Last month was a bit of a whirlwind, culminating in a trip to Arizona for WordCamp Phoenix. I was hoping to share a few of my favorite talks, but I’ll probably wait until the edited videos are all available. Let’s just say that I learned a LOT about PHP 8, generative AI, WooCommerce, and the block editor in general.
🎥 WCPHX: All livestreams
I’ve collected my own video, slides, links and more on this handy landing page, but there were also a number of great recaps from people like Marcus Burnette, Kathy Zant, and the Beaver Builder team.
🎥 WordCamp Phoenix 2023
Over on viewSource, we’ve been doing a tour of React from the very basics. Each episode builds on the last as we develop that great white whale of Gutenberg blocks: an accordion. Along the way we break down our code line-by-line and cover topics from props and state to accessibility.
🎥 Playlist: viewSource on React
Meanwhile, I’ve been spending most of my time exploring modern WordPress theme development, which means rethinking how I do both CSS and JavaScript:
✏️ Styling the separator block in five attempts
✏️ Getting WordPress Media Library images in JavaScript
Finally, my co-host Aurooba and I spent some time talking to Cory and Phil on their podcast In the Loop. We discussed our podcast, viewSource— and we talk about why we started it, who it’s for, and why all of us keep putting ourselves out there, and the whole trip we take when learning WordPress in public.
🎙️In the Loop: Learning Out Loud
A few quick links before you go:
- I really enjoyed 10up’s Fabian Kaegy on SyntaxFM breaking down all things modern WordPress. He makes a really good case for why WordPress is still the big CMS and how modern development techniques are making it better.
- And then Sentry bought the Syntax podcast. 🤔 I’m sure it’s fine, but that’s also what we said about CSS-Tricks…
- If you’re building native blocks, I can’t recommend 10up’s Block Components enough. Great when you need a custom field, a post picker, a repeater, or a nice image uploader inside your native block.
- Fränk Klein had a great thread about the “mindset shift” happening in WordPress theme development.
- Speaking of mindset shifts, Aurooba Ahmed and my colleague Devin Egger talk all about Page Builders vs the Block Editor for MasterWP.
- MRW explains “Why I won’t install an accessibility overlay on your website“
That’s all for this week.
