These are my reference notes on Tom Mcfarlin’s presentation at WordCamp Altanta 2013, entitled Level-Up Your WordPress Development Skills.

Links

• Watch the presentation on WordPress.tv
• View the presentation slides on Slideshare
• Tom Mcfarlin’s blog post about the presentation

 

Quotes

• Try to stay and the intersection of what you love doing and what you’re best at doing
• Working as part of a team is more fun than working by yourself

 

On blogging

• 30-45 minutes a day
• 5 days a week
• Approximately 300 words per post
• Write first thing in the morning
• Blogging begets blogging, the more you do it the easier it is
• Evalute and filter ideas
• Don’t be afraid of critism, becoming a better developer is a journey not a destination

 

WordPress Hooks

An easy to remember definition of the two types of WordPress hooks:

• Filters allow you to manipulate the data
• Actions allow you to insert your code when something happens

 

Four WordPress APIs not to be missed

• WordPress Hooks
• Plugins API
• Widgets API
• Settings API

 

Using the WordPress Codex

When searching for a solution to a problem:

1. Search the WordPress Codex before searching Google
2. Then search the WordPress Codex using Google