Derek Hanson

Archive

Notes

Quick thoughts, links, and photos. Smaller than an essay and posted more often; this is where most of the day-to-day lives.

  • Did you know WordPress.com has a website speed…

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    Did you know WordPress.com has a website speed test tool? It’s pretty slick. I like the way the results are displayed and the recommendations. Everything feels much more readable than…

    Did you know WordPress.com has a website speed test tool? It’s pretty slick. I like the way the results are displayed and the recommendations. Everything feels much more readable than some of the alternatives.

  • Have you tried Jetpack’s AI image generator? You…

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    Have you tried Jetpack’s AI image generator? You should. I’m floored at how well this worked. With one short prompt I got something better than I expected. This is still…

    Have you tried Jetpack’s AI image generator? You should. I’m floored at how well this worked. With one short prompt I got something better than I expected. This is still a newer part of Jetpack, so I expect it will only get better.

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    I am now adding a new topic to my YouTube content plan, and I think it will be my first video. Current conversations in the WordPress creator community are around…

    I am now adding a new topic to my YouTube content plan, and I think it will be my first video. Current conversations in the WordPress creator community are around the philosophy of WordPress and who it is for. This is really weighing on me lately because the ecosystem and user base is so vast and diverse that it needs to be unpacked.

    The question I think I’m getting at is this: Who is WordPress for?

    What do you think? Let me know in the comments what you think.

  • I’ve wondered for a long time why you…

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    I’ve wondered for a long time why you can’t associate images with categories and tags in WordPress. It’s a pretty common design request to have unique archive pages, but manually…

    I’ve wondered for a long time why you can’t associate images with categories and tags in WordPress. It’s a pretty common design request to have unique archive pages, but manually curating images across multiple archives is not scalable. So, I took this as an opportunity to make my first request to the Gutenberg project. Check out my GitHub issue! Adding featured image upload support for categories and tags would be a great improvement.

    What do you think? Should you be able to upload featured images to taxonomies in core? How could this transform your approach to designing block themes? Check out the GitHub issue and give it a 👍 if you agree with the request!

  • I’m working on something 😉. My visual rhetoric…

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    I’m working on something 😉. My visual rhetoric friends should spot the inspiration. Can’t wait to share my progress in the Develop Your First Low-Code Block Theme course on learn.wordpress.org.…

    I’m working on something 😉. My visual rhetoric friends should spot the inspiration. Can’t wait to share my progress in the Develop Your First Low-Code Block Theme course on learn.wordpress.org.

  • It’s fun when you get stuck in a…

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    It’s fun when you get stuck in a rabbit hole of WordPress research and stumble upon old plugin gems. Go on a fun journey with me. Let’s use the 🐇…

    It’s fun when you get stuck in a rabbit hole of WordPress research and stumble upon old plugin gems. Go on a fun journey with me. Let’s use the 🐇 to stand in for “jump to” on this adventure.

    WP Product Talk 🐇 WP Minute 🐇 a different WP Minute 🐇 Slocum Studio 🐇 Conductor 🐇 Easy Support Videos.

    First, what a retro vibe on the Slocum YouTube channel. Matt Medeiros has been in the game for a long time! 📺

    Let’s talk about Easy Support Videos. How great and useful is this plugin? It’s the type of add-on that makes WordPress so great and fun. A simple plugin that accomplishes a simple job yet provides tremendous value.

    One of the biggest challenges of agency-partner relationships is communication. Step back a bit and consider the biggest communication burden is not in creating a site but rather the ongoing support of a partner maintaining their site. 📞

    Easy Support Videos helps bridge the communication gap by eliminating back-and-forth over support emails and drops on-demand help and training directly into a partner’s website.

    If you’re an agency site builder, give the plugin a try!

    I’m building a YouTube content plan—full post on my blog coming soon, so subscribe! ✉️—that will now include a series on throwback plugins (working title). Start sending me some old plugins that may be lost or forgotten but could still provide value and joy to WordPress users today.

  • Radical idea 💡. With the new pattern overrides…

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    Radical idea 💡. With the new pattern overrides coming in WordPress 6.6, what if you only used the Post Content block in page templates? One type of page design experience…

    Radical idea 💡. With the new pattern overrides coming in WordPress 6.6, what if you only used the Post Content block in page templates? One type of page design experience that is common for sites is to have a hero image background, page title, subtitle text, and a call to action button.

    When you do this design in a page template, you can get the page title and subtitle to be easily editable because you just use the Title block and Excerpt block, both editable in the post settings. What you can’t edit on a per page basis is that button.

    With pattern overrides, just use the post content block in your template, then have a page hero pattern with pattern overrides for each of those blocks: Title, any heading or paragraph block, and the button block. All the content is then editable when inserting the pattern. Enhance the experience even more by having the pattern auto inserted or displayed in the pattern modal.

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    I love the sneaky addition of Background Image to your site’s global styles in WordPress and Gutenberg. I’ve played around with creating classic styled sites using the Cover block, but…

    I love the sneaky addition of Background Image to your site’s global styles in WordPress and Gutenberg. I’ve played around with creating classic styled sites using the Cover block, but now you don’t need to use that hack. Just add a Background Image to your whole site. Amazing!

  • If you aren’t yet, you should be following…

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    If you aren’t yet, you should be following Rich Tabor’s Shaping WordPress posts now. His zoomed out view of the landscape of WordPress down to the details of the Gutenberg…

    If you aren’t yet, you should be following Rich Tabor’s Shaping WordPress posts now. His zoomed out view of the landscape of WordPress down to the details of the Gutenberg project are sharp and insightful. Subscribe now, but also get lost in the the rest of his blog and check out the fun blocks he’s working on. Rich is one of my top five favorite WordPress figures and should be on everyone’s list.

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    This looks interesting. I’m going to have to check this out. https://blogroll.org/ Maybe blogrolls and the decentralized internet will make a comeback. It seems like there are parts of the…

    This looks interesting. I’m going to have to check this out. https://blogroll.org/

    Maybe blogrolls and the decentralized internet will make a comeback. It seems like there are parts of the early blogging culture starting to take root again.

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    I heard the absolute, all time best quote to validate WordPress, specifically the block editor (Gutenberg). A colleague and I were guiding a brand new WordPress user through creating new…

    I heard the absolute, all time best quote to validate WordPress, specifically the block editor (Gutenberg). A colleague and I were guiding a brand new WordPress user through creating new posts in the block editor. We sat and watched the user copy content from a Google Doc, pasted it into the block editor, add the Jetpack Paywall block, navigate post settings, and publish the post.

    During the editing process, without skipping a beat clicking around the canvas, stated, “This is so easy. Anyone can do this.”

    I can’t think of a better endorsement for the block editor or WordPress.

    -newsletter

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    What is your go to deep work playlist? I’m still always drawn to epic movie scores. My favorites are: Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Last of the Mohicans, and Braveheart.…

    What is your go to deep work playlist? I’m still always drawn to epic movie scores. My favorites are: Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Last of the Mohicans, and Braveheart. I get a nice mix of scores with my Pandora channel—yeah, I use Pandora still, not Spotify. Are you listening to anything today?

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    I came across an interesting take on Gutenberg. Nitin Khanna wrote, “With the introduction of Gutenberg, it’s shooting itself in the foot in that regard, but gaining a lot more…

    I came across an interesting take on Gutenberg. Nitin Khanna wrote, “With the introduction of Gutenberg, it’s shooting itself in the foot in that regard, but gaining a lot more – it’s now the most prevalent Page Builder platform on the web. Good for corporates, bad for indie blogging.”

    As a pure writing tool, I’ve found Gutenberg to be quite joyful to write with. There is much greater flexibility and creativity available in the block editor. My hope is it will become the default writing tool—move over Google Docs!

    Still, if one were to see Gutenberg as a “blog killer,” why not use the Classic block for writing standard posts? That’s part of the power of WordPress—you can customize your writing experience as well as your website.

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    Wow! Some great new features in Jetpack. Can you tell I’m a fan of the Social Notes feature? I’ve been steadily using it more and more. If you’re not using…

    Wow! Some great new features in Jetpack. Can you tell I’m a fan of the Social Notes feature? I’ve been steadily using it more and more. If you’re not using Jetpack on your WordPress website, I think you’re missing out. So many great features. It’s like a Swiss army knife for your website. https://youtu.be/iB6fgLmG2ug

  • This is a pleasant surprise. WordPress must have…

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    This is a pleasant surprise. WordPress must have recently moved the “Set featured” image box in the post settings, and I missed it coming. It’s at the top of the…

    This is a pleasant surprise. WordPress must have recently moved the “Set featured” image box in the post settings, and I missed it coming. It’s at the top of the post settings now. Right here in my post editor 👉. Thanks WordPress for the subtle improvements!

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    I’ve been working on a draft listing my favorite block themes right now. The more I think about it, I go back and forth between advocating for unique, bespoke block…

    I’ve been working on a draft listing my favorite block themes right now. The more I think about it, I go back and forth between advocating for unique, bespoke block themes or one great theme that can become anything you want. I could make arguments for both, so I’ll pencil in this for a future discussion. For now, what block themes do you like? Which ones do you think will make my list?

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    I still can’t figure out why WordPress moved Template Parts to the Patterns area in the site editor. Template parts use the same lexical terminology as Templates, so those should…

    I still can’t figure out why WordPress moved Template Parts to the Patterns area in the site editor. Template parts use the same lexical terminology as Templates, so those should go together. Moving the two apart is confusing. The UX writing suggests Templates and Template Parts belong together, but the UI disassociates them.

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    I’ve seen it in use before but never tried it out. Today is the first time I fully experimented with Google Chromes tile window option. What have I been missing…

    I’ve seen it in use before but never tried it out. Today is the first time I fully experimented with Google Chromes tile window option. What have I been missing out on! When working with multiple windows and monitors, this is a great side-by-side workspace that makes some of my work and tasks so much better. Next to group tabs, this is my new favorite feature. Until I use a different browser anyway.

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    One thing that Shopify does really well is how it uses the Shop Pay button. When I see that button, I know instantly my transaction is going to go smoothly.…

    One thing that Shopify does really well is how it uses the Shop Pay button. When I see that button, I know instantly my transaction is going to go smoothly. It’s all integrated and connected across my shopping experiences. I never intentionally created the connection or had to take any extra steps, it just does it for me. As a consumer, that builds trust with the merchant, and that’s because of the platform behind the merchant.

    I want to see that same level of ubiquitousness of payment experiences across websites for Woo. I want to know that when I am on a Woo site, I’m going to have a great merchant experience.

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    I’m still amazed each day how far WordPress has come. I’m especially grateful for the block editor and block themes. There is nothing more frustrating these days in WordPress than…

    I’m still amazed each day how far WordPress has come. I’m especially grateful for the block editor and block themes. There is nothing more frustrating these days in WordPress than entering a site dashboard to make a change in a template only to find you are now in a Classic theme. Ugh! Things are just so much easier now.