The Commons and the Committee
A thriving commons slowly replaces trust with committees, forms, and rules after one bad accident. Nothing is technically forbidden. Eventually, almost nobody builds anything.
OPEN ENTRYTEDDY'S FILING CABINET · 12 DRAWERS ACTIVE
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Stop Making Your Plugin Names "Clear"
‘Jetpack Forms’ tells you exactly what it does and gives you no reason to remember it. Clear names explain products; great names give people something to care about.
OPEN ENTRYI Just Want to Make Cool Stuff
I have spent three months trying to ship a WordPress theme. The latest blocker is one CC0 AI image. At some point, process stops protecting users and starts protecting process.
OPEN ENTRYI Made an Entire Pokemon Podcast Using Nothing But AI (And It's Actually Good)
A 2 a.m. idea became a complete Pokémon podcast made with AI. It should have been a gimmick. Annoyingly, it turned out good.
OPEN ENTRYSimultaneously Genius and Stupid: On Doing Podcasts I'll Never Listen To
Being asked onto a podcast activates two beliefs at once: I am a genius worth hearing, and nobody will listen. Both feel true, which is why I keep saying yes.
OPEN ENTRYBuilding Better with Withered Technology
Gunpei Yokoi built hits by using mature technology in unexpected ways. That same idea—lateral thinking with withered tech—is a better guide for WordPress than chasing every shiny platform.
OPEN ENTRYThe AutomaticCSS Naming Was Just Stupid
AutomaticCSS picked a confusing name, WordPress objected, and somehow Matt got blamed. This is a defense of my friend and an argument for naming products like the ecosystem matters.
OPEN ENTRYMy First AI-Generated WordPress Theme (And Why This Changes Everything)
Figma Make designed it. Telex helped turn it into WordPress. The result is my first AI-generated theme—and proof that the distance from idea to working theme just collapsed.
OPEN ENTRYMy Brother Is Trying to Kill Me (So I Built an AI-Powered Lego Pricer)
My brother needed prices for a mountain of Lego, which apparently meant I needed an AI-powered pricer. This is what happens when family business problems collide with available robots.
OPEN ENTRYI Built a Plugin to Curate WordPress Plugins (And You Should Use It)
Sixty thousand plugins is not a catalog; it is a weather system. I built a tool for making deliberate lists, finding the good stuff, and sharing the results.
OPEN ENTRYFinding WordPress's Hidden Gems: A Discovery Story
Great plugins disappear in a directory too large for casual browsing. I wanted to understand why discovery fails—and what it would take to give small developers a real chance.
OPEN ENTRYRethinking Review: A Conversation Worth Having
WordPress review needs guardrails against real harm. It does not need every recommendation treated like law. Separating safety from taste could make the process better for everyone.
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