Jeff Chandler

  • WPWeekly Episode 292 – Recap of WooConf and CaboPress

    WPWeekly Episode 292 – Recap of WooConf and CaboPress

    In this episode, John James Jacoby and I are joined by Cody Landefeld, co-founder of Mode Effect. Landefeld described his experience attending WooConf as we reviewed highlights from the State of the Woo. We also discussed WooCommerce retiring its Canvas theme in favor of Storefront. Jacoby shared his experience attending CaboPress and near the end of…

  • WordPress 4.9 Beta 4 Removes ‘Try Gutenberg’ Call to Action

    WordPress 4.9 Beta 4 Removes ‘Try Gutenberg’ Call to Action

    WordPress beta releases typically don’t generate controversy but in WordPress 4.9 Beta 3, a call to action was added to the dashboard that encouraged users to install and activate Gutenberg. Members of the WordPress community raised concerns that clients may install Gutenberg and shared ways to hide the prompt from users. The negative reaction inspired…

  • From Building WordPress Sites to Selling Plugins in One Year

    From Building WordPress Sites to Selling Plugins in One Year

    This is a guest post written by Katie Keith, co-founder of Barn2 Media. In this post, Keith shares the lessons she and her husband learned transitioning from client work to selling WordPress products in one year. If you’ve ever dreamed of quitting client work and earning passive income by selling WordPress themes and plugins, you’re…

  • WooCommerce Stores on Track to Surpass $10B in Sales This Year

    WooCommerce Stores on Track to Surpass $10B in Sales This Year

    The third annual WooConf, the official conference for WooCommerce, is underway today. It started off with a keynote by Todd Wilkens, Head of WooCommerce, providing an overview of the project’s accomplishments over the past year and a preview of what’s to come. https://twitter.com/johnkentsf/status/921054095120756737 When the crowd was asked to guess how much in sales WooCommerce…

  • WordPress 4.9 Protects Users From Fatal Errors Created in the Theme and Plugin Editors

    WordPress 4.9 Protects Users From Fatal Errors Created in the Theme and Plugin Editors

    Over the years, there have been many discussions and debates on whether or not WordPress should have a built-in file editor for themes and plugins. The file editors, while convenient, allow users to easily trigger fatal errors that can be difficult to fix, especially if they don’t have FTP access. Instead of removing the editors…

  • WPWeekly Episode 291 – All Hands on Deck on The Ship of Theseus

    WPWeekly Episode 291 – All Hands on Deck on The Ship of Theseus

    In this episode, John James Jacoby and I discuss the news of the week including DonateWC sponsoring its first recipient to WordCamp Cape Town, WordPress 4.9 Beta 1, and WooCommerce 3.2. We also have a bit of fun with Poopy.life and blurt out a few crappy puns. Last but not least, we dissect Matías Ventura’s…

  • WordPress 4.9 Adds Scheduling, Drafts, and Front-End Preview Links to the Customizer

    WordPress 4.9 Adds Scheduling, Drafts, and Front-End Preview Links to the Customizer

    While WordPress 4.8 focused on adding new widgets, visual improvements to links in the text editor, and a new dashboard widget that displays nearby events, WordPress 4.9 places a heavy emphasis on customization. In WordPress 4.9, the Customizer has a new publish button with options to publish, save draft, or schedule changes. Edits made via…

  • Disqus Data Breach Affects 17.5 Million Accounts

    Disqus Data Breach Affects 17.5 Million Accounts

    Disqus, a comment management and hosting service, has announced it suffered a data breach that affects 17.5 million users. A snapshot of its database from 2012 with information dating back to 2007 containing email addresses, usernames, sign-up dates, and last login dates in plain-text were exposed. Passwords hashed with the SHA1 protocol and a salt…

  • DonateWC Successfully Sponsors its First Applicant to WordCamp Cape Town

    DonateWC Successfully Sponsors its First Applicant to WordCamp Cape Town

    DonateWC has selected and successfully sponsored its first applicant to WordCamp Cape Town. The recipient has chosen to remain anonymous although they are a speaker at the event. Funds left over from the initial crowdfunding campaign and from the general donation pool were used to cover expenses. The total cost of sponsorship is €669.24 with…

  • WPWeekly Episode 290 – Putting The Rad in Brad

    WPWeekly Episode 290 – Putting The Rad in Brad

    In this episode, I’m joined by special guest co-host Brad Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of the website design and development agency WebDevStudios. Brad shared his experience at CampPress and is looking forward to attending the event again in 2018. We discussed the recent move to moderate all comments on the Tavern again. We covered the…

  • WPWeekly Episode 289 – Where Did WordPress’ Ease of Use Go?

    WPWeekly Episode 289 – Where Did WordPress’ Ease of Use Go?

    In this episode, John James Jacoby and I are joined by Scott Bolinger. Bolinger recently attended a Content and Commerce Summit where WordPress and WooCommerce were not mentioned. Bolinger shared the perspective he gained from an attending the event and speaking with a friend who uses Shopify. We discuss what happened to WordPress’ ease of…

  • Camp Press – A Detox from Digital Life

    Camp Press – A Detox from Digital Life

    The following is a guest post by Brad Williams who shares his experience at Camp Press this past weekend. Brad is the Co-Founder and CEO of the website design and development agency WebDevStudios. He is also a co-author of the Professional WordPress book series. Brad is a US Marine Corps veteran and has been developing…

  • Scott Bolinger Shares Unique Perspective of WordPress From Outside the Bubble

    Scott Bolinger Shares Unique Perspective of WordPress From Outside the Bubble

    Scott Bolinger, a product developer focused on the WordPress space who has created several products, including AppPresser and Holler Box, recently attended Content and Commerce Summit 2017. This conference focuses on what’s working in eCommerce, digital media, information publishing, and subscription commerce. According to Bolinger, WordPress and WooCommerce were not topics of discussion. “It really opened…

  • DonateWC Reaches Fundraising Goal

    DonateWC Reaches Fundraising Goal

    DonateWC, an initiative focused on providing less fortunate people an opportunity to attend large WordCamps has reached its fundraising goal of 1,000€. Ines van Essen expressed gratitude and appreciation for the donations. “The responses and feedback that have come in during the past week have been overwhelming,” She said. “I can’t believe we can already…

  • WPWeekly Episode 288 – No React.js Framework for Gutenberg

    WPWeekly Episode 288 – No React.js Framework for Gutenberg

    While I was supposed to be on vacation last week, I instead had surgery for a broken ankle. Tune in to hear the hilarious explanation on how I broke it. The lesson I learned is to not chase animals out of the yard. John James Jacoby and I discuss the news of the week, including…