Mike Little's Journalized » WordPress

WordPress Started Seven Years Ago

mike — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:49 +0000

Another year has passed for WordPress, and for me my first year as an independent WordPress developer whose sole income comes from WordPress.

It was seven years ago that I made the the comment on Matt’s blog that started the whole thing off.

These days WordPress celebrates its birthday on May 27th, the anniversary of the first WordPress release.

I’m really looking forward to the future WordPress, especially the new merged with mu version.

Update: I accidentally left this post in draft mode, so I guess it didn’t appear at the right time.

WordCamp Day 1 Roundup

mike — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:08:43 +0000

I’m back in my hotel room after a very long day at WordCamp UK. I’ve had a fantastic day. There were some good sessions, it’s a pity I didn’t get to see them all. That whole multi-track thing can be frustrating.

My own session got off to a poor start with technical difficulties. Eventually solved, but it threw me a little. I didn’t manage to fill my 1 hour slot, but it seemed to go down well enough. I got some good questions and feedback later.

It was great to see Matt again after so long. We were both interviewed and filmed after the last session by two different people, and I look forward to seeing the recordings.

I then went for a great meal with Matt, Westi, and a small group of people and it was really nice to just chat and chill with a fantastic bunch.

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.

WordCamp UK 2009 – This year it’s Cardiff

mike — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:13:09 +0000

I have now bought my ticket to WordCamp UK 2009. The second annual UK-based WordCamp. This time the venue is Cardiff and I am really looking forward to it.

Last year’s WordCampUK was the first and went really, really well. I got to speak at the event, I met some great people, and for me, it was a life changing event — literally! Having listened to and spoken to a number of people who earn all or part of their living with WordPress, I decided to give up my job and work for myself.

I can’t promise it will be quite so significant for you, but I do promise you will hear some great speakers, and meet some really nice people. Some who are experts, some who are beginners, plenty in between, all of whom are fans of WordPress.

We all work together to make it a great couple of days from which everyone can learn something, be inspired, and maybe, just maybe, it can change your life too.

I have volunteered to speak again, but don’t let that put you off.

This time I am bringing the family along a day early and I’m looking forward to seeing some of what Cardiff has to offer. I’m especially looking forward to the Dr Who and Torchwood exhibitions

Tickets are now on sale, with a discount before May 31st. We are looking for Sponsors too.

Come along, all are welcome. Please book early, as places are limited.

New Release: a DITA to WordPress Importer

mike — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:31:41 +0000

I’ve just released an eagerly awaited (by some anyway) DITA to WordPress importer. Take a look at the tool’s page to learn a little more about what it does.

This is not a general purpose tool. It is particularly specialized and only useful for people using the DITA Open Toolkit to generate web content.

Other developers might be interested because it does import static XHTML files and pick apart the content, extracting info, removing unwanted parts, and change others, as well as importing the body of the page into WordPress.

Take a look if you are interested on the plugin page (yes, I know an importer is not a plugin). Please leave feedback in the comments on that page.

WordPress is 6 – or is it?

mike — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:00:36 +0000

At this time of year, I normally say Happy Birthday to WordPress. After all it was 6 years ago today I made the comment on Matt’s blog that started the whole thing off.

However last year, Matt held a birthday party for WordPress’ 5th in May. May 27th to be precise, which is the anniversary of the first WordPress release.

If the birth of WordPress was the first release, then I guess I’ve been celebrating the conception.

Regardless, WordPress has come a long way. The baby has grown into a world beating piece of software. It’s so good I’ve bet the house on it (more of that soon).

Anyway “Happy Conception” to WordPress and I hope there are many more to come.

WordCamp UK 2009 Looking for a venue

mike — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:46:58 +0000

Bids are being invited for this year’s WordCamp UK event targeted for July. Last years event was held in Birmingham and was a fantastic success.

This year I hope we can top that and make it bigger and better. The details can be found over at Tony Scott’s site.

Note, there is a deadline for submissions of midnight GMT on Sunday 25 January 2009 so that’s less than two weeks!

Journalized Theme 2.7 Final Released.

mike — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:49:30 +0000

After feedback from users and some minor tweaks, my Journalized Theme version 2.7 is finally released! The theme is no longer in beta and is ready for the big time.

A reminder of some of the new features:

Comes with six built in ’skins’ (including the old Blue, Sand, and Winter)
A new administration interface to configure the theme.
Support for widgits, tags, and Gravatars
Can be configured to have 1, 2, or 3 columns.
Supports custom header image, including in the background
and many more…

Go get it now!. As usual, leave feedback on the theme page please.

New Journalized Theme Beta Released

mike — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:44:02 +0000

After nearly two years of inactivity, I have finally updated and released a new version of my Journalized Theme.

The theme includes support for WordPress 2.7 features, but is backwards compatible with WordPress 2.5 and 2.6

Just some of the new features:

Comes with six built in ’skins’ (including the old Blue, Sand, and Winter)
A new administration interface to configure the theme.
Support for widgits, tags, and Gravatars
Can be configured to have 1, 2, or 3 columns.
Supports custom header image, including in the background
and many more…

Go check it out and let me know what you think. (Leave feedback on the theme page, not here)

Almost ready for WordCampUK

mike — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:02:18 +0000

I’m almost ready for my trip to WordCamp UK. I’m going first thing tomorrow morning by train. “It’s easier by train”, and as it happens, the car is broken and in the menders!

I forgot to mention that I am also on the Code Surgery panel on Sunday too. If you have any coding problems there is still time to submit your questions to the surgeons.

There are still a couple more hours to buy tickets. Please come along, I look forward to seeing you there.

I’ll Be Speaking At WordCamp UK

mike — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:59:14 +0000

Ooh! I’ve been invited to sit on the panel for a question and answer session on Saturday at WordCamp UK. I’m sort of looking forward to it.

The current running order has the panel on just before lunch, but I don’t think that’s finalised yet.

Tickets are still on sale and it’s a ticket only event. No ticket, no getting in.

Check out the all new WordCamp UK 2008 blog.