Our next person in our Speaker Interview series is Nile Flores, and since it would be a little odd to have her ask herself these questions I went ahead and asked for her thoughts.
Nile is going to be talking about Blogging and Content Creation
AARON GRAHAM: What got you interested in WordPress?
NILE FLORES: I used b2 cafelog prior to WordPress. I got into b2 because I manually blogged before that. Manually blogging means that I wrote my post onto a page and had a 3rd party comment script like Haloscan. What sold me on b2 cafelog at the time was a combination of things- 1, a stable platform that could save comments and posts, and 2- Emoticons!
One of my favorite plugins at the time was b2 grins (eventually called wp grins) by Alex King. I had made smiley graphics (emoticons) in many different styles, and gave them for free. I even told people how to change the built in ones that came with b2 and how to add even more.
Eventually, I got the news about WordPress and made the switch. It took rolling back b2 to a non-hacked version so I could smoothly transition. Since then, I’ve been happy with WordPress.
AARON GRAHAM: What is the most interesting WordPress-related project you’ve worked on?
NILE FLORES: I think the most interesting project I’ve worked on is when I worked on Melinda Emerson’s website. Melinda is Forbe’s #1 Small Business Expert. While I was merely the developer hired for the project, I got to speak directly with Melinda and learned a lot from our talks.
AARON GRAHAM: Name 3 WordPress plugins that have always been on your MUST install list, and why.
NILE FLORES:
1. WordPress SEO by Yoast – I may work for Yoast, but I’ve been using WordPress SEO for years. It’s a great tool and always first on my recommendation list.
2. FooBox – I do write a lot of tutorials and sometimes the screenshots are really big. FooBox by FooPlugins has been a great addition
3. Plugin Organizer – I don’t have tons of time writing conditional statements to prevent specific scripts from loading on a single page. This plugin has allowed me to shut down unnecessary scripts from running, while allowing me to optimize web page speed.
AARON GRAHAM: What is something interesting about you that the WordPress community doesn’t know?
NILE FLORES: Hmmm… what doesn’t the community know that I haven’t already said? That’s kind of tough. So, I guess, what people don’t know is that while I am a 1st Dan black belt in Shoren Kempo (I’m working toward my 2nd Dan), I also study Kyusho, which is the study of vital points. Kyusho, if done properly has medical applications. It can also be used in offensive moves of martial arts (in fact, well done kata can also clue Kyusho practioners on vital points) and works well with joint locks.
AARON GRAHAM: In regards to new WordPress users, what one or two pieces of advice would you give them that could be very helpful?
NILE FLORES:
1- You don’t need to be perfect at writing. Just write. You can always go back to edit it later.
2 – Always have a back-up plan for your WordPress site!
Don’t forget that you can ask Nile questions here or at the event, so please don’t forget to buy your ticket.
If you’ve got any more questions for Nile, free to post them here in the comments. Or if you’ve got your tickets, you can stop by and ask her at her session or the happiness bar.