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Rethink.fm is the forward thinking podcast about web design and front-end development in WordPress. Inspiring conversations with fellow designers and developers who are exploring new ways to approach and solve the challenges we face as our industry evolves. Hosted by Jackie D'Elia

Jackie D'Elia


    • Mar 3, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 40m AVG DURATION
    • 35 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Rethink.fm

    Episode 34: Spotlight on Accessibility with Rian Rietveld

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2022


    It's been a while, but in this episode, we have a guest! And what a guest: Rian Rietveld, accessibility specialist at Level Level is joining us to talk about accessibility. We talk about the problem with accessibility overlays, educating people, and how we can help more people develop, design, and create content in a way it's accessible for everyone. Big take away: make it about themselves. Related interesting reads or resources Selfish accessibility - talk by Adrian Rosselli6 tips for accessible web design - (UXATT blog)Accessibility isn't magic that comes from tools (UXATT blog)WP Engine partners with AudioEyeOverlay Fact SheetA11y-collective (accessibility courses by Rian Rietveld)Gravity Forms accessibility guide for developersAxe Dev tools Chrome extension

    Episode 33: Avoid endless design iterations by focusing on outcome instead of output

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2022


    Sometimes, product teams or clients can be too focused on output or features. This is a problem, because you can end up becoming a feature factory, without knowing if the user really benefits from these new features. If you want to avoid endless iterations of a design with clients or developers, it's time to start focusing on outcome instead of output. In this episode, we discuss our experience with clients or teams focusing too much on output. Related interesting reads or resources Design for outcome instead of output - UXATTDesign Outputs and Design Outcomes - Love.comOutcomes vs outputs - uxdesign.ccMinimize Design Risk by Focusing on Outcomes not Features - NNgroup.com Chosing the right color Common color palette mistakes - Career foundryColour blindness - Colour blind awarenessColor psychology - verywellmind.com

    From solo to working as a team

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2021


    In this episode, we discuss our learnings and experience from working as a team, after decades of working solo. What are the pro's & cons? What tools do we use to collaborate online and remote?

    User centered design practices

    Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2021


    In episode 1 of season 4, Cathi, Jackie & Monique talk about user centered design practices. This podcast is based on the talk Cathi did for the GoDaddy online event Expand 2021. Listen in and learn from our mistakes. Related interesting reads or resources Youtube recording of Cathi's talk for GoDaddy's online event Expand 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNYinIEH8vk&list=WL&index=1

    Designer-isms: speak plain language

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2020


    In episode 6, Cathi, Jackie & Monique discuss designer-isms. As designers, we tend to use too much jargon. This episode is based on the article we wrote for UXATT (link below), where we wrote about 15 design terms. We talk about why you should avoid jargon. And give suggestions on how you could speak about the same thing in plain language. And yes, we need to get better at it too. Related interesting reads or resources 15 designer-isms - how to avoid jargon - UXATT.comWhy Design-isms are a problem - UX CollectiveHow to deal with information overload in everyday life - Monique DubbelmanMost Used words/terms in UX Design - Linkedin post by Akash Solanki

    Understanding the value of UX research

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2020


    In episode 5, Cathi, Jackie & Monique discuss the value of UX research. Many designers, including larger agencies, have difficulties 'squeezing' user research into a project, because clients prefer to immediately jump to the visual part of design. But what is the value of UX research? List of used terms UX researchUser eXperience research. Find out how people feel when they use your product.UIUser Interface. The visual part of a digital product that people see when they use it. Related interesting reads or resources Just Enough Research, by Erika HallStart doing good research faster than you can plan your next pitch.Exposure is key to evidence-based decision making for product teams. Presentation for WPVIP- BigWP - 2020, by Cathi Bosco Why speculate about the people we are building and designing for? Our teams need a deep understanding of their needs and their environments.What Proactive User Research Looks Like, by Jared Spool - UIE Articles

    How to approach usability on digital products

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2020


    In episode 4, Cathi, Jackie & Monique talk about how you can approach usability on digital products in a systematic way. We also introduce and explain our usability model, a pyramid that is based on the foundation of performance, accessibility and security. Listen now or read the transcript in the show notes to learn more. Links to discussed topics on usability From the UXATT blog: 10 critical usability heuristics to improve a digital experience Related interesting reads or resources Press This podcast episode with Jackie D’EliaNielsen Group 10 Usability Heuristics

    Web Stories for WordPress

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2020


    In episode 3, Cathi, Jackie & Monique talk about Web Stories for WordPress. Google recently released this plugin in Beta. With Web Stories, you can create visually immersive and engaging content. In this podcast, we look at the plugin from a design perspective. Who can benefit from this way of publishing content? What does it mean for accessibility? How is the overall editing experience? And why should you use this open source alternative, rather than use what's already out there, like Instagram Stories? We answer all these questions and more in this episode of the Rethink.fm podcast. Links to discussed topics on Google Web Stories Google Web StoriesPulitzer Prize Awarded: Powerless: A photographer's journey into Yemen's shattering war  by Lorenzo TugnoliCodePen: Text Magic by Paul BakausWeb Stories on WordPress Beta Related interesting reads or resources Other ways to publish stories in the include: Web Stories, Tapable HQ, Make Stories, Ampstor, Visual Stories TappableMake StoriesAmpstorOnceVisual Storiesroll your own with Web Stories released in 2019

    What is good digital design?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2020


    In episode 2, Cathi, Jackie & Monique discuss: What is good digital design? We take you back to the 80s and talk design for print. From there we touch on some design changes over the years and discuss how we work now. We also talk about the design of lawnmowers and Monique will tell you why she thinks Apple products like the magic mouse and the iPhone 11 are examples of bad design.  Listen now through your favorite podcast software, or read the transcript at the bottom. Links to discussed topics on good digital design Unsplash WordPress plugin  (coming to the plugin repo next week!) How progressive web apps can drive business success Related interesting reads What is intuitive design? Nobody told me UX would be like this

    Introducing the new co-hosts

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2020 19:22


    In episode 1 of season 3, Jackie D'Elia introduces the new co-hosts for the rethink.fm podcast: Cathi Bosco and Monique Dubbelman. The podcast continues in a new format, focusing more on design and user experience, both in and outside the WordPress ecosystem. Please find the transcript of the podcast at the bottom of this post. Listen to Episode 1 New co-hosts for rethink.fm podcast While we're redesigning this website to fit our new branding, please learn more about the new co-hosts for rethink.fm. Cathi Bosco I'm Cathi and I'm a Connecticut based UX Architect. I'm really excited to be part of this! Since we all bake, it's also a baking support group! Where to find Cathi Cathi's Business Website Cathi's Personal Website Cathi on Twitter Jackie D'Elia Hi I'm Jackie, the founder of this podcast. In another life, I could have been Rizzo from Grease. Where to find Jackie Jackie's Personal Website Jackie on Twitter Monique Dubbelman Hi, I'm Monique and I'm one of the inventors of Dutch Directness! (Or is it in our dna?). Where to find Monique Monique's Business Website Monique's Personal Website Monique on Twitter Or contact us via UXATT.com Links to discussed topics UXATT PressNomics GravityView Diversity Grant 2019 WordCamp US 2018 WordPress.org Design John Maeda Design-in-Tech Report 2020

    Episode 24: Page Builders with Diane Kinney

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2017 49:27


    Photo credit: Gary Lopater on Unsplash Exploring Page Builders and Advanced Custom Fields in WordPress In this episode, Diane Kinney and I are talking about Page Builders and Advanced Custom Fields Pro. There are a variety of tools available when it comes to building a WordPress website - and choosing the right tool for the job -- can sometimes leave you feeling overwhelmed. No worries, Diane puts it all in perspective and provides some useful tips on choosing a page builder. Diane Kinney Yes, I’m a mega WordPress nerd and I’d love to share the things I’ve learned in the last 17 years of building both simple and complex sites. Listen to Episode 24 Where to find Diane: Diane's Business Website: The Versatility Group Diane's Personal Website: DianeKinney.com Diane's Twitter link: @dkinney Her upcoming book with Carrie Dils: Real World Freelancing Tools and Resources discussed: Advanced Custom Fields Pro CMB2 - Custom Metaboxes 2 Page Builders Beaver Builder Site Origin Oxygen Page Builder Elementor Tailor Page Builder Critical Review by Pippin Williamson

    Episode 23: Local SEO with John Locke

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2017 37:40


    Photo credit: Sasha on Unsplash Getting Started with Local SEO John Locke is back on Rethink.fm and this time we are talking about SEO and specifically Local SEO, what it is, who needs it and how to approach it. Whether you are just starting with SEO or have been struggling with it, this episode is sure to provide some valuable insight. John was my guest on Episode 1 of Rethink.fm where we talked about developing a content first strategy. John Locke John Locke is an SEO consultant from Sacramento, CA. He helps established businesses rank higher through his agency, Lockedown Design. Listen to Episode 23 Where to find John: Website: Locke Down Design Twitter: Tools and Resources discussed: DIY SEO Courses by Rebecca Gill KWFinder - Hundreds of keyword ideas SEO Audits Time To First Byte Brian Dean's Study of One Million Search Results Ahrefs - Tools to improve your search traffic, research your competitors and monitor your niche. SEM Rush Yoast Local SEO Plugin

    Episode 22: Collaboration and SVG Animation

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2017 36:28


    Photo credit: Puk Patrick on Unsplash Collaboration - Teaming up to tackle larger projects In this episode, I'm chatting with Cathi Bosco and Joe Dooley about a large project we did together. We talk about our roles and how we worked together. One of the challenges we tackled was incorporating a flexible animated icon system using SVGs -- and what was involved in building that. Listen to Episode 22 Cathi BoscoCreative Director, Digital Consultant, Web Designer, Artist, Illustrator, Children's Book Author, trail runner, dog lover & free thinker... My specialty is creating beautiful and cohesive web presence packages for clients that can convert audiences and present content elegantly (think modern and clean presentation). Our sites are built on The Genesis Framework and they function exceptionally well for a wide range of programs, communities, organizations, and companies. If you have an unusual challenge – we are all ears… tell us about your project and ideas! We don’t take on each and every proposal that comes along, but if we feel we can add value to your plans or programs, we’ll gladly get you a quote and get to work for you. I also think CSS transitions and CSS + SVG animations are very effective slightly below the surface. Designed to feed the human reward system. Always leaving the end user ‘in control’ of the navigation but royally rewarded aesthetically. This is for upper-end projects and can also help to differentiate sites from low-end, non-custom work… when done well. We all love this stuff… transitions and animations that are so subtle they beautifully and intriguingly enhance end-user experiences. Along with collaboration, they are key to forward momentum for Genesis developers and designers Joe Dooley Joe Dooley often describes himself as largely driven by analytics and a keen passion for SEO. His Tampa SEO company implements cutting edge practices to boost website conversion and meet his client’s marketing goals. Working as a front-end web developer and leading Developing Designs allows Joe to nurture the business aspirations of his clients as he works with them to advance their marketing platforms in exciting directions leading to success. Sponsor - IHateTomatoes.net This episode is sponsored by IHateTomatoes.net - Front-End Development Courses Don't let the name confuse you. This is the comprehensive resource that we used to build our SVG animations for the project mentioned in this episode. Petr Tichy is passionate about front-end development and offers three free introductory courses -- React 101, Greensock 101 and ScrollMagic 101 -- and when you are ready to take your front-end dev skills to the next level, he has affordable online workshops in React, web animations. High quality video tutorials that show you step by step how to accomplish some very amazing things. Master front-end development and take your React, GreenSock and ScrollMagic knowledge to the next level. Check out IHateTomatoes.net today. Where to find us: Website: C and D Studios Website: Developing Designs Website: Jackie D'Elia Design Twitter: Cathi Bosco Twitter: Joe Dooley Twitter: Jackie D'Elia Tools and Resources discussed: Greensock ScrollMagic IHateTomatoes.net Panetheon WP Engine Pagely SVGMO

    Episode 21: Bob Dunn on eCommerce

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2017 32:39


    Photo credit: MILKOVÍ on Unsplash eCommerce - Helping folks sell online In this episode, I'm chatting with Bob Dunn of bobwp.com. Bob is a master at producing content and building an audience. We're talking about eCommerce, and what's involved in selling products online. And the conversation doesn't stop there. Bob shares his experience with podcasting, page builders, managing affiliates, sponsors and more. So if you are thinking about starting an online business, this episode covers a lot of ground. Bob Dunn With a background in marketing Bob and his wife Judy grew a marketing company into what today is a content marketing machine centered around eCommerce. "In 2007 I began to dabble in WordPress and by 2008, I knew it was the perfect solution for me and my clients. We dove back into eCommerce a bit more by starting a membership site in 2008 as well, a time before membership sites really were catching on. And obviously, with the technology nowhere at where it is today, it took us a good 9 months to develop the site." Today, Bob produces several podcasts and writes a ton of useful content for his growing audience. The rest is history, as they say. In a nutshell, it’s all about eCommerce with a frosting of WordPress. Listen to Episode 21 Where to find Bob: Website: bobwp.com Twitter: @bobwp Tools and Resources discussed: WooCommerce Easy Digitial Downloads Blubrry Libsyn AffiliateWP BeaverBuilder CoSchedule ThirstyAffiliates Shareasale

    Episode 20: Kim Shivler and Creating Online Courses

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2017 38:04


    In this episode, I am chatting with Kim Shivler about Learning Management Systems, what are they and how easy it is to create a membership site of online courses. If you are thinking about selling courses or have clients that want to, this episode is for you.

    Episode 19: Melissa Eggleston on UX and Design

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2017 39:14


    Why User Research Matters In this episode, I am chatting with Melissa Eggleston about UX, what it is and why it is a crucial component in creating a successful web project. I first met Melissa at WordCamp, Asheville in 2015 and had a chance to visit with her at the happiness bar and see her presentation Website Design with UX in Mind. Melissa Eggleston Melissa Eggleston is a User Experience Specialist and Content Strategist based in Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina. She helps businesses, non-profits, and universities find, attract, and help their target audiences. She often works for agencies and design/development teams. She's able to see the big picture while also digging into the details. She's worked on projects for both tiny tech startups and big organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Melissa's is the co-author of The Zombie Business Cure - How to refocus your company's identity for more authentic communication. Listen to Episode 19 Where to find Melissa: Website: Melissa Eggleston Twitter: @melissa_egg Tools and Resources discussed: Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug Just Enough Research by Erika Hall Hemingway Editor Jared Spool's All You Can Learn Library Grammarly - Awesome - in Browser Grammar checker

    Episode 18: Robin Cornett on Building Premium Plugins

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2017 32:43


    In this episode, I am chatting with Robin Cornett about her journey into plugin development. Robin started as a photographer who built her own website. Since those early days, she has created some very useful plugins, and is a contributor to the Genesis Framework.

    Episode 17: Nick Davis and Workflow Wisdom

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2017 38:48


    Photo credit: Yanko Peyankov on Unsplash Workflow Wisdom In this episode, I am chatting with Nick Davis about his own workflow journey and why he started GenesisWP.guide. Nick Davis Nick's been building websites for fun and profit since 1997, doing everything from working as one of the first online journalists at the BBC; managing the website of one of the UK’s largest airports; to running a large team of web developers and designers for a publishing company in Dubai. Since going out on his own and discovering WordPress in 2010, he's worked as a WordPress developer and consultant helping business owners and agencies launch better websites for their businesses or clients, obsessing about making everything on their websites as easy to manage as possible. Listen to Episode 17 Where to find Nick: I Am Nick Davis @iamnickdavis on Twitter GenesisWP Guide Tools and Resources discussed: KnowtheCode.io Alain Schlesser - Reusable Code Series Transcript Jackie Hey everybody, this is Jackie D'Elia with episode 17 of Rethink.fm and I have my very special guest, Nick Davis. Hey, Nick. Nick Hey, how you doing? Jackie I'm doing well. Thanks for being on. Most of the folks that listen to this podcast that might be in the genesis community may know you from your GenesisWP.guide site and the newsletter you send out, but you've also been, you also have your hands in lots of other things. Can you give us an update on what it is that you do, where you live and what you're about? Nick Sure. Yeah. Too many things, I've been trying to slim it down but yeah probably people from Genesis, know me from GenesisWP.guide. Mainly I do the newsletter once a week, This Week in Genesis, a very creative title. I think a lot of people know me through that, we've got a few 100 subscribers from that so it's going pretty well. I'm a WordPress developer, I live in Italy. Before that I was in Dubai, before that was in UK. Done lots of different, I guess you could say maybe side businesses. I've been in WordPress development, I was co-founder of Lean Themes, we did a couple of I like to think really nice themes for Genesis. One of them got picked up by StudioPress Kickstart, which we're still getting inquiries and stuff about which is great. Did ThemeVale for a while which is setting up themes with people, doing that as like a business as well. Sort of trying lots of things, seeing what works. Really right now I'm super focused on my consulting and I just try to find a bit of time every week for the GenesisWP guide. Jackie Okay. GenesisWP guide, when did you start that? You recently just said you had a 100th newsletter that came out, the 100th edition. When did that start? Nick It was just over two years. I haven't quite managed every week, but yeah it's been, I think it was March 2 years ago so a little while. Jackie I think that's a really nice way of keeping the Genesis in touch with each other and seeing what's going on. I'm just curious, how do you curate all of that? I know you have something on your site where people can go and just contribute, put a link in, what it's about and why you think it would be useful. Do you use that was a way or do you have other methods of gathering information to put into your weekly newsletter? Nick Sure. I put a thing on the site and that definitely helps so if you haven't been there and you're in Genesis, this is my call to action for you now, go to GenesisPW.guide. You do have to register because I don't want anonymous contributions, but you don't even have to register for the newsletter, you can just post something. It goes literally straight up on the homepage, so don't post anything bad, you'll get banned. Stuff goes up on there and I really did it, yeah, to help me create a newsletter and also because it's long term and it's going to be super long term cause I've been thinking about it so, so, so long, I'd love to turn it more into ...

    Episode 16: Lee Jackson and Agency Workflows

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2017 43:41


    Agency Workflows and Tools In this episode, I am chatting with Lee Jackson of AngledCrown all about agency workflows. What's life like running an agency across the pond? Tune in and find out. Lee Jackson Lee is the founder of Angled Crown, a digital agency in the UK. They primarily build WordPress site and plugins for design agencies. Lee is also the host of the WPInnovator Podcast - The podcast for designers, we talk agency life, strategy, marketing and WordPress. This episode of Rethink.fm is sponsored by: This episode of Rethink.fm is sponsored by Beaver Builder. If you are looking to reduce design and development time, Beaver Builder is your answer. It’s the only page builder I recommend and with over 375,000 WordPress websites built with Beaver Builder - you’ll be in great company. Stop reinventing the wheel. With dozens of gorgeous page templates, you’ll be able to spin up an amazing landing page in minutes. Looking for a template for your site's inner pages? Don't worry, they’ve got you covered there too. You can even save your own designs as templates and reuse them throughout your site, or export them to use on a different site. Build your website in minutes, not months! An now, take Beaver Builder even further. Bridge the Gap Between Pages and Your Theme. Beaver Themer lets you create layouts for archive pages, a template for an entire post type, 404 and search pages, and create parts like headers and footers. Beaver Builder, Awesome Software, Great Support, and a Helpful Community. Get all the details at WPBeaverBuilder.com Finally got some time to try this out. I bought a copy of Beaver Builder for a recent project. I created a gorgeous custom landing page in just a few hours. This is quickly becoming a favorite in my digital toolbox. --Jackie D'Elia Listen to Episode 16 Where to find Lee: Angled Crown @leejacksondev on Twitter LeeJacksonDev Facebook group Tools discussed: Ganttify Projecthuddle SVG Support Plugin

    Episode 15: Morten Rand-Hendriksen

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2017 65:37


    All The Things In this episode, I am chatting with Morten Rand-Hendriksen. As someone who has taken most, if not all his courses on Lynda.com - all I can say is WOW - this is awesome. Let's get started! Morten Rand-Hendriksen Instructor, educator, speaker at LinkedIn Learning, helping people master WordPress, the web, and online communication. Since joining forces with Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning) in 2010, Morten has 60+ published courses on WordPress, front-end web design and development, and web standards, reaching hundreds of thousands of viewers from all over the world. He also contributes to the web community as a public speaker, author, educator, web developer, and design philosopher. This episode of Rethink.fm is sponsored by: Delicious Brains - They make super awesome products for WordPress If you’re a developer who’s looking to speed up their workflows so you can work less but bill the same (effectively increasing your hourly rate), WP Migrate DB Pro is for you. Or, check out their blog at deliciousbrains.com. (Developers really like it) This is one of the plugins I renew every year. It speeds up development time. It's keeps my local and remote database synced during development, keeps my media files synced and is built by a team that I trust. --Jackie D'Elia Rethink.fm listeners - Save 10% off today! (Limited time offer - Coupon expires June 30, 2017) Listen to Episode 15 Show Notes Morten's Website @mor10 on Twitter Linkedin Articles Some topics we discussed: Twentyseventeen The Case for WordPress Telemetry WordPress Theme Customizer Creating Web Icons with SVG Essential Javascript Training Migrate DB Pro course on Lynda.com WP-Tonic Podcast A takeaway worth noting: What should WordPress developers be focusing on? You need to learn how to build things without WordPress. WordPress is a tool in your toolkit but it cannot be the tool you stand on when you do all your work. WordPress is literally a content management system that uses PHP, HTML, CSS and Javascript to create front-end content. --Morten Rand-Hendriksen All Morten's Courses on Lynda.com Transcript Jackie The guys at Delicious Brains make super awesome stuff for Wordpress developers. If you’ve ever experienced the pain of trying to copy your Wordpress database from one install to another - dev to staging and back again, you’re going to seriously want to check out their WP Migrate DB Pro plugin. It not only makes migrating databases easier, but by saving you so many hours, it effectively increases your hourly rate. Definitely a must for any WordPress developer working on client sites. Check it out deliciousbrains.com. Open PDF transcript in a new window. Jackie Hey, everybody. It's Jackie D'Elia with another episode of Rethink.fm. This is Episode 15. I have my very special guest, Morten Rand-Hendriksen who is a senior staff instructor at Linkedin Learning. Hey, Morten. Morten Hi. Jackie Thanks for joining me. Morten Good to be here. Jackie For those who don't know you, and I can't imagine there is a lot of people that listen to this show that don't, is there anything else that you want to fill in about what you do? Morten Well, my main job is as an instructor at Linkedin Learning and Lynda.com, I also contribute to the WordPress Project in odd and unusual ways. I don't really write a lot of code patches for WordPress but I ask a lot of questions about decisions that are being made. I propose things that should be done. I also contribute to the Community Project, like we're working on something. I'm peripherally involved in a non-hard and heavy code sense in that project. Jackie Well, before we jump into that, I've just got a couple of questions for you. How did you get started teaching? Morten At random. Let's see. This must have been 2009, 2008, something like that. I was working on a project, just some random client project.

    Episode 14: CSS Grid with Rachel Andrew

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2017 34:59


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Rachel Andrew - an authority on CSS Grid Layout, the new specification that is redefining how we approach layout for the web. We'll cover what you need to know to get started with CSS Grid and how this will change the way you think about the web design grid. Meet Rachel Andrew Rachel Andrew is a front and back-end web developer, author and speaker. Her books include the recent Get Ready for CSS Grid Layout and she is a regular contributor to a number of publications both on and offline. Rachel is co-founder of the CMS Perch, a Google Developer Expert and an Invited Expert to the CSS Working Group. She writes about business and technology on her own site at rachelandrew.co.uk. Show Notes Rachel's website:  https://rachelandrew.co.uk/ Grid by Example:  http://gridbyexample.com/ The CSS Layout Workshop:  https://thecssworkshop.com/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/rachelandrew Codepen:  http://codepen.io/rachelandrew/ Perch CMS:  https://grabaperch.com/ Transcript Open PDF version of this transcript in new window JackieHey everybody. This is Jackie with another episode of Rethink.fm for you. Today, I have a very special guest, Rachel Andrew, who many of you may have heard is an expert in the new CSS Grid and is also a co-founder of Perch, which is a simple CMS application. Hi Rachel. RachelHi, good to be here. JackieThanks for joining me. If I've left anything out and for anybody who doesn't know you, if you want to introduce yourself that would be awesome. RachelSure. Yes, I'm Rachel. I've been a web developer for, well, a very long time. I've been running my own business since 2001 as a developer and now, as mentioned, what we mainly do is Perch CMS. That's our product. I'm an Invited Expert to the W3C CSS Working Group, so my interest in CSS and the open web goes back a long way. I'm just back from Tokyo where I was at the CSS Working Group meeting talking about all things CSS. That's really what I do. It's mainly Perch, and then quite a bit of speaking and writing about CSS. JackieStarting off with the CSS Grid, how did you get involved with that and what role have you played? RachelI just spotted it really. In fact, it all started, I was speaking at a conference and I can't remember what about. There was workshops as part of the conference. Bert Bos, from the W3C, was doing a workshop in French, my French isn't great, but he was doing a workshop in French and showing some kind of experimental layout stuff. One of those things was a forerunner to CSS Grid. I saw this and thought, this is something we want. Then I realized that actually there was a spec had come through from Microsoft, and there was this early version of the Grid spec was developed by a team at Microsoft. It was implemented into IE10. I got my hands on that and I started building things and saying, "Yeah. This is a really good thing. This is something we want." Really it just started from there, that I was very keen to promote it and to write about it and to get people talking about it, to make sure that it was something that got implemented into other browsers and didn't just end up being something that ... Some sort of IE experiment. That's really where it all came from is I was just very keen ... I'm very aware of the fact that web developers have got quite a lot of power in terms of what ends up in browsers, if we talk and write about it and make some noise. I just wanted to start doing that, to champion this spec that I thought really was interesting and was going to solve a lot of problems. JackieCSS Grid had its beginnings with Internet Explorer? RachelThat's right, yeah. JackieWow. That is very ... It's not something I would have thought given the history with Internet Explorer. RachelIt's surprising. I mean the team now with Edge and really going quite a long way back, there's been some great stuff coming out of Microsoft and co...

    Episode 13: A Passion for Quality with Gary Jones

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2017 42:10


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Gary Jones. I'm honored to have Gary on the show. He is your go-to person when you want things done right. He is a huge asset to the Genesis community and shares his knowledge in so many ways. If you spend any time on Github - you are sure to see his name as a contributor on so many open source projects. Let's get started. Meet Gary Jones Gary Jones is a UK-based WordPress Engineer, code consultant and father of extremely premature twins. Driven by a passion for excellence, he creates elegant WordPress plugins and theme solutions for clients, and provides services, including code audits, for other web designers and developers. He's worked on projects for SiteGround, Yoast, StudioPress, Web Savvy Marketing, Daniels Trading, Rolls-Royce and many smaller design and development agencies and individuals. Gary is a key contributor to the GENESIS FRAMEWORK and has contributed to all except one major branch of WordPress Core since 3.3. He has contributed to many open source projects in the COMMUNITY, and is a co-host on the UK GENESIS PODCAST. A former teacher in schools and prisons, Gary's goal is to educate WordPress professionals on how they can improve their code. His motto is knowledge is power. Show Notes Gary's site: Gamajo Tech Twitter: @garyj Podcast: UK Genesis Github: GaryJones Genesis Slack Channel: Request Invite A Few Valuable Links & Resources : WordPress Coding Standards WordPress Coding Standards for PHP_CodeSniffer PHPStorm Atom StudioPress and Genesis Framework Transcript Open PDF version of this transcript in new window Jackie Hey, everybody. It's Jackie D'Elia with another episode of Rethink.fm for you and today I have Gary Jones who is a UK resident and a Genesis expert in our community. Hey, Gary. Gary Hi. How are you doing, Jackie? Jackie Very good. Thanks for joining me on the first episode for season 2, which is kind of awesome to have you here. Gary Thank you very much. Jackie For anyone who doesn't know who you are in the Genesis community, would you tell us a little bit about yourself? Gary Absolutely. My name's Gary Jones. I'm based in Basingstoke in the UK. I run a small virtual agency creating technical WordPress solutions for clients, including integrations with their business critical systems. I'm a contributor to the Genesis Framework and WordPress core and many plugins and open source projects. I'm cohost of the UK Genesis podcast, although we haven't done many recordings recently, general translation editor for the British English locale in WordPress and organizer of WorkCamp London, father of five-year-old twins, and my background is teaching in schools and prisons. Jackie Wow. That was awesome. You just went right through the whole thing. That is great. Gary It helps being prepared ahead of time and actually writing my introduction down this time. Jackie Yeah. If you're working in Genesis and you're in GitHub at all, it's hard not to see your name all around as a contributor for, like you said, numerous plugins, many open source projects. I see your name as a contributor on a lot of things. Gary Yeah. A lot of the things that I contribute to are effectually under other people's names. It's under their repo or their GitHub name. One of the things I like doing is helping others. Irrespective of the context that might be helping clients or, in this case, helping other developers. If I can contribute something to their plugin then I'll go ahead and fork it and make the change and send it back to them. If it makes their plugin better and people recognize that there's a slightly better plugin or slightly better package that has got their name on it, that's fine by me. I'm actually fine with that. Jackie I have to say, whenever I see a plugin if I need something in the GitHub repo and I see your name associated with it, I usually think it's okay to use because I kind of ... Gary Probably, yes.

    Episode 12: Season Finale with Carrie Dils

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2016 41:58


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Carrie Dils. Carrie is pure awesome. She shares her thoughts on this past year, and what she has planned for 2017 including an upcoming book, Real World Freelancing with Diane Kinney. She is the host of one of my favorite WordPress business podcasts, OfficeHours.fm and is a huge Genesis fan. Let's get started. Meet Carrie Dils Carrie Dils is a WordPress developer, consultant, speaker and teacher based in Fort Worth, Texas. She loves sharing what she's learned with others to help them be more successful in their business. She hosts a weekly WordPress podcast at OfficeHours.fm and is a course instructor for Lynda.com. Show Notes Carrie's site: CarrieDils.com Podcast: OfficeHours.fm Twitter: @cdils Courses: Carrie's Courses on Lynda.com A Few Valuable Links & Resources : DIY SEO Course by Rebecca Gill Smart Passive Income - Pat Flynn Erin E Flynn - Courses, Templates & Tools for Web Designers Utility Pro theme by Carrie Dils Courses from Carrie on Lynda.com Office Hours Episode 122 with Chris Coyier Complete Transcript: Open PDF version of this transcript in new window Jackie: Hey everybody, it's Jackie D'Elia with another episode of rethink.fm, and I have my very, very special guest, Carrie Dils, on the show. Hi, Carrie. Carrie: Hey, Jackie. You're my very, very special host, so I'm glad to be on the show. Jackie: Thank you. This is the final episode for season one, it's episode 12, and I thought it would be really fitting to have a conversation with you. You were a big inspiration for me starting my podcast, and just to have you here is awesome. I know everybody else is going to enjoy it as well. Carrie: Cool, let's do it. Jackie: For the one or two people in the WordPress community that don't know who you are, would you introduce yourself and tell us what you do? Carrie: Sure. I'm Carrie Dills, based out of Fort Worth, TX. I, historically, have done front end development and years and years of client services and, over the past year or two, have transitioned into teaching WordPress and front end development, some of that on my own and some of that over at lynda.com. That's where I spend most of my time. Jackie: All right. I've got questions for you, like I normally do. Carrie: I love it. I love that you had so many questions you had to start your own podcast just to get questions answered. Jackie: Just to get questions out, or just to say, "I have got a couple more to ask this person." Yes, it's been a great experience so far. I just did a recorded podcast episode with Joe Casabona from How I Built It. We did a podcast recording that ended up taking too long so we had to split it into two episodes, but we were both talking about ... We both started our podcast right around the same time and we're in a mastermind group together and did a lot of chatting back and forth about what the experience was like. I think one of the biggest things for me was just trying to figure out all the mechanics of getting everything to work in a podcast. So, hats off to you for being the one out on the pioneer frontier with that. Carrie: Thank you. Jackie: The first question I've got for you is: I love your year end posts that you do on your blog and I was wondering if we could talk about this one that you just published. You had published a blog post and you went over what has been going on in your world for the year and what your review was like and some guides and goals for 2017. What prompted you to do that and what keeps you motivated to keep doing it? Carrie: This was my fourth time to write a post like that in December. I don't really know what prompted me to do it the first time around. Now I just do it because I've set a tradition and I can't stop tradition.

    Episode 11: Pushing more than Pixels

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2016 34:32


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Cathi Bosco. Cathi is the creative genius that powers her web studio in Madison CT USA. We're talking all about collaboration on projects, lessons learned and some of our favorite design elements. She shares her industry knowledge and experience to help us forge a way forward in this ever changing digital age. Let's get started. Meet Cathi Bosco Creative Director, Digital Consultant, Web Designer, Artist, Illustrator, Children's Book Author, trail runner, dog lover & free thinker... My specialty is creating beautiful and cohesive web presence packages for clients that can convert audiences and present content elegantly (think modern and clean presentation). Our sites are built on The Genesis Framework and they function exceptionally well for a wide range of programs, communities, organizations and companies. If you have an unusual challenge – we are all ears… tell us about your project and ideas! We don’t take on each and every proposal that comes along, but if we feel we can add value to your plans or programs, we’ll gladly get you a quote and get to work for you. I also think CSS transitions and CSS + SVG animations are very effective slightly below the surface. Designed to feed the human reward system. Always leaving the end user ‘in control’ of the navigation but royally rewarded aesthetically. This is for upper-end projects and can also help to differentiate sites from low-end, non-custom work… when done well. We all love this stuff… transitions and animations that are so subtle they beautifully and intriguingly enhance end user experiences. Along with collaboration, they are key to forward momentum for Genesis developers and designers Show Notes Bio Page: About Cathi Company site: CandDStudios.com Twitter link: @bethebreeze A Few Valuable Links & Resources : Sara Soudein https://sarasoueidan.com/ Code Drops http://tympanus.net/codrops/ & for easy reference: http://tympanus.net/codrops/css_reference/ CodePen http://codepen.io/ A Book Apart Series: Chris Coyier Practical SVG Creative Market https://creativemarket.com/ Hot Jar https://www.hotjar.com StudioPress http://www.studiopress.com/ InVision https://www.invisionapp.com/ Fontastic http://fontastic.me/ Frontify https://frontify.com/ CSS-Tricks https://css-tricks.com/ Rafal Tomal http://rafaltomal.com/ Typespiration http://typespiration.com/ Complete Transcript: Open PDF version of this transcript in new window Jackie: Hey everybody, it's Jackie D'Elia with Rethink.fm with another episode for you, and today I have my guest Cathi Bosco with C&D studios. Hi Cathi. Cathi: Good morning. Good morning. Jackie: Good morning to you. Thank you very much for joining me. I'm really excited to be able to chat with you today. Cathi: Well, it's my pleasure. I'm pretty excited to be talking about front-end design more, and rethinking the way things are being done, so I love it. Jackie: Awesome. Well for folks who don't know you, what do you do? Cathi: Well, I run a creative design studio here. I'm in Madison, Connecticut, and I've been self-employed, freelancing, doing this work for, gosh, almost 20 years now. I've sort of ridden the digital evolution. I started analog as an illustrator, drawing in the studio, gradually got split between analog and digital. Now, we're doing almost all digital work. I got involved with WordPress because I'm a trail runner and I run with a group of crazy wild animals, and one of my chief runners ended up being a really good mentor to me, and brought me from drawing into WordPress for our team site.

    Episode 10: Exploring Local Development Environments

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2016 34:15


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Matt Pritchett. He is a UX developer and lives in Tennessee. We're talking the good, the bad and the ugly about local development environments. What's out there now and why Matt plans to build one of his own called AnchorWP. Matt is a super smart guy and I've had the pleasure of being in a weekly mastermind group with him this year. Let's get started. Meet Matt Pritchett Matt is known for transformational WordPress development and bringing integrity to each relationship, sale, project, and interaction. He's a developer, blogger, business owner, product maker and proud husband and father of three. Show Notes Matt's Website: Pritchett Media Matt's Blog: Matt's Blog AnchorWP link: AnchorWP Helpful Links: Desktop Server MAMP & MAMP PRO Vagrant Varying Vagrant Vagrants Docker Local by Flywheel (formerly Pressmatic) VersionPress Migrate DB Pro (Awesome!) Special Offer for listeners Receive 15% off Version 1 of AnchorWP when it launches. Use code RETHINK. Visit AnchorWP. Complete Transcript: Open PDF version of this transcript in new window Jackie: Hey everybody, it's Jackie D'Elia with another episode of Rethink.fm for you. Today, I have my guest, Matt Pritchett. Hey Matt, how are you? Matt: I'm doing well, Jackie, how about yourself? Jackie: I'm well. Thank you very much for joining me. For those folks who don't know who you are in the community, would you introduce yourself and tell us what you do? Matt: Sure, my name is Matt Pritchett and I hail from Atlanta, Georgia. I am a UX developer at Lift UX. We are a small agency that focuses mainly on UX development and design. We're scattered all over. We're a remote first workplace. We're scattered all over. We've got people in Florida, and Texas, and Michigan. I'm the only person in Georgia for now, but we're scattered all over the place. Jackie: Very cool. When did you start as a developer? Matt: I took my first developer position in August of 2007, straight out of high school, actually. I worked for a small missions non-profit that sent high school and college students overseas. I took the position because I was interested in non-profits and the church world. I spoke fluent Spanish at the time and I know I don't speak it fluently anymore. At the time I did and I served as a translator for them and took teams overseas. Part of the role and how they were able to hire me was I was the director of multimedia, which basically meant I took care of hardware and software. I had to learn how to do websites. I started out with table based development in Dreamweaver, like a lot of people did, and taught myself from there. It's been a journey ever since. Jackie: You didn't start off developing in WordPress then. When did WordPress come into the picture, and how big of a part of it is in your daily work now? Matt: In August, I started that position. By December of that year, part of what my role was they had this ancient PHP system that allowed teams, when they were overseas, to upload these text and picture based updates so parents could keep an eye on their kids while they're overseas and make sure they're not in harm's way or anything like that, but this thing was so ancient that anytime you touched it, breathed on it, looked at it the wrong way, it fell apart, it errored out, it deleted things. Honestly, I found WordPress because I was in trouble with my boss for having deleted a bunch of the updates from previous trips on this system. I was like, "I don't understand how this system works. We need to replace it." I'm in trouble, I've got to figure out a quick win, and I came across WordPress and it was the answer to a prayer, almost. It was easy to use, we could do exactly what we needed to do, it worked on terrible third world internet connections. You could use it on slow internet connections. Started doing,

    Episode 9: Acres of Diamonds

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2016 48:47


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Kim Doyal. She runs Kim Doyal, The WordPress Chick podcast, and several other internet businesses. We're talking about Acres of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell. It's a story Kim shared with me about finding gems right in your own backyard. Many of us have been looking for success, thinking the grass is always greener elsewhere. Is there an opportunity right in front of you that you have not seen? Something you're good at that you are not leveraging? That is the basis of the story and why we sometimes see the success of others as a goal to pursue, when there might be diamonds buried in our own backyard. Let's get started. Meet Kim Doyal Kim Doyal runs the W Chick – podcaster, is a coach, WordPress wizard, proud Genesis junkie and co-founder of the #FtheHustle movement. According to Kim, when you commit to fully showing up as YOU, everything shifts in your business. That advice might sound simple, but it took me almost 5 years as an entrepreneur to truly understand the power and the potential of fully showing up as ME. Show Notes Kim's Website: The WP Chick Kim's Twitter link: Kim Doyal Helpful Links: Beaver Builder Thrive Themes Co-Schedule Complete Transcript: Open PDF version of this transcript Jackie: Hey everybody it's Jackie to with another episode or rethink that FM and I have my guest today, Kim Doyal. Kim hi how are you? Kim: I'm fabulous Jackie thank you for having me here. I'm super excited. Jackie: Thanks for joining me today. You’ve picked a really interesting topic to discuss, it’s Acres of Diamonds. And I’m going to put that out there as something to think about as we go through the podcast. But before we get started, can you tell folks who you are and what you do? Kim: Absolutely. My...it is so funny you would think I'd have like this great elevator speech but like most online entrepreneurs things evolve and continue to evolve. So my primary business site is the Wordpress chick and it's TheWPChick.com. And you know it's like I've been doing this gosh I'm getting close to nine years now and really you know I have to say that I fell into the Wordpress sites. I'm not a developer I'm not a coder so I'd say I'm more of a customized. But I have a team that does development and coding now but I just fell in love with the platform. It was in 2008. I just was kind of on a mission to find something else I could do from home. I lost my husband in a car accident in 2003 and at the time I was working full time in retail management and anybody who's ever worked anything like it's just there's no quality of life. And so you know my kids were little they were six and two when my husband passed away and so it just you know we all have our own stories our own tragedies and you go through that and you just know that there's something else there's another way to do this there's a better way to live my life. And so I had a little bit of a cushion in 2008 and I had come across internet marketing I had gone to this real estate wealth Expo. So this was clear pre 2008 right, 2006 maybe. And listening to all this stuff and Tony Robbins was speaking in Robert Kiyosaki and then there were these little you know breakout sessions and this guy was talking about internet marketing and how you was making you know $8000 - $9000 a month selling e-books. And I was like Wow. And I had also at the time I was a big. And this is holy going to date me but I'm like I was a big tape cassette person in the car right. Like when I would be commuting for work and stuff. I was always putting something into my head most of the time it was motivational or business or you know and I was listening to this. It was actually this is actually a CD program.

    Episode 8: Designing User Experiences

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2016 56:48


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Diane Kinney. She is a web designer and developer with over 17 years of experience running her own boutique agency. We're talking all about design and how it is evolving, responsive vs adaptive, clients, SVGs and so much more. Diane shares a wealth of knowledge and experience in this episode, that will be sure to have you rethinking something. A complete transcript of this podcast is available. Let's get started. Meet Diane Kinney Yes, I’m a mega WordPress nerd and I’d love to share the things I’ve learned in the last 17 years of building both simple and complex sites in WordPress. Born and raised in Wisconsin (#gopackgo), my adult life has been spent on the gulf coast of Florida in sunny Sarasota. I delight in the sunshine and weirdly wonderful things that regularly happen in this state. I live with my husband, college student daughter, five cats and three dogs. All of the cats were rescued from certain death by my animal loving daughter and our first dog was a refugee after Hurricane Charley. It’s all very crazy and brimming with love. Show Notes Diane's Business Website: The Versatility Group Diane's Personal Website: DianeKinney.com Diane's Twitter link: @dkinney Helpful Links: Practical SVG by Chris Coyier SVG Support Plugin CodePen.io - CodePen is a playground for the front end side of the web. Using SVG Animation in WordPress Why Encrypting Your Website Is Now Something You Need to Do Val Head - Web and UI animation This episode of Rethink.fm is sponsored by: Erin E Flynn - Business help for web designers and developers. Having trouble with the business part of running a web design business? Check out Erin E Flynn for articles, e-courses, workshops, and a friendly community to help you run your web design business like a pro! Join the crew and become Unstoppable at erineflynn.com! I've tried a few of Erin's products. The Email Templates, Welcome Packet and Intro Packet - I highly recommend then - a great resource to help you run your web design and development business. -Jackie D'Elia Complete Transcript: Open PDF version of this transcript Jackie: Hey everybody, this is Jackie D'Elia with another episode of Rethink.fm for you. I have my guest, Diane Kinney, on board. Hi, Diane. Diane: Hi, Jackie! Jackie: Thank you very much for joining me. Diane: Thank for having me. I'm really excited to be here. Jackie: Our topic is very interesting to me. I know you and I had been chatting earlier for a topic for the show. We were both interested in talking about design. You had some really interesting take on how you wanted to approach that and talk about it. Diane: Absolutely. I have a thought process around design. I love graphic design. I love doing print design and invitations. I've done interpretive signage plans for large organizations. That specific skill of graphic design is something I'm passionate about, but I find to be very very different from the concept of design. When I think of the word design and I think of what we do in the context of websites, social media, and marketing, we're really designing for an outcome. We sit down and ideally think about what experience do I want to create for the user? What feeling do I want to give them? What course of action do I want them to take? That's not strictly limited to ... You know there's a whole discipline around convergent path optimization, which is to get a visitor from point A to point B when they take an action like signing up for a list or buying a product. There are other paths along that journey that build to that result that I don't think people talk about quite enough. I don't know if you are familiar with retargeting in online marketing, but it's the idea that not everybody buys on the first visit, so I''m going to connect with you and try to maintain that connection with you overtime.

    Episode 7: Why Web Accessibility Matters

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2016 37:06


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Rian Rietveld. She is a Web Accessibility expert and leads the WordPress Accessibility Team. She is my first international guest, and lives in the Netherlands. This is a topic I'm passionate about. I finally get to ask Rian all those questions that have been floating around in my head about Web Accessibility. Rian explains why it's important, and what we need to know. A complete transcript of this podcast is now available. Meet Rian Rietveld Rian is a WordPress engineer. She has been developing for the web for over 17 years and focuses on web accessibility and usability. She works at Human Made and leads the WordPress Accessibility Team to improve WordPress core. Show Notes Rian's Website: http://www.rianrietveld.com Rian's Twitter link: Rian Rietveld Helpful Links: Accessible Ready Themes from WordPress.org W3C Accessibility Standards The A11Y Project - A community-driven effort to make web accessibility easier. WordPress Accessibility Team - Useful Accessibility Tools and Plugins wA11y - The Web Accessibility Toolbox WP Accessibility Plugin tota11y - an accessibility visualization toolkit Accessible Ready Themes from WordPress.org Utility Pro Accessible Genesis Theme by Carrie Dils Rian also mentioned a Reader View available on most desktop browsers and mobile devices. I found the latest version of Safari has it. It is the first icon with horizontal lines in the location (URL) bar. I found an extension for Chrome called Reader View that offers that too. Complete Transcript: Open PDF version of this transcript Jackie: Hey everybody. This is Jackie D'Elia with Rethink.fm, the forward thinking podcast about web design and front end development in WordPress. Each episode I'll be talking with fellow designers and developers who are exploring new ways to approach and solve the challenges we face as our industry evolves. I've got questions so let's get started. Welcome to Episode 7 of Rethink.fm with Rian Rietveld. We’ll be talking about Web Accessibility today, what you need to know and why it is important. Before we get started I just like to remind you, if you’re enjoying these episodes of Rethink.fm please head over to iTunes and leave a review. It really does help and I thank you very much for doing that. Let’s get started. Jackie: Hi Rian. Rian: Hi. Jackie: Thank you very much for joining me and I'm so happy that you're going to be talking about accessibility with us and things that you've been up to. For those who don't know you, would you tell us a little bit about yourself? Rian: At the moment I'm a WordPress engineer and I work for Human Made. 25% of my time goes to WordPress Core. I improve with a team, the accessibility of WordPress Core for people with a disability or use the internet in another way most people do. I'm also part of Genesis Community, so I know you off that. I live in the Netherlands with my son and my husband. I love to work in my garden. Anything else you need to know? Jackie: Oh, we're both gardeners. We both love gardening. Yes. I do too. Rian: Well, thank you for having me. Jackie: Thank you. First question for you is how did you get started with WordPress? Then how did that roll into your accessibility focus? Rian: I've been developing websites for 16, 17 years now. I started with just plain HTML pages and then I tried out some CMS's like PhpNuke, this was a big disaster. Then I wrote my own little CMS but slowly that was too small, I needed the proper CMS with all the features. I compared some CMS's like Joomla and Drupal and WordPress and I can't remember why I chose WordPress, actually. I think it was the separation between the themes, actually the work you do and WordPress itself so it was easily updatable and I loved the community. There was a large community, you could ask anything on the forum and there were people ...

    Episode 6: The Heart of a Teacher

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2016 37:35


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Joe Casabona of WP in One Month and How I Built It. We're chatting about front end development, having empathy and stepping into the WP education space. Joe shares a wealth of knowledge on how he's helping others learn WordPress and why he started his new podcast, How I Built It. There is one common thread in everything Joe does, and it is helping others. He truly has the heart of a teacher. Meet Joe Casabona Joe Casabona is a Front End Developer that works in WordPress…a lot. In 2014, he authored a book called Responsive Design with WordPress and 2 other books on web development. He also develops courses on WP in One Month and hosts the How I Built It podcast. Show Notes Personal Site WP in One Month How I Built It Pigments for Atom LearnDash Better Click to Tweet Revive Old Post Duplicate Post Unsplash WP This Episode is sponsored by LearnDash - WordPress LMS… Made EASY! Check out LearnDash. Easily transform your WordPress site into a powerful learning management system using LearnDash. Sell e-learning courses, track user progress, deliver certificates, and much more! LearnDash is trusted by major universities, million dollar marketers, training organizations, and bloggers worldwide. Discover more at LearnDash.com

    Episode 5: The Voice of WordPress with Shawn Hesketh

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2016 45:06


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Shawn Hesketh of WP101 on how his growing business is helping designers and developers provide highly effective WordPress training for clients. Shawn is the Voice of WordPress for so many of us. His company, WP101 produces high quality, professional videos and offers them through the WP101 plugin and at WP101.com. Shawn shares his wealth of knowledge on producing WordPress training courses and even shares helpful tips on how to create your own screencasts. Meet Shawn Hesketh Kay and Shawn Kesketh My name is Shawn Hesketh, and for 26 years, I enjoyed a rewarding career as a freelance designer. Over the years, I built countless WordPress sites for my clients. To get my clients up to speed as quickly as possible, I also provided one-on-one WordPress training. But one-on-one training just isn’t feasible for everyone. So in 2008, I created a WordPress 101 video “crash course” to help beginners learn how to use WordPress in as little time as possible. Show Notes Advice for recording screencasts: Microphones: Blue Yeti and Rode Podcaster. Screencast Tools: Screenflow and Camtasia Audio Enhancements: Garageband and Audacity Learning Management System Shawn talks about why he chose LifterLMS for their membership course platform. Shawn's blog: ShawnHesketh.com This episode may also be found on the Rethink.fm Youtube channel

    Episode 4: The Evolution of a Web Designer

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2016 48:24


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Chris Ford who is leveraging her talents as a successful web designer to empower others. We discuss how her 20 years of web design experience is creating new opportunities in her career evolution. Meet Chris Ford There's one common thread in Chris Ford's 20 year web design career: learning new web design tools, techniques and processes, then teaching them to others. She passionately believes that education is one of the most overlooked and underused ways to improve the user experience of a website or product. Chris is currently in the process of rebooting Creativity Included, her design and branding company, to focus on education for both designers and product businesses. Show Notes Chris mentioned Webflow during the podcast as the tool she uses for wire-framing and mockups. This episode is available on Youtube: Rethinkfm Episode 4.

    Episode 3: Tips for Mastering Client Communications

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2016 45:52


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Erin E Flynn about mastering client communications. To be successful in your freelance business it is crucial that you develop solid communication skills for managing clients and projects. Erin shares tips on how to avoid nightmare clients, and become efficient and effective with your client communications. It is a skill that everyone will benefit from. Meet Erin E Flynn Erin has been making websites since 1999, and started her own web design and development company in 2012. After a few years creating websites for clients, Erin shifted her business. Now, her primary business is helping other designers and developers navigate the difficult waters of entrepreneurship by providing courses and guides to teach everything from how to start a web design business to how to deal with nightmare clients. When she's not teaching designers or working with her own design/development clients, Erin can be found exploring the mountains near her home in Aspen, Colorado. Keep an eye out for Erin's development agency that will be launching this fall! Show Notes A few resources suggested on this topic: Project Management Tools: Freedcamp Basecamp Resources: Erin's website has some very helpful tips on client communications. This episode is alo available on YouTube.

    Episode 2: Content Audits Save Development Time

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2016 47:00


    In this episode, I'm chatting with Sallie Goetsch about Content Audits and how they can save you development time. If you've every had a project with a lot of existing content, performing an audit of that content BEFORE you begin any design or development work, will save you time. We'll talk about what it is and how to go about performing one. It is a valuable service to offer that benefits both you and your client. Meet Sallie Goetsch Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with ‘sketch’) first got online in 1985, via the mainframe at Brown University. She founded an online journal in 1993 and built her first HTML website in 1994. Since discovering WordPress in 2005, she hasn’t looked back. Sallie became the organizer of the East Bay WordPress Meetup in Oakland, California, in 2009. Sallie has produced WordPress videos for Peachpit Press, taught introductory WordPress classes for Mediabistro, and acted as Technical Reviewer for O’Reilly’s WordPress: The Missing Manual. She runs her WP Fangirl consulting and development business from her home in Oakley, which she shares with her husband and two cats. Show Notes A few resources suggested on this topic: Plugins: Content Audit Plugin Export WordPress data to XML/CSV Plugin Books: Content Strategy for the Web (Voices That Matter) Content Strategy for WordPress: Structured content and sustainable workflows for a future-proof site

    Episode 1: Content First Strategy

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2016 43:41


    This episode is all about content. My guest John Locke and I talk about developing a content first strategy when working on client projects. Meet John Locke Since 2012, John has been helping business owners in Sacramento and across the country. His WordPress consultancy, Lockedown Design, helps businesses improve their SEO, launch and improve their e-commerce stores, and solves business critical problems on their WordPress websites. John also serves the WordPress community as a co-organizer the Sacramento WordPress Meetup and as the co-host of the WP-Tonic podcast.

    Episode 0: Launch of Rethink.fm

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2016 29:41


    In this episode, I'm talking about how the idea for Rethink.fm came to be. Tonya Mork shares her thoughts on WordPress, code, and workflow. Meet Tonya Mork Tonya teaches programming, how to think about code, and how to build WordPress products (themes and plugins) at Know the Code. She is always examining the way we do things to find a better path, one that is more efficient, effective, that moves us forward, and is balanced with the intent. She loves sharing ideas, planting seeds, and inspiring others to consider a different approach. She is an engineer, innovator and a forward-thinker.

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