Tag: theming

Twenty Twenty in 2020

New theme, who dis?

I’ve finally done it. As a chronic late adopter it did take me forever, but I finally changed themes on this site, which is now running Twenty Twenty, the latest WordPress default theme. It’s going to take me a while to get used to – I’ve been running my beloved Writr since first launching the blog in 2013 – but it was overdue, so here we are.

I also switched over to the block editor – aka Gutenberg – another embarrassingly late move to the modern WordPress world.

It’s been a good “empathy exercise.” As a full-time Happiness Engineer helping users build and customize their sites, it’s so easy for me to tell someone, “Go ahead and switch themes, it’ll be fine!” or “Oh yeah, activate the block editor, you’ll love it!”

Doing it myself is another story.

But… it’s been alright so far. No, really! OK, I’ve already encountered two small visual bugs that I’ll report when I’m back at work, but that’s what dogfooding is for, isn’t it?

Speaking of bugs, if you spot anything amiss, do feel feel free to let me know. In the meantime, I hope you like the new look.

May 2020 be good to you all, whether you decide to shake things up or not.

Tags theming, twenty twenty

WordPress

Upcoming Theme Workshops

I realized recently that when I used to run my own web development business, I was always good about letting people know ahead of time about things I’d be doing in the future. Once I started working at Automattic, I stopped doing that as often, and instead mainly write about things I’ve already done. I’m going to break that habit today, and let you know where you can catch me at two upcoming events!

Getting Comfortable With Child Themes

Tuesday August 8, 6:30-9:30pm ET

I’ll be giving a workshop on creating child themes with WordPress at this year’s WordCamp Montréal. The cost is CA$10, and you need to buy a ticket in advance. Not sure what a child theme is or why you’d want to make one? Check out all the details.

We’ll be offering all sorts of other useful WordPress-related workshops that week, culminating in the two-day WordCamp Montréal event over the weekend of August 12-13. Hope to see you there!

The Developer’s Guide to Supporting Your Themes

Wednesday, August 23, 2017, 16:00 UTC (12:00 ET)

Not in Montréal? I’ll be offering a free online workshop on improving your support skills as a theme developer. While geared to theme support specifically, many of the skills will be relevant to other types of support, so if you’re a plugin developer or volunteering in the WordPress.org or .com forums, you’ll likely pick up some tips as well. Learn more and join us!

featured image by Nic Price (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Tags child themes, theming, workshops

WordPress

Hands-on Child Theming

A few months ago, the WordCamp Ottawa organizers asked if I’d turn my half-hour WordPress child-theming talk into a longer practical workshop. Always eager to spread the word about child themes, I agreed.

I wasn’t sure how the workshop would go, since there were a lot of unknowns: from how many people would show up and what their skill levels would be, to whether the Wifi would hold up and if I’d have too much material (or not enough) for the two-hour slot.

Fortunately it all worked out quite well, and with the help of a few excellent TAs (thank you again Shanta, Jonathan, and Rick!), a roomful of eager participants learned how to create a WordPress child theme last Sunday afternoon.

If you’re interested in exploring the world of child themes yourself, check out the theory behind them and learn when child themes are useful — then get your feet wet with the hands-on exercises.

Happy child theming!