WCSTL Speaker Interview: Mike Hale

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Mike Hale will be presenting Building a Developer Friendly WordPress Plugin. Mike is from Warrenville, Illinois.

Here’s his interview.

NILE FLORES: What was it about WordPress that got you to start using it?

MIKE HALE: My first WordPress site was in 2010. I was building custom .Net web apps for clients, and needed to spin up a new site for one of my own projects. Rather than building something from scratch, I decided to tip my toes into the WordPress waters. Most of the sites I built had some sort of CMS built in, so I wanted to try WordPress as a starting point and never looked back.

NILE FLORES: What motivates you to give back to WordPress and its community?

MIKE HALE: When I was getting started with WordPress I learned so much from what other people had shared I want to do the same for other people just getting started. I’ve never been a part of a community where people were so willing to share their experience, even with competitors.

NILE FLORES: How many WordCamps have you been to, and what was your best 1 or 2 experiences that you had when attending WordCamp?

MIKE HALE: I’ve been to 10 WordCamps so far. The first one I attended was in Chicago and went to lunch with a big group of Genesis Framework developers who I didn’t know at the time, but they were all very welcoming and friendly. That has been my favorite WordCamp experience so far.

NILE FLORES: What is your number 1 tip for WordPress users?

MIKE HALE: Go to your local WordPress meetup! It’s a great place to learn from other people’s experience and get answers to your questions.

NILE FLORES: What is your favorite feature in WordPress?

MIKE HALE: The WordPress REST API is what I’m most excited about. I’ve done a lot of work building and  integrating APIs into projects, and having that ability baked right into WordPress is great.

NILE FLORES: What are your 3 most favorite WordPress plugins?

MIKE HALE:

  • WP Migrate DB Pro
  • Genesis Simple Share
  • Seriously Simple Podcasting


NILE FLORES: What is your favorite WordPress theme?

MIKE HALE: I’m a Genesis Framework guy, so I’m good with any Genesis Child theme. My favorite right now is the custom theme I’m building for one of my project.

If you’d like to meet Mike and sit in on his talk, you can see him at WordCamp St. Louis. Don’t forget to buy a ticket!