Derek Hanson

  • Mirror People

    Mirror People

    Bodies become narrowThin sheets reflectingNothing, only surroundings.Millions of images bounce aboutMystic lust and violent rageA soulless avenue to opennessFlat are the mirrors with nothingBehind, only depictingBegging to imitateThe same reflection as the restReflecting.All mirrors are alikeStuck in the ever presentNever forward, never backFlat, narrow, facelessMirrors live forDepend on the outsideFor it tells mirrorsWhat to be.

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  • The Sower’s Commitment

    The Sower’s Commitment

    A man tends to his garden, nurturing each plant with dedication and sacrifice, only to realize that he neglected something more precious. This poignant short story, originally published in Grand View University’s literary journal Bifrost, reflects on love, loss, and the regrets that linger.

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  • To Tag or Not to Tag: What is the Optimal Number of Tags for your WordPress Blog

    To Tag or Not to Tag: What is the Optimal Number of Tags for your WordPress Blog

    During a recent WordPress website redesign project, I was asked a very interesting question that I hadn’t given much though: What is the optimal number of tags to use on a site? Wow! I never really considered the “optimal” number of tags for a site. I would say for an individual post 5–10 would be…

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  • Tinkering with Canva AI Image Creation for Technical Communication Journal Cover Art

    Tinkering with Canva AI Image Creation for Technical Communication Journal Cover Art

    I came across a post on LinkedIn from a former grad school colleague, Philip Gallagher, with a call for submissions of cover illustrations for the Society of Technical Communicators (STC) Technical Communication journal. The theme was, “illustrations on New Horizons in Technical Communication,” which immediately led me to think AI was the only type of cover…

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  • Some changes coming soon

    Some changes coming soon

    A recent update seems to have messed with my blog card design. I just can’t get figure out why the editor view of my query loop looks perfect while the front end looks totally borked. Well, I’ll take this as an opportunity to update my theme. If you follow my blog, which I know there’s…

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  • Some new features to watch

    Check out Footnotes and Details blocks! No need for complicated plugins for simple additions to your blog or website. The Footnotes could be quite handy.

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  • Block Visibility Plugin

    Block Visibility Plugin

    The Block Visibility plugin developed by Nick Diego for WordPress is my absolute favorite block plugin right now for WordPress. This plugin provides an extensive array of visibility controls that empowers website owners to tailor the appearance and behavior of their content in a highly flexible manner. Here are five practical applications of the visibility…

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  • Mini Twenty Fourteen is Live in the Museum of Block Art

    Mini Twenty Fourteen is Live in the Museum of Block Art

    I wanted to learn more about block building in Gutenberg and tested myself with recreating a classic WordPress theme, Twenty Fourteen. I decided to submit my work to the Museum of Block Art, and it was accepted! You can check out my entry in the gallery. This was a ton of fun to do. I…

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  • WP Job Manager gets a redesign

    WP Job Manager gets a redesign

    WP Job Manager has recently undergone a brand refresh and now sports a new website! Maybe you haven’t checked it out for a while, so if you are considering building a job listing website, WP Job Manager is the Plugin you shouldn’t miss. Here are 5 reasons why WP Job Manager should be your preferred…

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  • Get Paid on Any Plan: Introducing Payments for the Free Plan and Up

    No limits, starting now. Earn money from your site, even on the Free plan. Get Paid on Any Plan: Introducing Payments for the Free Plan and Up This is a great way for anyone to gain entry into the creator economy. Start small, grow a following, then grow your site with more features.

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  • Automattic Donates €20,000 to Fund Next Phase of Drupal Gutenberg Development

    Drupal Gutenberg, the Gutenberg module for Drupal that was created by a Norway-based agency called Frontkom, has received a €20,000 donation from … Automattic Donates €20,000 to Fund Next Phase of Drupal Gutenberg Development This is amazing! Blocks take over the internet!

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  • Reblogging Gets a Refresh

    Reblogging is a way to show appreciation for another creator’s work while also providing your own audience with a valuable piece of news, work of art… Reblogging Gets a Refresh Well, this is cool. Might as well give it a shot and see what this new reblog thing is all about. If WordPress reader continues…

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Recent Notes

Short form posts. These are quick thoughts that might turn into full posts. Click the date to leave a comment.

  • I had a great conversation recently with Andrew Sutton and Hari Gudatti, both of Iowa State University, about WordPress, open source, cloud infrastructure, WordPress.com hosting, WP Cloud, Pressable, Jetpack, and the value of owning your own domain.

    I was excited to hear a young college student share a passion for open source. The more connections we can make with the next generation(s), the more we can continue the mission of open source and collaboration. WordPress is the leader in open source ideology, and it is one of the best communities for anyone to join at any level.

    Let’s continue to champion WordPress, open source, collaboration, and community. Together, we can continue to thrive and change the world.

  • Woo is doing a ton to improve performance. I’m especially excited to see more use of the interactivity API. #woo #woocommerce #wordpress

  • WordPress 6.9 is coming in December! The accordion and stretchy blocks are great new additions to core. My favorite feature is inline comments. Although, command palette everywhere is very close. If you haven’t navigated WordPress admin with keyboard shortcuts, wait until you give it a try. It’s so nice to jump around your site with just a quick command.

  • There are some things that are annoying about Grammarly, but I appreciate the updates about my productivity it sends me. Recently, I hit a pretty significant milestone.

    I eclipsed 1,000,000 words since I started using Grammarly in December of 2024. As of this note, I have written 1,132,190 words. That’s crazy!

    The Grammarly insights share some other fun stats in these updates, such as your most common error, what your primary tone is, and if you use unique words. These change from week-to-week, so my error messages and tone shift quite regularly. However, one thing that remains consistent is that I use more unique words than 99% of Grammarly users.

    That’s something…I guess.

  • Studio by WordPress.com has been my favorite new tool for WordPress. It has pushed a TON of amazing features over the past year, and they really ramped up the development cycle cadence.

    This is snappy local environment that anyone looking to try out WordPress, test themes and plugins, or create a robust developer workflow will enjoy. Hats off to Nick Diego for shepherding Studio!

    #wordpress #studio #studiobywordpress #wordpresscom #wordpresscomstudio

All Notes

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