When a PHP Loop is the Wrong Tool for the Job
I got a Slack message from a project manager. A client with a high-traffic WooCommerce shop was complaining that a custom dashboard widget we’d inherited…
Category: Development
Stop Using Strings for WordPress Translations. Use Keys.
I got a frantic call from a client with a big multilingual WooCommerce site. Their marketing head in the UK decided to A/B test some…
Why Your WordPress Fixes Keep Breaking Other Things
I had a client come to me with a custom-built plugin that was causing major headaches. On the surface, the request was simple: “Can you…
Using the Static Factory Method Pattern in WordPress
I was working on a WooCommerce plugin for a client to sync their product inventory with a third-party API. Total classic scenario. The problem was,…
Stop Nesting ‘if’ Statements: A Saner Way to Code
I got a call from a client running a pretty complex WooCommerce store. Their shipping logic was a mess. They had all these rules for…
Building WordPress Admin Pages That Don’t Break Later
Got a call from a client last week. They’ve got a WooCommerce extension that’s starting to get popular, but its settings page was buried under…
A Practical Guide to WordPress Regex That Won’t Break Your Site
Got a call from a client last week. They’d just moved their big WooCommerce site to SSL, did the whole search-and-replace for the new URL,…
Why Your WordPress Query is a Mess (And How to Fix It)
I got a call from a client running a decent-sized WooCommerce shop. They were in a panic. Their main shop page, which should have been…
How to Start Unit Testing Your Existing WordPress Code
Had a client call last week. They’ve got this huge, old WooCommerce plugin that’s been passed through three different dev teams. A new junior dev…
Why Your WordCamp Talk Got Rejected (And How to Fix It)
A junior dev on my team looked crushed. “They rejected my talk,” he said, staring at his laptop. He’d just gotten the canned ‘thanks but…