WP Builds

The WordPress news from the last week which commenced Monday 1st April 2023.

So we’re back with another ‘podcast hijack’, in which the WP Builds podcast is temporarily taken over by a new podcast that I’m doing with David Waumsley.

It’s called “The No Script Show”, and we’re getting back to the basics which we feel we’ve lost touch with, namely HTML and CSS. This week, it's all about something called 'component based web design', but before that, a few words about what this show is about...

Over the years our reliance on tools like Page Builders mean that we’ve not kept up with the new technologies which are becoming available to us via the browser, HTML and CSS… and that made us sad!

Sad because there’s real power in what can now be achieved, and it’s an exciting time, where CSS can do much of the heavy lifting which used to be the domain of Javascript.

Does this mean that WordPress is not in view, not for me, but WordPress uses all-the-things we discuss, so they’re tied together in so many ways!

The hope is that you’ll enjoy the podcast enough to subscribe to it and enjoy the podcast as we get into this new subject.

There are the show notes that you’ll find on the noscript.show website for this episode.

Today we are talking about how do we start a website project?

Today we have a conversation with Jonathan Jernigan, the co-creator of the Pie Calendar plugin for WordPress. Jonathan has been working with WordPress for many years. For 5 years he worked with Oxygen, and within the last year has made the switch to full-time GenerateBlocks and GeneratePress as his tools of choice. As if that were not enough, he's also the co-founder of Pie Calendar, which is the reason that he's on the podcast today. This episode gets into the philosophy and strategy behind creating a WordPress plugin that champions a less-is-more approach. Jonathan, alongside his colleague Elijah Mills, took the decision that they wanted Pie Calendar be minimal and adapt to the needs of its users, be affordable, and concentrate upon a feature set which they could maintain. If you're interested in a lightweight calendar plugin for your WordPress website, this episode is for you.

The WordPress news from the last week which commenced Monday 18th March 2024.

Today we are talking about CSS container queries. These mark a serious advancement in what browsers will allow us to do, but we are asking what does that mean for us right now? CSS container queries off the potential for granular styling based on container size. We discuss the challenges overcome to make container queries possible, highlight real-world usage examples, and share our personal perspectives on their significance. We also hint at a potential shift in the show's focus for future episodes. Go listen...

The WordPress news from the last week which commenced Monday 11th March 2024.

Today we welcome Nenad Conic of Maksimer, to discuss some of the challenges and solutions in WooCommerce e-commerce projects. Maksimer, which has been at the forefront of WordPress and WooCommerce-based e-commerce solutions since its founding in 2009, has been creating large-scale and complex online stores. Nenad gets into the work required to operate a WooCommerce store with over 1.2 million products, and talks about how they developed a specialised platform for online medication management, utilising WooCommerce for subscription services within the constraints of healthcare regulations. The episode also gets into an ambitious endeavour where Maksimer used WooCommerce Bookings to craft a booking system for a camping site website, integrating a React application with Google Maps API to enhance the user experience. It's a really great implementation and shows how, with the right knowledge, Woo can be used for unconventional e-commerce scenarios. It's a fascinating discussion, showing what Woo is capable of if you've got the time, budget, expertise to hire a team like Maksimer. Good food for thought concerning the future of e-commerce in WordPress.

The WordPress news from the last week which commenced Monday 26th February 2024.

So we’re back with another ‘podcast hijack’, in which the WP Builds podcast is temporarily taken over by a new podcast that I’m doing with David Waumsley. It’s called “The No Script Show”, and we’re getting back to the basics which we feel we’ve lost touch with, namely HTML and CSS. This week, it's all about something called 'component based web design', but before that, a few words about what this show is about... Over the years our reliance on tools like Page Builders mean that we’ve not kept up with the new technologies which are becoming available to us via the browser, HTML and CSS… and that made us sad! Does this mean that WordPress is not in view, not for me, but WordPress uses all-the-things we discuss, so they’re tied together in so many ways! The hope is that you’ll enjoy the podcast enough to subscribe to it and enjoy the podcast as we get into this new subject. This episode looks at 'component based web design', what it is, and do we even need it?

The WordPress news from the last week which commenced Monday 19th February 2023.