WP-CLI is a rather splendid command-line method of interacting with your WordPress site. You can use it to automate installs, update plugins and all sorts. At WordPress.com VIP, clients use it, in particular, to power batch updates – maybe some image compression that they’ve not done in the past, re-categorising articles, all sorts. If you’re […]
Author archives: David Artiss
US vs UK Words
We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language. Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost Much is said about the difference between the British and US language, often concentrating on differences of spelling or pronunciation. However, what about all those words which we have different terms for?
Who’d want to be a Noogler?
Did you know that new Google employees are ‘Nooglers’, that staff over 40 are ‘Greyglers’, staff that leave are ‘Xooglers’ and those that bring their dogs to work are ‘Dooglers’? Cute names or something more worrisome? Well, Automattic has names for its employees too, all based on variation of the company name.
Health matters
One of the things I’ve not really written about is my physical health. Mental health, yes. Now, I’m generally in good health (despite my size – but I’ll get onto that) but have a couple of niggling issues, one of which seems to have stumped health professionals. And my DNA. So, I thought it time […]
Talking support: should I switch it off and back on again?
And, today, we’ll talk about the age-old IT trope… fix everything by switching it off and back on again. The thing is, it works. So why should we be avoiding this?
Applying for a job? Here’s what people often get wrong
It’s 2 years since I got my job at Automattic and now I’m part of Automattic’s VIP hiring team. And performing this hiring role has been genuinely interesting and, yes, eye-opening. In this post, I want to give you an idea of what I look for in an application and some of the less obvious […]
The Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Creating my popular video
With over 137,000 views, my video of the music from the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become, for me, a soaraway success (well, compared to my other videos which normally consist of people on trampolines or moving Lego contraptions). So, I thought I’d talk about how I create the video and what the future holds for […]
How do I contact Google?
For all it’s number of employees and the billions of dollars that it makes, Google is pretty poor when it comes to providing customer service. That’s if you can find anyone to provide a service. Google relies on forums and help pages with little backup if they don’t help. Indeed, even their social network accounts […]
Language matters
There’s been some interesting discussion this week on my Twitter feed about use of language and ways to improve it. It’s not just about being inclusive but sometimes just to communicate better. And it all started with this one…
WordCamp talks: How to use slides
And, today, I want to talk about the use of slides.