In case you missed it, last week I launched a podcast: Webmasters.fm. Today I’ve dropped a new interview: Jessica Lyschik, developer at Greyd and one of the driving forces behind the very popular TwentyTwentyFour default WordPress theme. This episode is audio-only, but I’ve set up a new YouTube account to mirror the feed for any podcast listeners coming from Android.
One thing I’ve learned in the last two weeks: podcasting is much harder than I thought. I mean, I knew it wasn’t going to be a breeze, but the entire process was a stark reminder why most people go straight to walled gardens like Instagram and TikTok when they’re ready to publish content.
RSS is a tricky beast, made worse by giants like Spotify and YouTube continually trying to exert their control over it. And I probably made it even worse by forgoing an out-of-the-box solution like Transistor.fm and instead self-hosting via WordPress. I’m still trying to untangle what I did to write a technical breakdown.
In my recent interview with Matt Medeiros, we talked a lot about podcasting as part of a larger brand strategy, the skills required to interview someone successfully, and the types of content that YouTube rewards in its algorithm. When I started, my assumption was that I would just upload the full-length video interviews to YouTube, even when Matt and ChatGPT warned me against it. I think if I still had a higher ratio of short-form content, it’d be OK, but that’s not the case right now. Instead, I released a short 5 minute excerpt of the interview on YouTube that leads you to the full audio episode.
I’m still experimenting with the format, so expect more changes, though I did set up a sponsorship page, in case you know anyone with deep pockets and a love for WordPress content.
Links From Around the Web
I’ve long wanted a simple way to share links I come across and collect them somewhere for this newsletter. I’ve tried everything, including a custom “Links” post type on my WordPress site to catalog them. The problem is that adding a new post in WordPress is a pain, especially if you’re on mobile. You have to log in each time you re-open it, click around a bunch of options, etc. It’s just not the right platform for quick-and-easy sharing.
Instead, I’ve recently taken to using Bluesky as my official ‘share things here’ platform. It works great on any device and has a simple writing interface for what I need – a short character limit and the ability to link/tag people. The best part? It has an open API that I can use to fetch and format my latest posts. Run one simple python script and I’ve got a nice formatted list of all my recent links to easily paste into this newsletter.
At some point I’ll probably automate these processes more. I would like to set up some private CPTs in WordPress that reference all these links and podcast episodes, and maybe use AI for more grouping/tagging.
All of this to say that it is fun building all these complicated workflows and connecting various tools, but it makes it all feel like a house of cards. If this keeps up you’ll find me tearing it all down and opening small boxes for a living on TikTok.
For now, here’s what’s interesting:
- Good summary of the recent Gutenberg wish list discussion on Bluesky. It’ll be interesting to see how many of these issues will actually get finished. (Personally I’d rather see a full roadmap come down from the project lead, rather than crowd-sourced on social media.) What’s Next for Gutenberg? Community Chat With Riad Benguella
- Make WordPress gets the full block theme treatment. This has to be one of the biggest conversions to a block theme that we’ve seen in the wild. Make WordPress gets a refresh – Make WordPress.org
- What do 600+ digital agency owners and consultants think about the state of the industry right now, the impact of AI, the move to remote working and it’s impact on clients? From SparkToro (Rand Fishkin) The State of Digital Agencies in 2024: Big Challenges, Bigger Optimism, and Is Remote Work Here to Stay? – SparkToro
- There are lots of examples of AI being wrong as an informational tool, but once you have some level of ‘AI literacy’ you can see where it’s really helpful and where it’s more likely to get fantastical. This from Gruber covers it well: Daring Fireball: Don’t Throw the Baby Out With the Generative AI Bullshit Bathwater
- Remember during the pandemic when there was WordPress acquisition news like this every week? Congrats James & crew: Automattic Welcomes WPAI – Automattic
- WooCommerce has made some big positive changes this past year. I hope that their positive energy, focus on product, and transparent roadmap are infectious and bleed over into WordPress core as well. Here’s their vision for 2025: WooCommerce in 2025: Building a platform for the future — The WooCommerce Developer Blog
- Interesting conversation here how WooCommerce leveraged companies in the community (including Equalize Digital and 10up) to work on getting WooCommerce core to be “accessibility-ready” out of the box. Unveiling Accessibility in WooCommerce with Amber Hinds and James Kemp
- Good read on WordPress & Woo’s new positioning and shifting place in the market. Frank is much more bullish on “blocks” than I am, and I’m pretty bullish. I don’t fully buy the argument that page builders are in trouble, but I agree that WordPress is shifting away from being a beginner’s platform. The Challenges and Opportunities for WordPress Professionals in 2025 – WP Development Courses
- I don’t agree with all of this, but I do agree with a lot of the open questions, especially the ones that force us to ask what value WordPress is trying to provide in the future. WordPress isn’t WordPress anymore – KrautPress
- Joost de Valk shares his thoughts on where WordPress should go next. I don’t disagree with this, I’m just not fully optimistic we’ll see much movement here. WordPress, and what should be on its roadmap
- Cory Doctorow on BDFLs: “Have the maturity and self-awareness to know that the reason people are demanding so much of you is that you have created a situation in which you owe the world a superhuman degree of care and attention”: Pluralistic: Tech’s benevolent-dictator-for-life to authoritarian pipeline (10 Dec 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
- Educator Dave Foy running a 48-hour flash sale of brand new course, No Stress DNS. Dave is one of the good ones. No Stress DNS – 48-Hour Flash Sale
- Let’s end on a high note: “Every week begins with the best of intentions and ends with you staring at a dozen half-finished tasks scattered across a dozen different platforms, wondering what the hell you actually accomplished.” Modern Work Fucking Sucks.
Leave a Reply