About Me
I got my start as a developer working with Macromedia Flash while studying Computer Science at Brooklyn College. I began building Flash websites with data-driven concert events and MP3 players for my singer-songwriter friends. Some of those friends showed their sites to the restaurant owners where they worked, and soon I had a growing career designing and building restaurant websites with customizable food menus and special events calendars. I transitioned to PHP, started developing my own CMS with CodeCharge, and then discovered WordPress in 2005 – and I haven’t looked back.
I freelanced for the first 10 years, creating sites for a wide range of clients, from non-profits to boutique financial investment firms. My work for the Williams College Museum of Art led to a full-time job at the College in 2012, where I became their senior developer from 2014 to 2022. After leaving the College, I joined Magneti Marketing, a boutique creative advertising agency, as a senior developer, working with WordPress, React, WooCommerce, Elementor, and more.
When I’m not coding, you’ll find me playing music – either on a keyboard or a guitar, writing baroque pop and electronic jazz. I also love mountain biking, reading, and restoring my sailboat, a 1976 34-foot Bristol centerboard sloop named Ladybug.
Experience
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Jan 1999 Present
Self-EmployedWordPress Developer/Designer ·Develop cutting-edge web applications, leveraging expertise in the full software development cycle. Specialize in custom WordPress themes, plugins, and widgets, with experience in Multisite development. Produce maintainable, secure, and well-documented code, writing semantic HTML for cross-browser compatibility. Collaborate with clients to develop effective web strategies and deliver exceptional digital experiences.
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Dec 2022 Apr 2024
Magneti MarketingLead Developer ·Leverage advanced WordPress development expertise to craft custom themes and plugins, optimizing website architectures for SEO and integrating automated image optimization solutions. Integrate third-party services like Shopify and HubSpot, and develop custom WooCommerce solutions. Contribute to data-driven applications using React and TypeScript, enhancing reporting functionalities and user experience. Ensure site security and accessibility, refactoring designs to improve intuitiveness and compliance with accessibility standards, as seen in recent projects for the National Council for Problem Gambling and Rainwater, Holt & Sexton law firm.
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Jan 2012 Oct 2022
Williams CollegeSenior WordPress Developer ·Leverage expertise in object-oriented PHP and WordPress API to develop cutting-edge plugins and themes, prioritizing usability and accessibility. Ensure multisite security and maintenance, integrating campus systems and refactoring functionality as needed, and drive future development, authoring major projects like themes, calendars, and newsletters.
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Jan 2010 Dec 2011
StudioTwoWordPress Developer ·Developed and maintained a diverse portfolio of web properties for a wide range of clients, including the migration of the Berkshire County Visitors Bureau’s MS Access database into a full-featured, searchable WordPress application. Created the Western Massachusetts Performing Arts calendar and developed a B2B site with a business directory for Pittsfield, MA. Additionally, maintained a LAMP server for the company and hosted clients, ensuring seamless and efficient web solutions.
Projects
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CCIG
Buildout of the corporate site for CCIG, a national business and home insurance corporation. Used Vite to compile SCSS and JavaScript modules for the assets, with separated frontend, editor and admin builds. Page management with Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Flexible Content layout modules.
Each layout is a single file that contains the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the layout. The layout file is named the same as the ACF flexible content field group ID (e.g.,
{my-flexible-field}.php)and is located in thelayoutsdirectory. Fonts are served from the site, in keeping with best practices.Other features include an ACF admin header color picker to better parse a page full of layout field modules, and built-in functionality to handle WEBP images in WordPress, with methods to automatically resize images and generate HTML tags with responsive image support.
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National Council on Problem Gambling
Buildout of the National Council of Problem Gambling‘s corporate site. Used Vite to compile SCSS and JavaScript modules for the assets, with separated frontend, editor and admin builds. Page management with Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Flexible Content layout modules.
Each layout is a single file that contains the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the layout. The layout file is named the same as the ACF flexible content field group ID (e.g.,
{my-flexible-field}.php)and is located in thelayoutsdirectory. Fonts are served from the site, in keeping with best practices.Other features include an ACF admin header color picker to better parse a page full of layout field modules, and built-in functionality to handle WEBP images in WordPress, with methods to automatically resize images and generate HTML tags with responsive image support.
Blog
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Dec 2024
How to Add Live Preview Updates to ACF Blocks in WordPress
When building custom ACF blocks for WordPress, you might need the preview to update dynamically when editors change block settings. Here’s how to implement this functionality: The Problem By default, ACF blocks don’t automatically update their preview when field values change in the editor. If your block contains dynamic content (like a list of posts) that depends on block settings, you’ll… Read More
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Jun 2024
Why Should You Care about WCAG 2.2 Conformance?
Making sure your website is accessible isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s crucial for creating an inclusive digital world. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 set the standards for ensuring accessibility for everyone, including individuals with disabilities. Here’s why you should care about WCAG 2.2 conformance: Inclusivity and Equal Access WCAG 2.2 helps make your… Read More
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Jun 2024
How To Set Complex Element Attributes in Pinegrow Web Editor with PHP and WordPress Actions
I needed to set the aria-label of my links with the post title, a custom field value and a hard-coded string. The default Pinegrow Set ACF Field action allows you to replace or append an attribute (in my case aria-label) with the field value, but the values are limited to custom fields, so it wasn’t… Read More