{"id":1163,"date":"2017-03-15T22:56:15","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T03:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2017.stlouis.wordcamp.org\/?p=1163"},"modified":"2017-06-30T14:19:39","modified_gmt":"2017-06-30T19:19:39","slug":"wcstl-speaker-interview-mike-hale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stlouis.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wcstl-speaker-interview-mike-hale\/","title":{"rendered":"WCSTL Speaker Interview: Mike Hale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Hale will be presenting\u00a0Building a Developer Friendly WordPress Plugin<\/a>. Mike is from Warrenville, Illinois.<\/p>\n

Here’s his interview.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

NILE FLORES:<\/strong> What was it about WordPress that got you to start using it?<\/p>\n

MIKE HALE:<\/strong> 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0What motivates you to give back to WordPress and its community?<\/p>\n

MIKE HALE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>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.<\/em><\/p>\n

NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0How many WordCamps have you been to, and what was your best 1 or 2 experiences that you had when attending WordCamp?<\/p>\n

MIKE HALE:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>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.<\/em><\/p>\n

NILE FLORES:\u00a0<\/strong>What is your number 1 tip for WordPress users?<\/p>\n

MIKE HALE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Go to your local WordPress meetup! It’s a great place to learn from other people’s experience and get answers to your questions.<\/em><\/p>\n

NILE FLORES:<\/strong> What is your favorite feature in WordPress?<\/p>\n

MIKE HALE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>The WordPress REST API is what I’m most excited about. I’ve done a lot of work building and \u00a0integrating APIs into projects, and having that ability baked right into WordPress is great.<\/em><\/p>\n

NILE FLORES:<\/strong>\u00a0What are your 3 most favorite WordPress plugins?<\/p>\n

MIKE HALE:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n