepha Haden, Executive Director of WordPress, put out a call for tickets. Naturally, the block editor is the top focus as we continually inch toward new features…
By now we’re all getting weary of the phrase “new normal.” Much ink has been spilled over the question of what that new normal will look like after the pandemic has passed over us. There’s a stubborn streak in the American national character that admits of little change but, like an assiduous puppy, finds what…
A common theme among my friend groups is the utter boredom of being under stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of me wants to tell folks that there has never been a greater time in human history to find something to do at home. There is a plethora of content available at the touch…
There is a popular saying, which has been used in several memes, among my developer and remote-working friend groups. It goes something like the following: Government and Doctors: Practice physical distancing during this pandemic. Remote Workers: I’ve been preparing my whole life for this moment. I got this. The truth is that we don’t “got…
It was about a year ago. I was happily designing a theme for aspiring novelists. I wanted to get ahead of the competition and market a theme specifically to writers who would be attempting the National Novel Writing Month 2019 challenge. NaNoWriMo, for short, is a whirlwind of a month where 1,000s of people from…
The Gutenberg project and its eventual full-site editing feature is coming upon a major issue that will need to be solved. Block-based themes of the future are currently on a path toward a template system that will comprise of plain HTML files. While that will work for the majority of a theme’s output, the trouble…