Notes on a talk by Rob Spangler
- Enjoys the phrase “independent contractor” better than “freelancer”
- It’s okay to think outside of the box. Don’t be constrained by vague instructions.
Principle to Practical
- Dont’ think about WordPress (yet)
- Pause, breathe, and listen to the music. Think about what the site should really look like
- Start with your “Problem”
- You can’t just go buy nails and sheet rock and start slapping together a house
- Plan, sketch, decide, design, develop
- Design within limits, but don’t be limited by your design.
- Deliver what is awesome, then scale back if you have to.
Practical
- Know The Language
- Don’t create usability issues by adding crazy design features
- Know what your limits are
- Know what WordPress can already do
- Don’t be scared of using Custom Fields.
- Custom Post Types are pretty spectacular, they prevent hacky use of custom fields.
- Menu functionality is much better than it used to be, and that’s reason to utilize it.
- “I use the crap out of Featured Images” because they are helpful and can make page to page differences extremely easy.
- Text Widget is great for using social media embed codes that then generate tweets or activity.
Custom Plugins
- Sometimes it just needs to be done
- WordPress is flexible enough that we can do this easily
- Don’t be afraid to take a slice of code you use frequently and create a plugin
- WordPress is your canvas and we are painting onto it. Know what’s in WordPress and use it.
A great talk that just skimmed the surface of Custom Post Types, Custom Fields and custom WordPress. Follow Rob on Twitter at @robertspangler
Tags: baltimore, custom fields, custom post types, freelance, theme dev, wordcamp, wordpressprevious post: How to Help a Developer… next post: After Effects Tutorial – Track Mattes
