StudioPress founder and one of many architects of the trendy WordPress theme ecosystem, Brian Gardner, will be a part of WP Engine as a Principal Developer Advocate. He’ll put on many various hats however will additional improve the developer expertise at WP Engine by charting a course to advance WordPress and lead developer relations, particularly serving to folks with the transition to Gutenberg (block editor).
When some had been cautious of the inclusion of Gutenberg, Gardner led the cost in not solely making StudioPress compliant however designing particularly for StudioPress. Gutenberg is the way forward for content material creation in WordPress. Whereas the transition remains to be ongoing, and lots of are nonetheless apprehensive about adopting Gutenberg, Gardner has efficiently managed the transition to the brand new editor with StudioPress.
The identical shall be mentioned of one other huge change on the horizon, Full Web site Enhancing. Gardner’s new position is to be sure that each WordPress developer understands learn how to develop utilizing this new benchmark WordPress function.
With the ability to be a part of WP Engine full-time permits Gardner to convey years of experience and group relationships to make the developer expertise higher.
Over a Decade of Expertise
Gardner has been a mainstay in the neighborhood since 2007.
“In 2006, I was at an architectural firm working as a project manager,” he mentioned in an interview with Torque, “I just started blogging and I was using Blogger from Google from way back in the day and It didn’t exactly do what I wanted it to somebody recommended WordPress.”
As with many WordPress bloggers at the moment, Gardner needed to change the way in which his website appeared. Having at all times been thinking about design, he had a selected concept in thoughts and began messing round with a theme.
“I was like how do I change this, or what is CSS or how do I move that around—things that ultimately laid the foundation for building themes more on a professional basis,” he mentioned.
StudioPress
All through this course of, Gardner was documenting all the things he realized on his weblog. After posting a free theme, folks began to achieve out asking for much more customization. What started as a pastime began to show into one-off freelance tasks on the weekend.
The turning level got here when an actual property agent requested him to check out his website.
“The Revolution theme from back in the day was a draft design that I developed for the agent. I decided to have some fun and make something really cool which pushed it beyond what a blog was,” Gardner mentioned. “The irony is the agent rejected it, he just wanted a blog not a whole website theme.”
So, Gardner posted it to his website and it caught the eye of WordPressers. This proved to be the beginnings of StudioPress.
With StudioPress Gardner constructed the Genesis Framework, the mother or father theme to all premium StudioPress themes. Over time, Genesis has garnered a large following, with over 300,000 builders becoming a member of the group. Gardner has helped develop one of many greatest and most passionate communities within the house, and that have will immediately translate into his new position at WP Engine as he takes the DevRel staff to new heights.
Onto WP Engine
In 2018, WP Engine acquired StudioPress. The acquisition got here on the heels of the discharge of the Gutenberg editor. Gardner noticed a possibility to bolster the power of StudioPress whereas getting into this new period of WordPress.
Within the announcement of the StudioPress acquisition, WP Engine Founder, Jason Cohen, echoed this sentiment.
“Supporting Gutenberg is an example of a new precedent for supporting WordPress Core through the development of the Genesis Framework and new themes that make the adoption of new technologies like Gutenberg easier,” Cohen mentioned.
Quick ahead three years and Gardner has maintained his relationship with WP Engine in addition to saved his ear to the bottom of what’s taking place in WordPress.
“This position combines the three things I love most, which is design, WordPress, and building community. It just felt like a no-brainer, it felt completely right,” Gardner mentioned.
Dedicated to Giving Again
WordPress can solely develop if persons are dedicated to giving again to the CMS as a complete. It’s essential to the survival of the group, and nobody understands that higher than Gardner. His position will be sure that the voice of the group is heard inside WP Engine and the developer is at all times prime of thoughts.
Just lately, WP Engine has taken vital strides in each the Native and Genesis communities, making them free to be used. Like Genesis, Native has additionally garnered a staggering group at 90,000 month-to-month lively customers and rising.
“The recent community give back efforts made by WP Engine demonstrated their commitment to the WordPress ecosystem and in the process of making Local and Genesis free for all they have made it easier for people to create amazing WordPress website experiences,” Gardner mentioned.
WP Engine SVP of International Engineering, Ramadass Prabhakar, sees this partnership as a strategy to give again to WordPress.
“I am impressed with the passion Brian has for the WordPress community and the developer experience. Giving back to the community is a core value of WP Engine, and Brian embodies that. I am thrilled to have Brian join us in this journey,” he mentioned.
With the assets offered by WP Engine, Gardner will be capable of push the boundaries of what WordPress can do and proceed to develop this passionate group of builders.
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