Author Archives: Doug

How I Learned PHP (at WCSF)

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Doug

PHP is like oxygen at a Wordcamp; it’s all over the place, in snippets, on slides, and within conversations. (Of course, PHP is also all over the place powering the web, too.) During his State of the Word speech, Matt … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Editing

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Doug

I believe that: Editing is a craft and it’s fun. Any writing can use more editing. Done, best, perfect, and the only way to say it are fictions; useful but precarious fictions. If you’re looking for a writer, you probably … Continue reading →

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Tiny Tickets

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Doug

My patch was committed for version 3.3, to fix a tiny typo I introduced in version 3.2. I think it helped to edit the title of the ticket, referring to Network Global Dashboard instead of Network Dash. Being patient didn’t … Continue reading →

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Small Words in Help Tabs

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Doug

The WordPress help tabs rely on educated bets about what people will need at a quick glance, and where they will need it. To see this, look at the two admin screens where a new or newish user is most … Continue reading →

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Pocket Philosophy of Contextual Help

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Doug

Crafting varied, mostly small updates to the help tabs for WordPress 3.1 feels like a slow motion race against time. Iterations of the Beta version need to be in place to see what help text needs revising; any revising must … Continue reading →

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Lists about Writing (Lists)

Posted on November 25, 2010 by Doug

Juxtapostion Studies: How good are lists? See thoughts on how they can be good versus bad. Spoiler: often depends on the quality of the list. Also lists on writing good blog posts (via) and good fiction. I think Kurt Vonnegut … Continue reading →

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WordPress Help Tabs

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Doug

I’m currently working on updating some help tabs for WordPress 3.1, about to go into Beta. See Trac Ticket #15346 (Contextual Help Tabs Cleanup) with patches I’ve submitted for individual dashboard screens. For background on WordPress help tabs: Codex article … Continue reading →

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My First Book

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Doug

Standing in Your Shoes: A Checklist for Classroom and Substitute Teachers by Doug Provencio Standing in Your Shoes prepares educators for that inevitable day when a substitute teacher takes charge of the classroom. This unique book speaks to a dual … Continue reading →

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Theme choice

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Doug

I’m currently using Carrington Blog, which has a layout structure I like, but will be switching to Twenty Ten once 3.0 is officially released. I’m using the 3.0 release candidates on my test sites, but this one drew the short … Continue reading →

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Video Redux

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Doug

More on using videos for help and explanation. Some examples: Communicating user experience through video telling stories Taking a cue from science fiction movies (Star Wars, Starship Troopers) using holograms of people sending messages, CNN used a holographic analyst on … Continue reading →

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