I could have sworn it was only 366 days ago since we were celebrating the start of 2012, but here we are on Tuesday 1st January in 2013, questioning where on earth the days and months went? While I’d like to think quite a bit was achieved over the course of the year, really I’m not very sure? We’ll find out shortly!
What Happened In 2012?
If I was going to judge things on the blogging front, it’s very disappointing to say the least! I can pretty much count on both hands and a few toes the number of times I hit publish; the grand total of 12! — Bang went that idea of blogging more! :(
February: I hit that wonderful milestone of 50 posts on WPCandy and also attended WordUp Glasgow, a follow-up to the very successful WordUp Edinburgh 2011!
May: Celebrated my 21st birthday bowling, and had a few refreshments! ;)
July: Had three photos printed in the local paper after some serious flooding. It was also the month London 2012 Olympic Games got underway, which was an absolute pleasure to watch. Thanks go to the BBC for their extensive coverage!
November: I announced to the world that I was going to create a WordPress plugin, which isn’t going at the pace I was hoping, but I’m the only one to blame.
December: Continuing the trend, I was pouring pints on Hogmanay again! :P
Could have been a worse I guess?
What About 2013?
There are a few goals I’m going to set myself, with some kind of consequence(s) if they’re not achieved. That way it gives you permission to pester me by whatever means possible! :D
- Going to give mark.mcwilliams.me a redesign, something which I have been saying for most of last year. While I’m using a (slightly modified) Genesis Child Theme currently, I would like to build something from scratch. More on that in a separate blog post though, I have a number of ideas!
- I’m going to finish and release this WordPress plugin I’m working on.
- While I might not be a designer by trade, I’d like to think I had a little eye for detail? Which is why, once the redesign is out-of-the-way, I want to release a theme that others can use on their sites also. The feeling of others using your work must be amazing, and I’d like to be part of that! :)
- The dreaded blogging. Oh how I’ve missed you!
- We’ll start with WPCandy first, as I’m sure you’ll all want to know what’s happening? The last post I wrote was back on May 21st 2012, but it feels like someone has removed the batteries, forgetting to replace them with new ones. I guess you could say I’m missing the old days?
- And as for blogging here, I’m looking at doing so at least once a week, over and above any images, quotes, videos, or any asides I might also publish. Not sure how I’d cope with the post-a-day?! Writing (or English in general) wasn’t my most favourite subject back when I was at school, but I have a lot I’d like to share with everyone. So hopefully I’ll get better over time, and maybe get that (dream) job at Automattic one day! ;) Kill two birds with one stone as an old teacher would always say.
- For the past two versions of WordPress (3.4 and 3.5), I haven’t contributed anything, unlike versions before. I’m ashamed that I couldn’t help with even the simplest of things. I’m going to get my hands dirty in WordPress 3.6 and help out where possible, even if it’s testing other people’s patches!
- Everyone
and their wife/husband/cat/dogappears to be using Git more and more these days. Everything I’m going to build, be it a theme or a plugin, I’ll explore about hosting it on GitHub. I’m still pretty new to it all, even SVN still sounds like it’s from outer space, but I’m open for learning. - I’d like to get some personal projects completed and launched. I have enough ideas you might be able to sink a ship with them, but they’ll not be any good to anyone if they’re only ideas. It’s probably taken a while for that to sink in, which is why I’ll also take the time to offload some unwanted domains for projects I just simply don’t have time for!
Well it’s looking like I have a busy year ahead of me, here’s hoping there’s going to be enough hours in that day for it all? That really only leaves me to say Happy New Year, and all the best for 2013! 1
Notes:
- Think I need to go for a lie down, 754 words is enough for one day! ↩
What’s the plugin you are working on?
Have you thought about developing commercial products for WordPress?
In short, it’s the plugin I started talking about in the middle of December 2012. I wanted a really lightweight plugin to manage events for my local Bowling Club I’m a member of. Everything that exists currently does too much for what I’m after. You can see my efforts so far on GitHub.
As for your seconds question, honestly, I’m not sure if that would be my cup of tea or not. We’ll need to see how the development of the redesign goes, along with releasing a theme to the WordPress community! :)
You did some great things in 2012 like writing 50+ posts for WPCandy ;) and it’s good to see you getting involved in Theme & Plugin development.
Keep up the nice work, Mark.
While I’m ashamed to say it, I only published eight posts on WPCandy in 2012, the others were all written in 2011. Saying that though, I don’t think I’m being negative if I was to say that WPCandy felt more “active” back then?
But thanks, appreciated!