Print My Blog Transparency Reports – November 2018 to March 2019

5 minute readI used to make my transparency on plugin development reports right in Open Collective, but I really prefer to keep them on my blog, like I outlined last time. So here’s all my old reports compounded into one blog post. Reports From Open Collective 1.6.3, updated WordPress.org description, and comments feedback published on March 29, […]

The 5 Promises of User-Led Software Development

5 minute readIt’s easy for WordPress plugin developers to be endlessly chasing “modern best practices” and building features they love, but actual users don’t care about. Over the past few months, I’ve been experimenting with a development methodology that avoids waste and stays focused on users’ priorities. I call it “Lazy Software Development,” and this is how it works…

Dealing with Amazon Product Advertising API Policy Changes

3 minute readYesterday, a site I maintain, earlychildhoodeducator.com, was having issues communicating with Amazon’s Product Advertising API. Here’s what I learned about the problem and how we fixed it (in case you’re likewise having issues with it!) How we use Amazon Product Advertising API The website is for an online school, and they have links to the […]

Handling Polluted JSON in AJAX

5 minute readThe bane of all Javascript code using jQuery.ajax() is polluted JSON responses: when some HTML or other junk gets into your JSON response, making it unparsable and bringing the whole system to a screeching halt. In this post, I’ll show what you can do with polluted JSON to keep everything working. How It’s Supposed to […]

Gratitude Journal March 2019

< 1 minute readOk, gratitude listicle! Job at Event Espresso. I’ve been learning a lot over the years, been involved in interesting projects, had friendly coworkers, open-minded and humble bosses, given time to study, experiment and contribute to other open source projects. Family close by. Amanda’s parents are 8 minutes away, her sister Sam only 30 seconds away. […]

To Fund WordPress Plugin Development Through Sponsorship, or More Traditional Models?

5 minute readHow do you make money when you give your product away for free? Let’s consider the common open-source business models, and explore the viability of supporting development entirely through sponsorships.