As a “look-up” for some of the tasks I’m working on, I’ve been rereading some of the books I read to learn WordPress. I realize, now, that the authors may not be deeply competent PHP programmers although they sure know how to use all of the WP PHP wowzer well! I, on the other hand, have a deep desire to understand more than just how to use the “framework tools” of WP but also why the code works the way it does. The folks who are the big dogs in the PHP world can code in PHP well.
In one of his posts (that keeps getting recirculated because that IS the way to SEO Optimize 😉 ), Tom Ewer writes that “people who use WordPress can be separated into three broad camps:”
- Plug and players: WordPress enthusiasts who are probably not experienced website designers and are looking for a turnkey solution. They will find a theme, install it, and probably get on with content creation.
- Tweakers: These folks will take a theme that could probably be used straight out of the box and apply their own tweaks. They will probably use the custom.css and custom_functions.php files (or similar) to customize their theme. They will take an off the shelf option and mess around with it until they have something that (a) suits their needs, and (b) looks unique.
- Frameworkers: These are usually developers who will start off with a theme framework that offers very little beyond – you guessed it – a framework, upon which content can sit. Hours or days later, they will have crafted crafted something truly unique and customized to their – or their client’s ≠ specific needs.
Based upon my experience, you can substitute “WordPress Developers” and consultants into the same groups. I’m 90% a Tweaker. And I really don’t want to become a paid Frameworker because I correct more absolute merde that Frameworker developers create than any other task. Clients get a lot of crap when they get a custom theme from a Frameworker. Deep in my gut, I suspect that I can become an awesome tweaker if I learn PHP deeply.
So while Matt recommends learning JavaScript deeply, there has come a time, for me, to learn PHP – deeply 🙂
Here are some of my favorite “There Comes A Time” quotes.
