Today’s Finely Tuned Consultant should need very little introduction. Mike Little is the other half of the co-founding team of WordPress. Mike and Matt Mullenweg created WordPress all those years ago, and changed the face of the internet. I like to think of Mike, who is a rather unassuming fellow, making small talk at cocktail parties and answering the question, “Hey Mike, what do you do?” “Oh me? I invented software that powers close to 20% of the internet. What about you?”
Mike has been programming since 1978 on a screenless teleprinter terminal. He chose to get involved with WordPress after using B2 to start blogs for a series of domains he owned and wanted to do something with. From there, it was a natural progression for him to help Matt fork the platform.
Today, he has a diverse set of clients that he works with, and is also involved in a supporting education efforts in the UK, including I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here which connects students with real scientists.
In Mike’s Own Words:
I invented WordPress! 🙂 But I actually don’t class myself as an entrepreneur. I think my core values are honesty, doing the best work I can, doing the right thing (especially when it comes to open source).
Now, onto Mike’s Questions!
When was the first time that you really got excited about WordPress and at what point did you decide to make it your career?
I’ve been excited about WordPress from the beginning. I’ve always enjoyed tinkering with it.
I decided to make it my career on July 19th 2008. I can be so precise as I was at the first WordCamp in the UK. One of the speakers asked for a show of hands from those who earned some or all of their income from WordPress. About half the people in the room raised their hands. I was not one of them!
I decided at that point that I should be earning money from WordPress.
By coincidence I had handed in my resignation at my day job the day before with no real idea what I was going to do. That WordCamp decided for me. By the end of that year I was working for myself doing purely WordPress development work.
Where do you go first to get your WP news, insights, and updates?
I subscribe to a number of blogs, twitter accounts, and newsletters. No one place in particular.
What performance tips would you give to other pros (as related to speed, scalability, security, plugins, backup, etc.)?
Learn how server software works. Learn how the conversation between browser and site works, what all the players involved do. Learn how the different parts of the server software interact. Secondly learn how to measure all the parts of that conversation. Only then can you truly understand what’s going on, optimise for performance, understand where the security risks are, and be in control of the whole thing.
Confess to us your biggest moment of WordPress fail?
I once had to modify core to implement some functionality for a project.I then had to live with the maintenance nightmare of that for the next year and several core releases, before WordPress caught up and provided the ability to implement the functionality I needed.
If you were going to spend this weekend creating a plugin that doesn’t exist, what would it be?
Right now, I’m very interested in how to add very specific tracking to the links WordPress generates
Do you use Themes & Child Themes, Roll your own, or both?
I don’t generally develop themes as such. So I usually implement a child theme to tweak off the shelf themes. Though in the case of a framework like Genesis from StudioPress, I can often create plugin to tweak one of their child themes.
What’s your favorite theme or theme framework? Why?
I really like the Genesis framework. It is really well designed with a fantastic number of actions an hooks to modify and change most of what it does.
Favorite plugin?
No one specific. I have a small selection that I always use: WordPress SEO by Yoast, Limit Login Attempts, CMS Tree page view, contact form 7 or Gravity forms, WP Super cache, and so on.
Least favorite plugin?
I’ve come across far too many badly written, poorly performing, sometimes out right nasty plugins to list.
What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done with Custom Post Types?
A very specific events calendar with events, sub-events, locations, and three or four custom taxonomies too.
What do you think is the biggest challenge that WordPress consultants will face in 2013?
I think a current challenge is communicating the value a good consultant can provide to a business. Too many people think because WordPress is free and they can buy outsourced WordPress “development” at $5 per hour, that they don’t need to pay a good consultant who can bring real value to their business.
If you could change one thing today about WordPress, what would it be?
I would improve the accessibility of the administration screens. Currently some people with disabilities are excluded from benefiting from all that WordPress can do.
Where do you see WordPress going in the next 2-3 years?
I really don’t know. I know that getting better on mobile is a target. I’m also interested to see how WordPress as a platform will improve.
What’s the biggest misconception you encounter about WordPress, and how do you clear it up for your clients?
Two key ones. “It’s only for blogging” and “It’s not secure.” I generally point to some of the fantastic high-profile sites out there. There ase so many sites that are clearly not blogs, and equally so many sites from high profile companies and government organisations that wouldn’t be using an insecure product.
If you were interviewing another WordPress developer for a job, what is the first question you would ask and why?
I would ask how hooks work, and to explain verbally how they might use both an action and a filter. Understanding hooks is key to being able to develop properly for WordPress.
What did I miss? Here’s your chance to fill in the blanks and add something you want people to know about you!
I’m still incredibly passionate about WordPress and all the wonderful and interesting things that can be done with it.
Thanks Mike!
You all can click over to MikeLittle.org to check out Mike’s work, his clients, and see how he can help you with your project.
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