WordPress Rockstar: Rebecca Diamond

I was really happy to hear back from Rebecca Diamond recently. For those who do not know, her connection to WordPress is working with the brilliant team at StudioPress. I think it is great to interview people who are making a difference and she definitely is paving a way. By the way, StudioPress was one of the first companies to offer commercially supported WordPress themes.

Here is my review with Rebecca.

ME: When did you start using WordPress and what was it that “sold” you on the idea of using it?

REBECCA: I began using WordPress during 1.5/Strayhorn. I had just begun doing some web development, and had been asked to do a site with well over 400 pages. Obviously, using straight HTML wasn’t efficient for that, and a friend suggested I look over B2Evolution, PHP-Nuke, and WordPress. WordPress was the most intuitive for me, and the easiest to work with as an absolute PHP newbie. It wasn’t hard to “sell” me on anything that made an intimidating task a lot easier.

ME: You work for StudioPress, so what kinds of things do you personally offer for people as part of the awesome team there? 🙂

REBECCA: I’m glad you think StudioPress is awesome – I do too, which is why I work for the company 😉 My official role is Project Manager. My day to day tasks include producing the tutorials (written and screencast) for each new theme we offer, helping with forum support, and assisting with the new projects we’re always developing. Each day brings new duties, which keeps things exciting!

ME: For those who do not use StudioPress services, in your own words, what is it that you believe
StudioPress offers versus popular frameworks and other premium WordPress related services?

REBECCA: My experience with other frameworks and companies is much like my experience with other blogging/content management systems – I looked at what was out there when I started to make the switch to premium themes, and StudioPress (at the time, Revolution) was elegant, clean, and workable.

I believe StudioPress has helped define the premium themes market – just a few years ago, we were one of the only premium theme companies. While I’ve met many of our “competitors” (more on that in the WordCamp question!) and they are fantastic people with great themes and products, I’m really in love with our Genesis framework. Genesis was my first hands-on experience with a parent/child theme, and it makes it so much easier to update as more functionality is added – no more worries about overwriting css!

Also, I believe our support forum team is spectacular – that’s one of the things that drew me in as a client long before I was an employee. We’ve got a fantastic team of people who freely share their knowledge and experience. Having been the newbie not that many years ago, I’d say it doesn’t matter how great your product is if you can’t help people use it. And StudioPress has always been a user-friendly company with great themes.

ME: When you were learning how to design for WordPress, what types of things did you have difficulty with? And for those who might have the same difficulties learning it now, what kind of advice would you have for them?

REBECCA: Oh dear – I think I had every newbie problem there is! When I first began designing, I couldn’t have told you what any of the theme files were, or why they were important. I literally learned from the ground up. Thanks to the widespread WordPress community and the wonders of Google, I was able to search for a line of php and see what it was for, when people used it, and why.

My biggest bit of advice? First, obviously, use Google or your favorite other search engine 😉 It’s amazing what you can learn just by reading the top 5 results you get when you’ve blown up your blog for the 18th time and have some weird error you don’t understand – paste it in and click “Search”. Someone else out there has already had that same error, and 9 times out of 10 they’ve documented it and shared their fix. Second – if you don’t understand what you’ve just found searching, post a comment. Ask for clarification. Ask on the support forum associated with the theme or product you’re using. It’s only a stupid question if it remains unasked! Third – The WordPress Codex is a God-send. Bookmark it. Refer to it often. It’s saved my online life more than once 🙂

ME: I know you have gone to quite a few WordCamps, so for those who have not gone, what kind of things do you think are great for beginners coming to a WordCamp? Are there any things that WordCamps of the past still have not covered that could prove beneficial to newbies to WordPress or even advanced
developers?

REBECCA: Ah, WordCamp…I love WordCamps! They vary from Camp to Camp as to what they cover, but every one I’ve been to has at least 4 or 5 sessions geared to the absolute beginner. None of them have been as formal as other conferences I’ve attended – so if you find yourself in a session that’s going way over
your head, it’s ok to quietly slip out and join another session, or even just hang around in the hallways
or common areas and chat with other WordPress users. The Genius Bar is another great resource – a
good place to ask all those questions you may have and don’t want to commit to having hang around on
the internet in perpetuity!

Speaking of hanging around, that’s my favorite part of WordCamps – just talking with other people who are crazy about WordPress too. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve met many of our “competitors” – it’s hard to call them that when everyone is so nice 😉 What I have discovered is that while there’s competition, it’s very, very friendly – come to a WordCamp and you’ll likely see some well-known developers, all owning competing companies, sitting around discussing ways to make WordPress better so that everyone can benefit.

I’d love to see WordCamps encourage even more of this – the very first WordCamp I attended was in Chicago 2009, and it had these small round tables where 8 or 10 people could sit. It encouraged talking and getting to know your table-mates (maybe to the chagrin of the speakers 😉 all of whom were very gracious about it!) and it was nice to be encouraged to get to speak with other attendees that way.

ME: Although we are about to go into WordPress 3.0, what kinds of things are you wanting WordPress to cover or do in the future? (any types of features, or even some backend capabilities?)

REBECCA: It’s hard to say – WordPress 3.0 is fulfilling so many things on the personal wish-lists of myself and others, and offering things I hadn’t even thought to want! I’m excited about moving into the 3.0 era, and I’m waiting to build a revised wish-list once I’ve played with 3.0 for a while 😉

Rebecca Diamond is a homeschooling mom, a wife, and an avid knitter. Her geek career began with getting her ham radio license, complete with Morse Code certification, at the age of 12. She has been working as a web developer focusing on WordPress for the last 5 years, and has been employed with StudioPress since July 2009. Connect with Rebecca on Twitter – @r_diamond.