Brad Williams Blog: Life of an Internet Startup

Professional WordPress – New Book Coming Soon!

Brad — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:51:14 +0000

I’m extremely excited to announce a new book I am co-authoring: Professional WordPress.

Professional WordPress will be a WROX publication, which is the technical branch of Wiley books. I have the honor of writing this book with David Damstra and Hal Stern, both of which have an extensive background working with WordPress.

We have officially crossed the 50% mark writing this new book so I thought it was a perfect time to officially announce it! Professional WordPress is a more advanced book detailing everything WordPress has to offer. There are WordPress books on the scene currently, and even more being written, but Professional WordPress is unlike any books on the market. We take a more advanced look at WordPress, from breaking down functions and classes, to exploring in depth each WordPress API, this book is for anyone wanting to take the next step in WordPress website development.

Below is our official book description:
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As the most popular blogging and content management platform available today, WordPress is a powerful tool. This exciting book goes beyond the basics and delves into the heart of the WordPress system, offering overviews of the functional aspects of WordPress as well as plugin and theme development.

What is covered in this book?
• Detailed review of WordPress Functionality and Codebase
• The Loop and Data Management
• Plugin Development
• Theme Development
• Content Aggregation, SEO and User Experience
• Statistics, Scalability, Security and Spam
• Using WordPress as a CMS
• Using WordPress in the Enterprise
• Moving your existing site to WordPress

This book takes an “internals” view of WordPress and drives the fundamentals of how things work to explain use cases and extensions to the core platform. Including hands on examples, and real world tips, this exhaustive book is a must-have for Web and PHP professionals developing on the WordPress platform.
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You can follow our progress and any Professional WordPress news with the hash tag #prowp. Now that we have officially announced our book we plan on using that hash tag more often. You can also pre-order your copy of Professional WordPress starting today! The book is currently planned for a March 2010 release date.

Now to finish the final 50%!

My Interview with Matt Mullenweg of WordPress

Brad — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:20:35 +0000

I had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Mullenweg, the founding developer of WordPress, for the SitePoint podcast recently.

Matt and I covered a range of topics including WordPress and MU, contributing to WordPress, commercial plugins, what to expect in the future of WordPress, and how to get involved with WordPress.

Matt is great to interview and we had a lot of fun. I even found out what actor would play Matt if a WordPress movie is ever created. Can you guess who? Listen to the episode to find out!

This is the first in a series of one-on-one interviews we’ll be conducting for the SitePoint Podcast. I’m going to focus on interviewing high profile figures in the open source scene. Stay tuned for much more interview goodness!

WordPress Security from WordCamp Montreal

Brad — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:27:52 +0000

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of attending WordCamp Montreal. I gave a presentation on WordPress Security at the event. You can view my slideshow presentation below:

WordPress Security

On My Way to WordCamp Montreal

Brad — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:24:45 +0000

I’m writing this blog post from an Amtrak train on my way to Montreal, Quebec for WordCamp Montreal!

As we cruise along the train tracks I’m working on the final touches to my WordPress Security presentation for the event. Taking the train really is the way to go. The ride is much longer (12 hours total from NJ), but this gives me plenty of time to work on some projects. It’s also much cheaper than flying and you get to enjoy the amazing scenary during the trip!

Amtrak doesn’t provide wireless internet onboard, but I’m equipped with an AT&T Air card so I’m able to get online. The train does provide power strips at all of the seats which is a lifesaver.

We should arrive in Montreal about 8pm EDT and ready to hit the city!

I’m Speaking at WordCamp Montreal!

Brad — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:51:52 +0000

Next stop on my WordCamp Tour is WordCamp Montreal! I will be giving a presentation on WordPress Security at the event.
My presentation will cover how to keep your WordPress powered website secure from hackers and exploits. I’ll show examples of hacked sites, share tips and plugins for keeping WordPress secure, and talk about my experiences with WordPress and security overall.

WordCamp Montreal will take place in Montreal, Quebec on July 11-12.

I’m taking the scenic train ride from NYC to Montreal (12 hours!) and also plan on attending the Jazz Festival while in town. WordCamps are awesome and so is traveling so I’m really looking forward to this event, aye!

I Survived WordCamp Chicago!

Brad — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:23:35 +0000

The WebDevStudios team survived WordCamp Chicago 2009! We flew in Friday night, after a much delayed flight, and arrived just in time for pizza and drinks at Lou Malnati’s. During dinner we met Lisa Sabin-Wilson (author of WordPress for Dummies), Jeff Chandler (WP Weekly host and WPTavern.com owner), and a few other WordPress enthusiasts.

Saturday morning came very early, after staying up until 2am the night before, but we managed to wake up and make it to WordCamp Chicago! I met a lot of great people at WordCamp including Matt Mullenweg (founder of WordPress), Jeremy Wright (CEO of b5media), David Peralty (co-host of WP Weekly), Dan Schulz (Advisor on SitePoint), Erin Blaskie, and lots of other WP Enthusiasts.

The presentations at WordCamp Chicago were great. I would have liked to seen more of a focus on WordPress, rather than blogging and branding presentations, but I understand that users outnumber designers and developers at these conferences. The presenters all did a really great job.

If you have never been to a WordCamp, GO! These events are awesome and I can already tell I am starting to get addicted to them.

Next up, WordCamp Montreal in July (which I am speaking at)!

Advanced Thesis Techniques and Tricks

Brad — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:51:00 +0000

I recently gave a presentation on the WordPress Thesis theme at WordCamp Mid-Atlantic. I wanted to share that presentation with everyone so the slides are embedded below:

Advanced Thesis Techniques and Tricks

View more from Brad Williams.

I’m Speaking at WordCamp Mid-Atlantic!

Brad — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:06:44 +0000

I’ve been given the opportunity to speak at WordCamp Mid-Atlantic 2009!

WordCamp Mid-Atlantic will take place in Baltimore, Maryland on May 16th from 8am to 5pm. I will be giving a presentation titled:

Advanced Thesis Techniques and Tricks

Thesis 1.5 was just released yesterday so I’m very excited to share some Thesis knowledge with other WordPress enthusiasts, including new features! If you are planning on attending WordCamp Mid-Atlantic drop me a line. See you in B-town!

330 Days Later and my House is Sold!

Brad — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:08:30 +0000

As most of you know I moved to New Jersey in April of last year.

My house went up for sale the day I left and stayed on the market for 330 days. I am happy to announce my house has finally been sold! I think I picked the worst time in my life to put a house up for sale and move to an extremely expensive state to live in, but who knew the entire economy was going to collapse like it did?

I have to admit it was somewhat of a struggle to get on my feet in New Jersey and still maintain a mortgage payment in Indiana. I’m really proud of myself for hanging in there and not taking the easy way out with foreclosure.

I guess good things do come to those who wait!

WordPress Theme Showcase Plugin Example

Brad — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:05:01 +0000

Below is a test of my WordPress Theme Showcase plugin. Below are the three themes I have loaded in my wp-config/themes folder. Each theme thumbnail has a “Preview Theme” link that lets you view the theme on your site. Great way to show off your themes to the public!

Fully compatible with WordPress 2.7 and WordPress MU 2.7

Brad Williams Blog: Life of an Internet Startup

Professional WordPress – New Book Coming Soon!

My Interview with Matt Mullenweg of WordPress

WordPress Security from WordCamp Montreal

On My Way to WordCamp Montreal

I’m Speaking at WordCamp Montreal!

I Survived WordCamp Chicago!

Advanced Thesis Techniques and Tricks

I’m Speaking at WordCamp Mid-Atlantic!

330 Days Later and my House is Sold!

WordPress Theme Showcase Plugin Example

(Not so) Fresh

WordPress Classic

WordPress Default