«Just remember, every contribution counts, no matter what it looks like. It takes every one of us to make WordPress better.» Matt Mullenweg
Hi! My name is Tia Wood and I am your new WPML blogger. I started developing websites in 2000. I am a WordPress lover and very familiar with the roller coaster of freelancing and entrepreneurship.
From Freelancing to Joining a Team
I left freelancing earlier this year to join OnTheGoSystems, makers of WPML and Toolset WordPress plugins. When I found out I was being hired, I worked hard to get my final freelance projects out the door. I was very excited for the new opportunity and chapter of my life, so much in fact that I played Europe’s The Final Countdown almost every morning leading up to my first day with OTGS.
Behind the company you will find others like me: passionate about what we do, contributors to the WordPress community and people who love getting together once a year from all over the world to share knowledge and discuss how to best serve our customers.
I should also mention we like to have fun, too.
Freelancing for 15 years is a long time. While others are daydreaming about the freedom of freelancing, those who do it know how much work goes into having that freedom. For myself personally, the desire to be part of a team eventually outweighed the benefits of solopreneurship.
I have no regrets. I absolutely admire and adore my new colleagues. I get to bring past experience to work with me everyday and now I get to pass along that experience to you through blogging.
Get to Know Me
Here are some random facts about myself:
- I am a big music fan. I have lots of favorite songs but my ultimate favorite is Mr. Roboto by Styx. By the way I love hearing music from around the world. Reach out to me via Twitter and send recommended songs from your country.
- I actually developed on Joomla before WordPress but WordPress eventually won my heart.
- I’m a little bit of a gamer and my favorite game is Portal.
- I agree: Valve needs to hurry up and make Portal 3.
- I secretly wish I could develop a bot smart enough to pass the Turing test and win the Loebner Prize. Yes, I’ve tried in the past.
So…Where Do We Go From Here?
My goals with blogging are best summarized from a post written by Mark Gavalda, Kinsta.com:
“In one form or another almost everyone who works with WordPress gives back something, that’s why this whole system works so beautifully.”
This is my small contribution within the large volunteer community of WordPress, to be able to pass along my knowledge to WPML customers & WordPress enthusiasts and to make your day to day a little easier.
Here are just some of the topics we will be covering:
- business (examples: how to make your theme more sellable by making it multilingual friendly, attracting the right clients)
- development (examples: site performance, WordPress tips/tricks)
- localization (examples: why it matters, WordPress standards, tips & tricks)
- resources ( examples: resources to make your jobs easier, tools to help make tasks easier)
- how to (examples: localizing specific plugins, working on specific platforms)
- company culture: (example: what we are doing & who we are)
3 Ways to Stay in Touch
You can get blog updates in 3 ways:
- Follow WPML on Twitter: https://twitter.com/wpml
- Get updates via RSS.
- Subscribe to our newsletter below:
What’s On Your Mind?
I would love to hear your WordPress stories. If you have topics you would like covered, an idea for an article or want to tell your story about how you utilize WordPress or WPML in daily life reach out to me via Twitter.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
And as always, I will SEE YOU… in the next blog post! (Markiplier fans will get it)