🌐 Justin's Blog

My favorite platform for blogging.

Given all the WordPress drama that has been going on, I've seen a number of tweets from people searching for other platforms to use. In light of this, I figured I'd share what I've been using for a number of years now for blogging.

To clarify, this is not a CMS, so if you are looking for a CMS replacement then this one isn't it. However, if you just want to switch over to something reliable and simple for blogging — then keep reading.

In the summer of 2021, I decided to move my personal blog off of WordPress. From a pure blogging standpoint, I'm not a fan of the writing or admin experience of WordPress. I searched around for some other open source options, and stumbled upon WriteFreely, and the hosted option, write.as. The main developer (and founder) is another Matt, but he's not involved in any public disputes.

It's simple, open source blogging software with an emphasis on the writing experience. I have to be honest, it has made blogging fun again for me. No plugins, update notices, clunky themes, or slow loading admin panels. Just a pleasant, distraction-free way to blog about my life. It's also worth noting that the platform supports the principles of the Social Web Foundation.

I am writing this blog post with the markdown editor (in dark mode, ah, my eyes feel so good). That said, there is a rich text editor as well, and their own built-in image hosting service. So, that takes care of both my words and images.

It's pretty easy to categorize posts by adding a hashtag (you can see an example at the end of this post). And to round it all out, there is a built-in email feature so that subscribers get notified of new posts.

And really that's it. That's all I need.

The Themes are... Bad

Not everything is great, though.

Coming from the WordPress world, I am used to an endless selection of themes. Well, this is one area that write.as really struggles in.

They have a list of user donated themes that are just CSS. I was able to cobble together a few things that I liked from each for my previous theme, and it worked nicely from a minimalist point of view. I did the same for my Spanish blog (where I admittedly don't post a lot). If you dig around GitHub, you can find some themes as well, like this one by Francesco.

The simple theme I created for my main site worked well for over three years, but I started to get the itch for something new and more elaborate (the theme you see now). I ended up hiring a developer on UpWork and he completed the project in about a week (which consists of CSS and JavaScript). I love how it all came out!

Of course, if you're proficient in CSS and JS, then you can just whip up something rather quickly and be good to go. That's what my fellow blogger Mark did, and I think his blog looks quite nice.

Getting Started

If you want to host the software yourself, then head on over to WriteFreely. There you can download what you need, and find the instructions for running the software. This is a good option for the nerds out there who like a good challenge.

The other option is to use the hosted service at write.as, which is what I use.

I'd recommend creating a free account on the hosted service first to see if you like the experience. There are some quirks, for sure. The support is mediocre at best, though you probably don't need much support if you're just blogging.

Just don't expect all the bells & whistles of WordPress, and you'll be fine. The platform isn't as mature, is less robust, and still has some odd bugs here or there.

#WordPress

Comment

WordPress co-founder, Matt Mullenweg, picks a fight with WP Engine, even calling them a "cancer".

Did you catch Matt's keynote talk at WordCamp U.S. this year? It was pretty boilerplate, as far as his talks usually go, but there was one part that stood out to nearly everyone, and that was his comments towards WP Engine and their lack of contribution to the WordPress project.

Matt expressed his annoyance at the contributions made by WP Engine to WordPress, comparing their 47 hours per week to Automattic's 3,786 hours per week.

“Those of us who are makers, who create the source, need to be wary of those who would take our creations and squeeze out the juice. They’re grifters who will hop onto the next fad, but we’re trying to build something big here, something long term—something that lasts for generations. Think about that next time it comes up to renew your hosting or domain, weigh your dollars towards companies that give back more, because you’ll get back more, too. Freedom isn’t free.”

Those are some pretty strong words, and I'm sure it doesn't feel good to be called out in a negative light at one of the biggest WordPress events of the year. As such, I was curious to see the response from WP Engine, as these were some harsh words from the man at the top. I put a tweet out saying the same:

That post (which cited an article on WPTavern) started a lively discussion about the point raised by Matt during his talk.

As you would expect, WP Engine wasn't far behind with their response. In summary, they said something to the effect of:

• WP Engine has contributed to WordPress innovation for over a decade, advancing the ecosystem and supporting developers and millions of websites.
• They invest heavily in the community through sponsorships, educational events like DE{CODE}, and development tools such as Faust.js and WPGraphQL.
• WP Engine is committed to fostering creativity and empowering WordPress developers to keep the CMS at the forefront of web development.

For more, see WP Engine's article.

The Point vs The Delivery

Matt has become far more divisive in recent years. Call it the size of WordPress, or maybe just the demeanor of someone who has been the focus of so many attacks for two decades. Whatever the reason, he's clearly tired of being politically correct all the time.

What often happens is that he will make a point, people argue the point for a moment, then they start to get angry at the way the point was raised. They attack the messenger, for lack of a better term.

But it's not like it isn't warranted at times.

I've been around WordPress long enough to have seen Matt air out personal vendettas rather publicly, wrapped up in some kind of “I'm looking out for what's best for everyone” sentiment.

This actually ends up having the opposite effect in that the focus shifts to Matt (the person), not what it is he's trying to point out. Because, look, as far as I can tell there is a valid point there. This post by Noel does a pretty good job outlining that point:

I think what's pretty telling, though, is that this comment by Noel was a response to a poll that Matt ran, and it shows how the majority of folks disagree with his take on WP Engine's role within WordPress.

But it keeps going...

Matt has been popping up across various channels, seemingly defending his view and attempting to make points about WP Engine's lack of contributions despite their size and financial resources. Unfortunately, those points are now falling upon deaf ears because of the manner and frequency in which the “attacks” are coming.

Matt published this post on the official WordPress.org news about how WP Engine turns off revision history, an important feature in WordPress core, to save money. To drive home another point, he used a mini-story about his mom confusing the two brands (WP Engine and WordPress), which was the basis for the title of the post. To cap it off, he referred to WP Engine as “a cancer”. Yikes.

This made me wonder a few things:

1. Are a lot of people confusing WP Engine (the brand) with WordPress?
2. Is it ever okay to call businesses, and the people working there, “cancer”?
3. Should this have been posted on his personal blog, instead?

Speaking of the personal blog, Matt did write a blog post about investors, and if they are inherently “bad”. Something he likely wanted to touch on because of WP Engine's impressive investment over the years. He contends:

• Investors are essential for entrepreneurship, but there are both good and bad investors. It's important to evaluate their track record and actions after investing.
• Private equity investors can be beneficial, especially when they respect open-source values and support the community, as seen with Automattic's investors.
• Actions matter more than words; companies should be judged based on how their behavior impacts communities and ecosystems over time.

I'm not surprised by his viewpoint given that Automattic has taken its fair share of investment, though I do take exception to his claim that investors are essential for entrepreneurship. That is not true at all.

Just speaking from my own experience, I never had a single investor, and LearnDash not only did well, it thrived. In fact, we absolutely destroyed Automattic's competing product to LearnDash (Sensei). I didn't even consider them a credible competitor.

His Mind is Made Up

Matt has always taken on the role of “open source protector”, and whenever he feels that it is being taken advantage of, he attacks — and his attacks can be quite harsh. He clearly feels that this is happening with WP Engine, though it also has an adverse effect for him in that the community starts to highlight some hypocrisy:

History has shown that when Matt makes his mind up about something, nothing will shake him from it. If anything, backlash makes him dig in further. He will go down on that ship, but he knows that the ship will never go down, because the ocean is the community that contributes to, and depends on, WordPress in their daily lives.

Qualifying Contributions is in Poor Taste

If I take the time to separate the inflammatory rhetoric and poor choice of message delivery, I do think that there is an important point that Matt is bringing to the community's attention. WP Engine indeed does have the fortunate position to contribute more to WordPress in terms of hours. What I don't like, however, is that Matt is outlining what he considers to be an acceptable contribution. Sponsoring WordCamps? That doesn't count. Not to him, anyway.

This has a way of polarizing the less visible in the community. The individual developer who has a small plugin business is proud to sponsor their local WordCamp, but the message being sent from the boardroom is that this is a “meh” form of contribution. In other words, don't feel too good about it. It's not really valued.

Matt has come down hard on WordPress hosts for some time. GoDaddy, Pagely (now part of GoDaddy), and Pantheon come to mind. I think he has a higher expectation of them than the “average” WordPress user.

And maybe we all should.

They are the ones with the money and resources to really move the needle for the WordPress project. To date, it doesn't appear like any host is living up to Matt's unspoken expectation.

Legal Updates

On September 23, 2024, not too long after this post was originally published, WP Engine issued a cease & desist against Matt and Automattic.

I must say, he does not look good, especially all the threatening texts he sent prior to starting his public attacks on WP Engine.

One day later, on September 24, 2024, Matt and Automattic issued their own cease & desist with some heavy emphasis on the use of the WordPress trademark.

This is interesting, because there are many businesses that use the “WordPress” name similarly to WP Engine. This could have some far-reaching ramifications for the entire industry, depending on how it plays out.

On October 2, 2024, WP Engine filed their official lawsuit.

#WordPress

Comment

Your body learns to need caffeine. It's time to unlearn.

Recently, Lorena and I were talking about nutrition, foods, bad habits, and the like. It’s a topic we often discuss as it’s a passion of hers, and together we have made some healthy adjustments in our daily lives.

To date, I’ve made a number of changes in my nutrition, but there has always been one area that I never even considered changing: my coffee intake.

For nearly my entire adult life, I’ve had three cups of coffee each day — sometimes four if I’m dragging. I really enjoy coffee and look forward to that first cup every morning, and I’m fortunate that at this point in my life I don’t have any major sensitivities to it.

Caffeine hits Lorena a little bit differently, and while she enjoyed the flavor and energy kick occasionally, it wasn’t a value add in her life, so she gave it up.

So, back to this conversation. Lorena asked me, point-blank:

Would you ever consider giving up coffee?

I dismissed the idea, at first. I told her that it’s not that bad, and that it’s only three cups. I went on to explain how much I enjoy coffee, and the reasons I needed it to start the day right.

She let it go, but the topic remained in my mind.

I Have Become Coffee Dependent

Without my three cups, I just don’t feel right. I may get a headache, or be lethargic. It can impact my mood as well. When we go out of town, I always need to find a place with “decent enough” coffee, so I’m fueled for the day.

For years, I considered coffee to just be something I enjoyed. The reality, however, is that I was addicted. It eerily reminds me of the issue I had with alcohol. The negative impacts weren’t as obvious, but they were there.

But I also love having something warm, and the flavor of coffee in the morning. After doing a little research, I learned the following:

• A standard cup of coffee (8oz) has ~100mg of caffeine, give or take. I was having 300mg each day.
• The American Heart Association recommends no more than 400mg per day.

I was within the appropriate caffeine range, but that doesn’t mean loading up my system with caffeine every day (leading to a physical addiction), is a good thing. At the same time, cutting everything cold turkey didn’t sound very appealing. I still wanted to drink coffee, and I wasn't quite ready for the decaf life.

Landing on Half-Caff

I figured that I had two options:

1. Drink 2 cups instead of 3 cups
2. Drink something else

While the first option seems like the easiest, it is something that I’ve tried in the past and just never could stick to. Maybe it's a lack of willpower, but I just really enjoy three cups. After two, I start to get anxious for that third and begin to justify why it’s okay to have it. Some days I would have it, some days I wouldn’t — there was no consistency.

Which brings up the second point: maybe I just drink something else?

Thing is, I like the way coffee tastes, so teas would never work. Nor would those mushroom drinks that have become popular. I don’t care for the flavor.

That left decaf and half-caff coffee as my remaining options. I chose to go with half-caff.

Making the switch has been… interesting.

Funnily enough, the decaf industry is quite expansive. Coffee shops of all sizes try their best to make a good tasting decaf coffee, and they are quite good at it. That said, I wasn’t ready to give up caffeine entirely. Not yet, anyway.

So, I decided to search for some good half-caff beans. This came with the advantage of being able to still drink three cups in the morning, still get a little caffeine, but also decrease my body’s dependency on caffeine.

Instead of 300mg of caffeine, I’d be having 150mg. I’d still be getting a little bit of energy benefit, but less than my body has been used to for 15 years or so.

The hardest part in this process has been finding a good tasting, organic whole bean to grind. I finally found some good options by Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC, but I’m always keeping an eye out to see if there are other options.

Switching to Decaf... One Day

I’ve been at it for a couple of weeks and my withdrawal symptoms have subsided, but they are still there. Most notably, I am a little more tired in the morning, even after my three cups. I hope that this becomes less impactful as my body makes the full adjustment to the new caffeine levels, and learns how to “maximize” them.

I don’t rule out the possibility of getting completely off caffeine. I mean, it’s probably a net positive in the end. For now, I’m just trying to adjust to the new half-caff routine.

I’ll end by saying this: Take opportunities to assess, and challenge your assumptions — especially regarding what you put into your body. Just because you have been doing it one way your entire life doesn’t mean a change won’t benefit your health and happiness.

For me right now, it’s coffee. But this could be said for any routine we have in our lives.

#health

Comment

The challenges and tribulations of pricing a product or service in the WordPress space.

Let's talk about the WordPress industry and pricing for a moment.

It's well-documented that WordPress products are underpriced because there is a certain price expectation from the community. Now, prices have slowly gone up (a good thing!) but not nearly on par when compared to other industries.

Not even close.

When I left LearnDash, the most common tier was around $199 (which would make it expensive across the WordPress space).

Teachable is like... $99/mo... for way less. And they easily make more money than LearnDash. I'm sure you can all think of 100s of other examples. But this also goes for WordPress related services.

By way of example, it's normal in non-WordPress industries for coaching to be $1,000-$2000/mo. Very normal, in fact. People pay this without blinking an eye. I could never charge this for my coaching.

And what I do charge is often met with hesitation, even though I have the background and accolades to justify charging more if I coached outside of WordPress.

The Concept of Value Fatigue

What ends up happening is prices stay low (in both products and services) and the people behind those offerings try their damnedest to pack insane amounts of value into the low price. Now, that's obviously good. But it has resulted in Value Fatigue.

All of us in the WordPress space are so used to the products and services we buy being overly stuffed with value — far beyond the price we pay — that it is driving prices down.

Newcomers go into the space (products or services) and see the main players are charging “X” for “Y”. So, they end up charging a price of “X-1” for “Y+1”.

Rinse and repeat for the next entrant. It's a race to the bottom for businesses, Value Fatigue for consumers.

I wish I had a solution for this, but it's very much intertwined with the culture of WordPress. The needle is moving up, but we are comparing that in a WordPress vacuum. By the same token, maybe it's not something that needs to be “solved”.

Maybe It’s Okay?

Maybe the way pricing is in WordPress is fine. And look, despite low prices, many WordPress businesses do very well.

• WooThemes crushed it early on and sold for tens of millions.
• LearnDash (to my knowledge at the time) was one of the most successful revenue generating WordPress businesses at the time of sale.
• Yoast has been cookin' for years.
• 10up and WebDevStudios benefit from premium rates. Heck, I coach several “small” product and agency companies that are making 7-figures.

While this is great, it's important to understand that these are all the exceptions. The freelancers out there busting their ass on the product or service they are selling are unable to charge what they really should be charging if they were outside of WordPress.

I coach WordPress folks who have started to brainstorm ways to branch outside of WordPress. Not for lack of love, but the grind is considerably more challenging, especially the pressure to continually pack more and more value wherever possible, leading to frustration and ultimately burnout.

#WordPress

Comment

Stuck in the middle, and hating it.

In early summer, Lorena and I closed on a home as we look to move (one last time) to what is hopefully our long-time home. However, we have yet to move because we are still in our current home.

There are two reasons why we are in this situation. First, we have yet to sell our current home. This process has been harder than I imagined, I’ll admit. It wasn’t helped by the fact that we had a sewage backup and needed to take the home off of the market for a few weeks to do the necessary clean-up and repairs.

The second reason is that we are also doing renovations on our new home. This is exciting because we are really making the home feel like ours before we live in it. It’s very much in progress, so not living there is a good thing for the time being. It would be loud, dusty, and unlivable in some parts of the home. On top of that, though, we also experienced flooding at the new home!

So, that brings us to where we are: in limbo. We aren’t fully mentally in our current location since we are trying to sell, nor are we mentally (or physically) in our new home. It’s a weird position to be in, especially for so long. We are frustrated, but still excited. For now, I’m just focusing on one day at a time.

#personal

Seeing family, boating, and laughs along the way.

Lorena and I took a long weekend to go visit my brother and his family in the suburbs north of Chicago. Normally, we see each around the holidays, but occasionally one of us will make a trip out to see the other. It was our turn.

It was a good visit, and always nice to see my nephews, who are growing up so fast it’s insane (at ages 11 and 13). I still remember the day the oldest was born! So crazy. They’ve settled in nicely with their life in the U.S. after six years living in England and Germany.

The big event of the trip was getting to see my brother’s new boat. The weather was decent, though a bit windy. It was nice, and fun to get a glimpse into the routine of my brother’s family. Apparently they do the boat thing nearly every weekend. Plus, my parents also came to visit for a night after celebrating their anniversary in the city, so we all got some time together as a family.

We spent the last day relaxing and then going to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. It was probably one of the better gardens that I’ve ever been to – we didn’t even see it all, and we were there for two hours.

We are back in California now, trying to sell this home so we can finally move to our new house — which has been the main stressor in my life for the past four months. Putting out the good vibes!

#personal

Making a big change... one last time!

Lorena and I have been living in a costal town in California since January 2023, after moving from Austin, Texas. It’s easily the most beautiful place I have ever lived.

Situated less than a mile from the beach, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to go to the ocean – my favorite thing to do. There are palm trees all over, the sun is (almost) always shining, and the temperature doesn’t get too hot nor cold.

Without question, my favorite part of where we live is the ocean view from our upstairs living room, where I admired the sunset every evening.

That said, after some lengthy conversations for the past six months or so, we’ve decided that our current location is just not where we want to be for the long term.

Something Missing

To put it plainly: Orange County lacks the diversity we value.

Diversity in people, culture, thoughts, food, and activities. It’s closed off and slow. You find either retirees, or families who have lived here for generations. It’s not close to any real major city, so in many ways it feels like you’re stuck on an island.

At this stage of our lives, we desire more. We started to look at bigger cities again, specifically San Diego and Los Angeles. We actually met in San Diego, so it holds a special place in our hearts. But after a bit of conversation, neither of us were really that excited to go back. Nothing against the city personally, we just wanted to move onto something new and different.

Moving North

After ruling out anywhere south of our current area, our sights shifted north to Los Angeles. LA has the diversity we crave, and a vibe that we really mesh well with on a personal level. There are so many different neighborhoods, and each one has its own look & feel.

We spent many weekends taking trips up to learn more about the city and to see some homes. In the end, we found a place. It’s a good mix of a family-oriented community with easy walkability to cafés, shops, and more.

We are thrilled to have landed in a place where we are excited about the daily life, and the opportunities. Now all we have to do is sell our home!

#personal

The more I don't think about software, the more ideas that start to creep into my mind.

It’s funny, when I’m not thinking about starting a software company, I start getting flooded with ideas. And since I’ve started coaching founders, I’m getting more of these ideas.

A few have come up that are pretty damn good. Or at least I am interested in them because I really like the industry, which is the e-learning and online course space. This is a market that I have been involved with my entire career – even before my foray into WordPress.

But unfortunately, that’s a problem.

Why is it a problem?

I am still bound by a non-compete clause after the sale of LearnDash, and that restriction doesn’t expire until 2026.

If I wanted to move forward in the e-learning industry, I would need to seek legal permission from LiquidWeb. Maybe that makes sense at some point, but for now I’m pretty content just continuing with my coaching. At the same time, I can start doing some more market research to see if any of these ideas actually have potential.

#entrepreneurship

When times are tough, this is what I do.

A couple of weeks ago, the plumbing system in our home backed-up. As you can imagine, this was a pretty stressful (and disgusting) time. The plumber came out at 9PM but couldn’t fix anything. So, after I spent an hour cleaning the most impacted areas, Lorena and I had to head off to a hotel for the night.

Over the next few days, we had the plumbers come out to investigate further, a restoration company come to remove affected walls and flooring, and a contractor come to give an estimate on repair work. Oh, and did I mention that we are trying to sell our house? Yeah, it’s off the market as we deal with all of this.

This has been a stressful time for us, no doubt.

Keep Life Small

When these kinds of things happen, I’ve found that I benefit by keeping my life small. What I mean is that I limit my thinking to the present. I don’t think too far into the future, nor about the past. This just brings unnecessary added stress.

By focusing on the present, I make sure all my energy and actions are relevant to the immediate items at hand. In essence, I “wall off” my thoughts from anything else. I have tasks to do in the day, and so I’m just staying in the moment. At the end of the day, I reflect on the day and what I need to get done the next day.

This process can go on for a few days or a couple of weeks. I don’t enjoy it, but it keeps me sane. I’m a dreamer. I like to plan the future, and reflect upon my past experiences. But these things take up energy, and sometimes they can come with emotions that I just don’t have time to deal with. Between that time, I have a few distracting activities (like playing chess), so that I don’t wear myself out.

As time goes on and the major drivers of my stress become, well, less stressful – then I allow myself to expand my thinking gradually until things are back to normal again.

Everyone has their own methods of dealing with stress, so I’d say do whatever works best for you. But if you’re open to new ways of thinking, I can vouch for this approach.

• Keep life small.
• Don’t think about the past or future, just the day you’re living.
• Create checklists so you have a visual of your progress.
• Pat yourself on the back for making that progress.

And remember: like everything in life, this is only temporary.

#mindfulness

I’ve been playing online chess for a decade, which naturally means that I started later in life. I’ve played countless games over the years, at times more frequently than others. Chess online can be fun, but it can also get a little boring.

Typically, I play on chess.com and lichess.org, but recently I found the FIDE Online Arena (FOA). This is the online chess site sponsored by FIDE, the organizing body for all things chess in the world (similar to FIFA for soccer).

Anyway, I was checking it out, and I learned that they had chess titles for online players. Specifically:

• Arena Candidate Master
• Arena FIDE Master
• Arena International Master
• Arena Grandmaster

These are different from over-the-board titles:

• Candidate Master
• FIDE Master
• International Master
• Grandmaster

The Arena Candidate Master (ACM) title.

The prospect of working towards an official title online sounded appealing, so I signed-up and started playing FOA rated games. All I had to do was maintain a score of 1100-1400 for 100 blitz games. Easy, right?

Well, not so much. The FIDE Online Arena has strong players. On chess.com, my rating is typically 1800-1900. My rating on the FOA site started off in the low 1200s. I had to really focus if I was going to get this title.

So, I slowed down and started playing more sound openings. I started practicing tactics as well when I wasn’t playing games.

Last weekend, it all came to fruition as I earned my Arena Candidate Master title (with a rating of 1337), which appears on the official FIDE site.

I’m pretty happy about it if I’m honest. And no, this title isn’t something that’s highly respected in the hardcore chess circles (only over the board titles, like International Master and Grandmaster, get esteemed recognition).

But I don’t play in-person tournaments, so this is all I got.

I’m going to savor it for the time being and just get back to playing for fun. One day, I might try for the Arena FIDE Master. That’ll take a considerable effort, though. For now, I’m just enjoying this one.

#personal