Prompt 19/20 Blog: If you could have one wish for WordPress granted, what would it be?

https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2023/05/26/day-19-wp20-from-blogs-to-blocks/

This is a tough prompt! There are so many things that I would like to do with WordPress that haven’t been done yet.

I suppose the one wish that I have is for the good parts of our community and general vibe to be able to transfer to a general consciousness of how the internet and work should work.

For instance, a lot of WordPress agencies do four day workweeks, and Automattic has been remote from the start. I would love more jobs to work this way, and free people from a lot of busywork and commuting that is doing no one any good.

We also value group contributions in a way that a lot of other organizations do not. More can be done with a diversity of voices and experiences. It would be great if more spaces embrace this ethos.

Sure, I could provide some specific code ideas, but I’d rather change mindsets, and the code will follow.

Prompt 18/20 Blog: Download the WordPress Mobile app and post a post from the app about your experience posting from the app.

https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2023/05/25/day-18-wp20-from-blogs-to-blocks/

I don’t think that I’ve ever actually used the WordPress mobile app to write before.

I’ve been writing my post drafts in Notion lately. Not because I don’t like writing in WordPress itself. That’s where I compose all of my weekly newsletters after all.

No, the main reason that I use an external writing app is because I want somewhere that I can easily search all of my notes and writing, not just things on this one site. I’ve considered in the past funneling multiple sites and other sources into one searchable database, but that hasn’t come to fruition yet. I would want to automate it and just haven’t found something that fits all of my wants, though I think that DEVONthink might be a workable solution if I ever get around to fully setting it up.

The mobile WordPress app certainly feels quite usable, but I’m not much for using my phone for computing most of the time. Even formatting and grabbing links to paste in was much easier to do on my laptop and I cheated by editing this draft there after writing. That seems more like a me issue than an app issue though.

Prompt 17/20 Blog: Tell us about your first or favorite contribution to WordPress. If you haven’t officially contributed yet, tell us what are you hoping to contribute in the future.

https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2023/05/24/day-17-wp20-from-blogs-to-blocks/

I still remember my first core contribution to WordPress, which happened during WordCamp San Francisco 2013.

At the time I was a Windows user, having only touched Mac computers for a few creative classes in school. Basically, I didn’t know much about the ecosystem. What I did know is that every time I went to a web dev conference it felt like the rooms were 90% Mac users, with the rest split between Linux and Windows laptop toters.

In my brilliance, I purchased a Macbook about two days before WordCamp San Francisco, just enough time to get the basics with it and download some apps.

During the event I found out that the Automattic lounge was going to be hosting a WCSF Dev Day after the main event, where core contributors would be teaching how to contribute code, as well as talking through projects that they were working on, and coding together. I was excited to learn more, and eagerly attended the event.

Through several hours I was able to get help in solving an issue with a core theme issue that I’d discovered while putting together a site for our local WordPress Meetup. I found a solution that I worked, and got help from some extremely patient contributors. Not only in learning how to make a diff patch and work with trac, but basic things like how to actually get coding and uploading files with a Mac. Truly saintly folks, who I remember to this day.

Ticket #24896 is my first of very few core code contributions, but I’ve found many different ways to contribute since then.

Prompt 16/20 Blog: Tell us your hopes (or fears) for the future of AI in WordPress.

https://make.wordpress.org/marketing/2023/05/23/day-16-wp20-from-blogs-to-blocks/

I am hopeful that WordPress will incorporate AI in a meaningful way. Let me adjust that: I am hopeful that the WordPress Community will incorporate AI in ways that will improve the ecosystem for everybody.

From what I’ve seen so far, users of generative AI LLMs, such as ChatGPT, have been able to get impressive results in starting out new projects. Yesterday I mentioned that something that helps me with WordPress are tools that make it easier to write code. I see text based LLMs as a way to make this work easier. Similar to how I use a code generator to make it quicker to make custom themes and plugins, these tools can help to reduce time on repetitive work, saving yourself for more complex coding that they don’t yet handle well.

The fear that I have around LLM AI is just a lot of garbage. Garbage posts generated to generate clicks. Garbage artwork assets created to make a quick buck. Garbage code written and then sold by people who can’t properly support it since they don’t have an understanding of how it is actually working.

I think that overall the positives will outweigh the negatives when it comes to the use of AI with WordPress. My confidence is because I know that our communities are resilient and will work around the shortcomings of AI to use them to their full potential.