Let’s code!

As a full-time sponsored member of the WordPress Training Team at Automattic, one of the things I get to do is host weekly online coding workshops for Learn WordPress. I’ve labeled these workshops “Let’s Code” as I typically live code a solution to something during the hour.

This page is a collection of my Let’s Code online workshops, which are all available on WordPress.tv.

Creating your first child theme for WordPress
Creating your first plugin
The WordPress Shortcode API
An introduction to Block Development
Using the create-block Tool to scaffold your first block
Converting a Shortcode into a Block

Latest Posts


  • What Is the Best Local Web Development Environment for macOS?

    And why is it (currently) Laravel Valet? One of the main reasons I switched from Windows to Ubuntu for my development workstation back in 2006 was that I was tired of complicated setups for managing local development environments. Because Rasmus Lerdorf, the creator of PHP, spent a lot of time making Linux, Apache, and MySQL […]

  • Belief

    japanese lucky coin cat

    #ClickPublish When I was young, I believed I was allergic to mac and cheese! I won’t go into the details of why, but that belief was so strong that once at a pre-grade 8 summer camp, I refused to eat dinner one night because it was mac and cheese. To this day, I still don’t […]

  • 10 Things I Hate About Ubuntu

    I generally consider myself someone to be open to new experiences and prepared to consider both sides in any given discussion. This does sometimes mean that I may express opinions that are not popular. As Morten once reminded me so well, “The devil’s advocate advocates for the devil”, and he’s not wrong. After I posted […]

  • Route 44

    If you live close to Cape Town, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, you’ve probably heard of the R44. It’s the road that runs from Gordons Bay, along the coast past places like Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay, and Kleinmond, and connects back to the R43 at Arabella Country Estate. On the other side […]

  • Using a MacBook As a Long-time Ubuntu User – The Week of Mac

    Macbook

    This post summarizes my (almost) week of using a Mac, as a long-time Ubuntu user. You can read why I tried this experiment here. Thursday – Day 1 The first annoyance started when I connected the MacBook up to the USB type-C hub I had purchased. While the hub did its job well (more on […]

  • Using a MacBook as a Long-time Ubuntu User – Preparation

    Using a MacBook Day 0

    If you read my last post, after 30 years of using computers, I bought my first Apple laptop. I’ve long been opposed to using Apple products for various reasons. However, the combination of the new Apple silicon and a requirement for access to an Apple computer for my work means that I now own an […]

  • Apple Silicon MacBook Air – Unboxing and Initial Thoughts

    MacBook Air

    If you’ve spent any time reading this blog, you will know that my personal operating system of choice is Ubuntu. I’ve used Ubuntu since 2006, first as a local development server (a physical box hooked up my local network), and then switched to using it as my daily driver in 2008. I had short stint […]

  • Async Conf – An Asynchronous Online Conference

    brown and black wooden chairs inside room

    Ever since the world of tech conferences went to shit last year, I’ve not attended any virtual ones. They don’t appeal to me at all. The main reason is that when I attend conferences, it’s to meet up with my fellow attendees, greet old friends, meet new ones, and discuss all manner of topics. Attending […]

  • From Digital Ocean App Platform to Self Hosted SpinupWP Managed VPS

    Earlier this year, I threw together a silly little joke app built on Laravel in a couple of hours. I had merely wanted to participate in the Digital Ocean App Platform Hackathon and had no further plans for the app. Another App Platform Hackathon participant liked it enough to contribute some substantial improvements, including a […]