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.