Tim: What’s your WordPress “origin” story?
I found WordPress is 2005. At first, I was not overly impressed. I kind of saw it as another blogging platform among a sea of many others that were popping up. But as an open source enthusiast I continued to watch and even play around with WordPress. In late 2005 I started my first blog using WP. By 2007 my blog was long gone, but WP had begun to grow on me. It was maturing at a rapid pace and even in the early days I could see that WordPress would soon stand out above the crowd.
By 2010 I had started working as a freelance web developer, developing primarily small html/css based websites. But my passion for WordPress was growing quickly. By 2012 I was convinced that WordPress was the key to my future success. I just didn’t know how at the time. So I stopped working on other platforms and began to focus solely on WordPress. In late 2013 I began the early planning stages for WP Master Design, and the end of my current business Linux PC+. In February 2014 I became a Certified WordPress Developer through National WordPress Certification Council. Though I knew they were not recognized, endorsed, or authorized by the WordPress foundation, it gave me a sense of accomplishment and I hoped it would add to my credibility with my customers. WP Master Design opened it virtual doors in mid 2014 and today I make a living on WordPress both in my business and in my job at InMotion Hosting.
Tim: Whats your top 3 WordPress plugins? Why?
- IThemes Security: While I prefer securing my sites without plugins, this plugin is easy for my customers to use and frankly, save me a lot of time when setting it up for my customers.
- UPDraft Plus: It is relatively light weight in terms of backup plugins, ad integrates easily with my DropBox account
- CMS Commander: This plugin lets me manage all of my customers websites in a single dashboard. I can instantly or automatically update my clients sites, themes, and plugins. I can instantly do a Sucuri security scan on all of clients sites.”
Tim: Whats your most proud achievement around WordPress?
The day I officially launched my business.
Tim: What do you want our readers to know about you?
One thing I have learned is to do what you love. I love my job at InMotion, and I love my business. I talk a lot and when I a passionate about something, I will rattle on happily about it!
Tim: Define yourself with one word.
Driven
Tim is talking about Website Security, so you won’t want to miss it.
I’m beginning with word press, so I’m gleaning as much information as possible.
Then I hope you can come to a WordCamp! If not ours, then here’s the schedule of upcoming ones: https://central.wordcamp.org/schedule/
You can also learn much by checking out the video archives of past WordCamps at http://wordpress.tv
Were all rooting for you here at inmotion Tim! Alot of us can’t wait to come out and hear your talk!