Why Developers Invent Problems, Support Agents Feel Like Janitors, and Marketers Think The Product is Lousy

10 minute readIn this post, I’ll explore the benefits of developing software with cross-discipline individuals– that is, team members who are software developers, support agents, and marketers, all rolled up in one.

My Response to “Open Source Beyond the Market”

6 minute readShould open source fulfill your needs to self-actualization, or just baser needs? My Response to DHH’s “Open Source Beyond the Market”

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 […]

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.

How I Got All A's on webpagetest.org

2 minute readI heard about webpagetest.org during my most recent WordCamp. It’s a service for analyzing your website’s performance. From what I can tell, it’s completely supported by sponsors, so it’s free to use. I ran my WordPress meetup’s site (which, obviously, runs on WordPress) through its analysis, and initially got C grades or so. Not fabulous. […]

Highlights from "It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy at Work"

5 minute readThese are my highlights from the book “It Doesn’t Have To be Crazy at Work” by Fried, Jason; Hansson and David Heinemeier, owners of BaseCamp. Redefining Productivity We don’t believe in busyness at Basecamp. We believe in effectiveness. How little can we do? How much can we cut out? Instead of adding to-dos, we add […]

Protected: Improving Online Team Decision-Making and Discussion

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How to Make Horrible Software Comparisons

3 minute readSoftware comparison articles can be helpful, but most are horrible. They should educate, compare, and recommend. But usually, they’re just filler words that convey no actual meaning. Here are some common mistakes of horrible software comparisons… Universally Picking a Winner It’s ridiculous to pick a universal winner. Eg, if you’re comparing Event Espresso to EventBrite, […]