EDITS.WS

Category: bobwp.com

  • What About Some Added WordPress and WooCommerce Tips?

    It has occurred to me that I have this site here and over on Do the Woo I have some massive content. When I say massive, I mean transcripts of podcasts where professionals have shared hundreds, if not thousands of tips.

    Each single show it filled with them.

    So, what to do? Oh, maybe I should start reposting them here. And by that, I mean with a bit of editing there could be some very useful, and short posts that will help most anyone who builds with WordPress or WooCommerce, no matter the level. Heck maybe even some nuggets for users.

    It’s like I’m going back in time LOL.

    Do you feel like I’m asking you for your thoughts. Well it so happens that I have opened comments here, and that should give you some indication that I am happy to hear from you.

    Will your thoughts drive me to where I should do this or not. Nope. Decision made and soon you will start seeing those tips with kudos to the proper peeps in the community.

    But don’t worry, I will still write about podcasting, blogging, community and other various topics that seem to always be on my mind.

    And why stop there? Maybe I will drop in some other things I think of along the way. Stuff I pick up in the community. Not really news, but maybe something I would like to highlight.

    Because, hey, over on Do the Woo I work hard to elevate the voices. Might as well do the same here.

    The post What About Some Added WordPress and WooCommerce Tips? appeared first on BobWP.

  • Tumbling Around Tumblr

    A long time ago I explored Tumblr and found it kind of intriguing. But as time passed it obviously became less and less intriguing.

    Then Automattic Bought Tumblr

    Now this may seem like some weird cop out for some people that what influenced me to revisit Tumblr was the fact that it was acquired by Automattic.

    But hey, think about it. I have been using WordPress since 2006. In 2008 I can say that it was a big part of my stack with my current business and I was making money from it. By 2010 the brand BobWP evolved my business to be WordPress, all the time. Since then WordPress has been the core of my business and income. Plus it introduced me to a beautiful open source community.

    So why wouldn’t I become more interested in Tumblr when Automattic acquired it.

    Struggling to find my groove

    When I reopened my account there, or reopened, whichever it was, I had to take some time to ponder on what I was going to do there. Because Tumblr is unique.

    I remember talking to the COO of Tumblr at the State of the Word in NYC end of last year. Telling her that I was giving Tumblr the old college try and felt that I would eventually find my groove. Whatever that groove is.

    So unlike others who dive into a social platform new to them with vigor and unleashing the hidden secrets of their lives, I eased on into it.

    Now it’s part of my stack

    A bit ago I bought my blue check marks on Tumblr because I wanted to support the platform while acquiring the “dig” on traditional blue marks

    Shortly after that I blazed a post. Someone commented why they say it. Someone said the guy paid to do that. There was rumbling. Ha. I’ll likely do it again.

    A few days ago I have committed to being more active on Tumblr. What’s my strategy? Well, so far I cannot even explain it. Maybe I am still testing the waters. Or maybe I am reverting back to the days of being in my own groove. Time will tell.

    I also bought some more checkmarks, the rainbow ones.

    Then I purchased the ad-free subscription. Why? Because I never click on ads and figured it was a easy price to pay to again help support the cause.

    Best of all, I bought my custom domain, bobwp.blog for my Tumblr blog.

    I’m looking at gifts and how those work. Maybe when I start following more people, I will start sending some gifts.

    In other words, I am now tumbling my way in Tumblr.

    And if you want to follow my tumblings (not sure if I just made up that word or not), you can follow me here.

    The post Tumbling Around Tumblr appeared first on BobWP.

  • Tumbling Around Tumblr

    A long time ago I explored Tumblr and found it kind of intriguing. But as time passed it obviously became less and less intriguing.

    Then Automattic Bought Tumblr

    Now this may seem like some weird cop out for some people that what influenced me to revisit Tumblr was the fact that it was acquired by Automattic.

    But hey, think about it. I have been using WordPress since 2006. In 2008 I can say that it was a big part of my stack with my current business and I was making money from it. By 2010 the brand BobWP evolved my business to be WordPress, all the time. Since then WordPress has been the core of my business and income. Plus it introduced me to a beautiful open source community.

    So why wouldn’t I become more interested in Tumblr when Automattic acquired it.

    Struggling to find my groove

    When I reopened my account there, or reopened, whichever it was, I had to take some time to ponder on what I was going to do there. Because Tumblr is unique.

    I remember talking to the COO of Tumblr at the State of the Word in NYC end of last year. Telling her that I was giving Tumblr the old college try and felt that I would eventually find my groove. Whatever that groove is.

    So unlike others who dive into a social platform new to them with vigor and unleashing the hidden secrets of their lives, I eased on into it.

    Now it’s part of my stack

    A bit ago I bought my blue check marks on Tumblr because I wanted to support the platform while acquiring the “dig” on traditional blue marks

    Shortly after that I blazed a post. Someone commented why they say it. Someone said the guy paid to do that. There was rumbling. Ha. I’ll likely do it again.

    A few days ago I have committed to being more active on Tumblr. What’s my strategy? Well, so far I cannot even explain it. Maybe I am still testing the waters. Or maybe I am reverting back to the days of being in my own groove. Time will tell.

    I also bought some more checkmarks, the rainbow ones.

    Then I purchased the ad-free subscription. Why? Because I never click on ads and figured it was a easy price to pay to again help support the cause.

    Best of all, I bought my custom domain, bobwp.blog for my Tumblr blog.

    I’m looking at gifts and how those work. Maybe when I start following more people, I will start sending some gifts.

    In other words, I am now tumbling my way in Tumblr.

    And if you want to follow my tumblings (not sure if I just made up that word or not), you can follow me here.

    The post Tumbling Around Tumblr appeared first on BobWP.

  • Sharing is Caring. Elevating the Voices.

    There has been an interesting trend over the years. Not so obvious, but something I have experienced myself. And that is the fact that people are not sharing other content as much as they use to.

    Way back in the blogging days

    I remember 13 years plus going back in time. Everyone was creating content via a blog. You found interesting writers and as you grew your own social networks, it was easy to share content that you felt others had created and would be of interest to your readers and followers.

    Over time that has changed. And it’s not surprising. When people share content on a social platform, more often than not it’s their own. Or the conversations they drive on social are becoming more centric to themselves. On the flip site, there is very little external content shared.

    Then their are WordPress tutorial and media sites, who share the content of others on their site, which is select but also is cool and really their model. But most times they do not share other people’s content on social without driving them to their site first. Again, it’s the traditional model but I think there is room for exceptions.

    The same goes for newsletters. Plenty of sharing there, but you must subscribe. I do that but the things I share I have shared publicly on some social platform prior to the newsletter going out.

    Now I get this. I understand that we need to focus on our own businesses and ventures. We need to drive people to our sites and consume the content that in the end either makes them a new customer, client or someone who will help you generate advertising dollars. It’s the natural thing to do with you business.

    Others, who write more freely may tend to share other content, but again, in most of these cases it’s all about their content.

    I will admit this isn’t everyone, but I find those who share other content on the downslide.

    Quid pro quid

    As this trend grows, so does something that has been around forever, grow as well. You do me a favor, I’ll do you a favor.

    Even back in the blogging days people would often create “blogging buddies”. Those people who you traded sharing content with. Over the years as people grew their select “friends” this became obvious that the “buddy buddy system” was in play.

    I can recall several small cliques of WordPress people who blatantly only shared from their “special friends.”

    On the other hand, sharing has now become partnerships. You know those emails that ask you to share something of theirs (often using a backlink) and in turn they will share your content.

    And other’s come up with ideas of how to create these shared, smaller communities, but often they don’t walk the talk, and the concept fizzles out over time.

    Less and less people are doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

    Why care?

    You don’t have to. And I only write this as an observer. First off I am not making this a rant or a negative post. It’s just what is happening. But I feel I have always found a good balance between sharing my own content and sharing others.

    Recently, over on Do the Woo I realized that one of my “so-called super powers” is sharing. And I’ve bumped it up even more. Why? To help others find all this great content that I discovered, help keep them up-to-date on things I feel they should know, and most importantly, to elevate more voices in this ecosystem. All without simply writing a post with internal sharing.

    My criteria

    It’s not rocket science when it comes to me deciding what to share or not share. I want it to be good content that is helpful to those who follow me.

    What I don’t share is:

    Negative or content that is meant to mislead or stir things up.

    Or those tweets that have “call to actions” at the end of every thread they do. Sorry, not going to help you promote your newsletter over and over and over again.

    What’s the answer?

    For me I don’t care. I will share great content and never expect anything in return. I will also continue to share my own content. But I don’t want partnerships, or that “wink wink” syndrome that pushes out quid pro quid.

    Now there are people who do it, and I commend them. For the others, what you do is your choice. I’m not here to shame you or make you feel guilty. You do what works for you. But all I can say, is it hurts just a little bit when we transform ourselves into the “me” generation and sharing is no longer caring.

    Disclaimer: I know that social these days is viewed as a big shitshow. And I get it. A lot of the reasons may be that more and more people are less and less on social. But hey, there are still plenty who are active and a negative view of any social platform should not be the reason for not sharing.

    The post Sharing is Caring. Elevating the Voices. appeared first on BobWP.

  • Sharing is Caring. Elevating the Voices.

    There has been an interesting trend over the years. Not so obvious, but something I have experienced myself. And that is the fact that people are not sharing other content as much as they use to.

    Way back in the blogging days

    I remember 13 years plus going back in time. Everyone was creating content via a blog. You found interesting writers and as you grew your own social networks, it was easy to share content that you felt others had created and would be of interest to your readers and followers.

    Over time that has changed. And it’s not surprising. When people share content on a social platform, more often than not it’s their own. Or the conversations they drive on social are becoming more centric to themselves. On the flip site, there is very little external content shared.

    Then their are WordPress tutorial and media sites, who share the content of others on their site, which is select but also is cool and really their model. But most times they do not share other people’s content on social without driving them to their site first. Again, it’s the traditional model but I think there is room for exceptions.

    The same goes for newsletters. Plenty of sharing there, but you must subscribe. I do that but the things I share I have shared publicly on some social platform prior to the newsletter going out.

    Now I get this. I understand that we need to focus on our own businesses and ventures. We need to drive people to our sites and consume the content that in the end either makes them a new customer, client or someone who will help you generate advertising dollars. It’s the natural thing to do with you business.

    Others, who write more freely may tend to share other content, but again, in most of these cases it’s all about their content.

    I will admit this isn’t everyone, but I find those who share other content on the downslide.

    Quid pro quid

    As this trend grows, so does something that has been around forever, grow as well. You do me a favor, I’ll do you a favor.

    Even back in the blogging days people would often create “blogging buddies”. Those people who you traded sharing content with. Over the years as people grew their select “friends” this became obvious that the “buddy buddy system” was in play.

    I can recall several small cliques of WordPress people who blatantly only shared from their “special friends.”

    On the other hand, sharing has now become partnerships. You know those emails that ask you to share something of theirs (often using a backlink) and in turn they will share your content.

    And other’s come up with ideas of how to create these shared, smaller communities, but often they don’t walk the talk, and the concept fizzles out over time.

    Less and less people are doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

    Why care?

    You don’t have to. And I only write this as an observer. First off I am not making this a rant or a negative post. It’s just what is happening. But I feel I have always found a good balance between sharing my own content and sharing others.

    Recently, over on Do the Woo I realized that one of my “so-called super powers” is sharing. And I’ve bumped it up even more. Why? To help others find all this great content that I discovered, help keep them up-to-date on things I feel they should know, and most importantly, to elevate more voices in this ecosystem. All without simply writing a post with internal sharing.

    My criteria

    It’s not rocket science when it comes to me deciding what to share or not share. I want it to be good content that is helpful to those who follow me.

    What I don’t share is:

    Negative or content that is meant to mislead or stir things up.

    Or those tweets that have “call to actions” at the end of every thread they do. Sorry, not going to help you promote your newsletter over and over and over again.

    What’s the answer?

    For me I don’t care. I will share great content and never expect anything in return. I will also continue to share my own content. But I don’t want partnerships, or that “wink wink” syndrome that pushes out quid pro quid.

    Now there are people who do it, and I commend them. For the others, what you do is your choice. I’m not here to shame you or make you feel guilty. You do what works for you. But all I can say, is it hurts just a little bit when we transform ourselves into the “me” generation and sharing is no longer caring.

    Disclaimer: I know that social these days is viewed as a big shitshow. And I get it. A lot of the reasons may be that more and more people are less and less on social. But hey, there are still plenty who are active and a negative view of any social platform should not be the reason for not sharing.

    The post Sharing is Caring. Elevating the Voices. appeared first on BobWP.

  • WordCamp Europe 2023. Amazing.

    If I could put every experience I had, every conversation, and every laugh or hug here in this post, I would. But it would be a very long post and, of course, I would have discovered something I missed, or several things, thus even a longer post.

    This was my second WordCamp Europe, but my first living here in Porto, Portugal. That fact alone, and the love I am getting from the community here, would be worth a post in itself.

    The Community

    It’s never surprising when I hear from anyone talk their experience at a WordCamp, community and people are always in there, often being what they loved most. And for me there is never an exception. New friends. Connecting with old friends. And so much laughter, and yes, food.

    The Sponsors and the Venue

    The venue was fantastic. Although I must admit at first it was a bit overwhelming as the sponsors winded around different parts and hallways. Some of the small biz sponsors were concerned being off the beaten path, but that changed quickly, at least for the ones I talked to.

    Fact is I started going around to the booths, meeting people, saying hi to others and stopping for so many hugs and conversations, it took me 3 hours just to do that. On the second day, I spent an hour easily just with the Small Biz sponsors.

    Now I talk to a lot of WordPress businesses and I know there are always questions about sponsoring WordCamps and the value behind it. So I am going to share a great post from my friend Katie Keith from Barn2 Plugins, where she shares their first experience sponsoring. If you ever had questions about sponsoring, make sure and read it.

    If you missed any of the sessions, or were not able to make it, you can find all of them here from the livestream.

    As I said, there is a lot more I am still digesting and it will also settle in my brain just in time for WCUS. But I do want to thank the organizing team, the volunteers for their hard work in making it so amazing. And of course, the sponsors who make it possible.

    I leave you with this. Some great WordPress peeps. (and a few taken by others, plus my mug occasionally).

    WordCamp Europe 2023

    The post WordCamp Europe 2023. Amazing. appeared first on BobWP.

  • WordCamp Europe 2023. Amazing.

    If I could put every experience I had, every conversation, and every laugh or hug here in this post, I would. But it would be a very long post and, of course, I would have discovered something I missed, or several things, thus even a longer post.

    This was my second WordCamp Europe, but my first living here in Porto, Portugal. That fact alone, and the love I am getting from the community here, would be worth a post in itself.

    The Community

    It’s never surprising when I hear from anyone talk their experience at a WordCamp, community and people are always in there, often being what they loved most. And for me there is never an exception. New friends. Connecting with old friends. And so much laughter, and yes, food.

    The Sponsors and the Venue

    The venue was fantastic. Although I must admit at first it was a bit overwhelming as the sponsors winded around different parts and hallways. Some of the small biz sponsors were concerned being off the beaten path, but that changed quickly, at least for the ones I talked to.

    Fact is I started going around to the booths, meeting people, saying hi to others and stopping for so many hugs and conversations, it took me 3 hours just to do that. On the second day, I spent an hour easily just with the Small Biz sponsors.

    Now I talk to a lot of WordPress businesses and I know there are always questions about sponsoring WordCamps and the value behind it. So I am going to share a great post from my friend Katie Keith from Barn2 Plugins, where she shares their first experience sponsoring. If you ever had questions about sponsoring, make sure and read it.

    If you missed any of the sessions, or were not able to make it, you can find all of them here from the livestream.

    As I said, there is a lot more I am still digesting and it will also settle in my brain just in time for WCUS. But I do want to thank the organizing team, the volunteers for their hard work in making it so amazing. And of course, the sponsors who make it possible.

    I leave you with this. Some great WordPress peeps. (and a few taken by others, plus my mug occasionally).

    WordCamp Europe 2023

    The post WordCamp Europe 2023. Amazing. appeared first on BobWP.

  • 20 Years. That’s a Lot of Community

    In May I was fortunate to speak at WordCamp Lisboa about community. It had been awhile since I’ve spoken at a WordCamp, but I had a lot of fun.

    If you are interested in my elaboration of the future of the community, listen to this show over on Do the Woo.

    The post 20 Years. That’s a Lot of Community appeared first on BobWP.

  • 20 Years. That’s a Lot of Community

    In May I was fortunate to speak at WordCamp Lisboa about community. It had been awhile since I’ve spoken at a WordCamp, but I had a lot of fun.

    The post 20 Years. That’s a Lot of Community appeared first on BobWP.

  • 16 Years Later, My WordPress Origin Story

    As I celebrate my own birthday today, many more than 20, I am reflecting on the years WordPress has been there for me. Oddly, I’m not sure where to begin except the beginning. And if I was to write a post to publish on the 20th anniversary of WordPress, it’s gotta be done here on BobWP.

    Also, there lies the fact that I just returned from WordCamp Lisboa where I gave a talk on 20 Years of WordPress community. So it’s a bit on my mind.

    George Clooney was named People’s sexiest man alive and I discovered WordPress

    These two events have nothing more in common than it was the same year, 2016. I can’t say I think George deserved it, but I had other things on my mind. In fact two things.

    First this was the year I became a bit intrigued with blogging. Nothing that had me gasping at the thought of writing posts, but simply a curiosity. At the same time I was trying to step into the world of web design as we had been running a marketing and design company for 13 years. And as much as building a site thrilled me, which was equal to having my hand smashed in a door, I figured there had to be a better way than html and flash.

    Time drifted by. Judy had started a blog on Typepad and didn’t give a crap where it was. She just wanted to write. As I eased into the next year, WordPress slipped into my consciousness more and more. It seemed apparent that this thing called WordPress was going to become part of my life one way or another. Seriously though, I didn’t have a clue to what extent.

    For the next few years, up to 2010, bit and pieces fell together. I found a theme on a fairly new site called iThemes. The concept of these seemed to be luring me into creating a site for our business that didn’t look like shit. And that’s exactly what WordPress and the Corporate theme from iThemes did for me. Without any freaking code!

    The BobWP brand rises out of the ruins of ancient web design

    Now I am avoiding going through my 16 years of WordPress history, simply for the reason that I cannot afford to lose you through my years of pivots, twists and turns. It may make you dizzy and I don’t want you vomiting before I wrap this up.

    But 2010 was the pivotal moment in my WordPress Story. Why? Well, I had been doing some blogging workshops the two years prior to that year. I was getting my feel for where I need to go with WordPress. I was starting to explore the community more and more from that day in 2006. And I liked what I saw.

    So the time came to make the transition from our marketing and design firm, Cat’s Eye Marketing, to something that would let me do my WordPressy thing, whatever that meant and wherever it led.

    I got rid of all our our “print” clients or the last few that we were hanging onto. Mentally I told myself I’m going all in on WordPress. Design, training and whatever else would come my way. And it was time to rebrand. Not the business, per se, but myself. I was going to be the brand. So after some contemplation, possible consumption of alcohol and severe mumbling to myself, I came up with BobWP.

    Mmmmmmm. It was short and sweet. And the domain was available, go figure. But would people get it? Would someone that doesn’t know what I do, and doesn’t know WordPress find it to be puzzling? Would people say my business is Bobwup?

    Honestly, those concerns and questions did not weigh heavily on me. Nor did the fact that I was tying myself into a personal brand, that, well, would likely die with me. I bought the domain, and made it happen.

    And you may know the rest, the rest is history.

    I’m a WordPresser at heart

    I really do love the community. And at this point I’m here to stay. Right now I’m doing what motivates me the most. Connecting people. Raising voices. And meetings some of the coolest people I have ever known, both in these last 16 years and moving forward.

    So as much as I find it kind of weird singing Happy Birthday to my dashboard, my computer or any part of the software, or thinking that WordPress could be my grandchild, I will say this.

    Happy 20th Anniversary, WordPress Community

    The post 16 Years Later, My WordPress Origin Story appeared first on BobWP.