Author Archives: Doug

How I Learned PHP (at WCSF)

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

Posted in Web Design | Tagged , , | Comments Off on How I Learned PHP (at WCSF)

Thoughts on Editing

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

Posted in About | Comments Off on Thoughts on Editing

Tiny Tickets

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

Posted in About, Web Design | Comments Off on Tiny Tickets

Small Words in Help Tabs

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

Posted in About, Samples, Web Design | Comments Off on Small Words in Help Tabs

Pocket Philosophy of Contextual Help

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

Posted in Help Design, Samples, Web Design | Tagged , | Comments Off on Pocket Philosophy of Contextual Help

Lists about Writing (Lists)

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

Posted in Writing & Editing | Tagged | Comments Off on Lists about Writing (Lists)

WordPress Help Tabs

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

Posted in Help Design, Samples, Web Design | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on WordPress Help Tabs

My First Book

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

Posted in Samples | Comments Off on My First Book

Theme choice

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

Posted in About | Comments Off on Theme choice

Video Redux

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

Posted in Help Design, Software Tools | Tagged , | Comments Off on Video Redux