Get To Know Nick Shipilin
Nikolay Shipilin is a web developer who received his Bachelor of Science in Web Design and Interactive Media from The Art Institute of California — Sacramento. He is Russian, with English being his second language, and with that comes an accent and a certain perspective on things. He believes in intuitive and functional web pages both on user and (UI/UX) and code-wise in terms of future support.
He works for a company called i-Tul Design & Software in Roseville, CA in the technical support department, writing new code and supporting old projects. Nick’s skills are in front-end web development and back-end & database architecture, as well as design and photography. He is passionate about… paying his bills and the rest he does for fun.
We’re thrilled Nick will be speaking on the topic of “Posts are for Blogs — WordPress IA Basics” at WordCamp Sacramento 2015
Speaker Q&A With Nick
Why do you think data structure and organization on a WordPress site is important?
I believe the data structure and organization is just as important as visual design and UI/UX. Well organized data, such as Custom Post Types leads to organized and well formed database of information which is easy to index, search, query and simply use in WordPress administrative dashboard.
What is your history or experience with WordPress information architecture?
I work in company which focuses on WordPress sites, their support, maintenance and upgrades. I have about 2 years of experience and became a WordPress fan ever since I first touched and learned it.
How did you get started with WordPress? Why WordPress?
My first experiments with WordPress were back in school and it was my first blog. There was no doubt in my head what to use, since WP is such popular platform. Now that I know WordPress inside-out “Why WordPress?” question is simple — it works, it’s easy, it’s quick, clients love it.
What is your favorite thing about WordPress?
I guess I love the ease of creating new content. New page — just a couple of clicks away. New post or gallery — same easy process… Once the theme is established and functions are in place, it’s easy to let go with confidence and have my clients operate the page without any of my intervention or help.
Can you share a couple WordPress plugins that you love or recommend?
When it comes to favorite plugins, I must list the most popular Advanced Custom Fields Pro and Contact Form 7.
But if I had to bring something new to light — What The File, a small plugin which allows developer to quickly identify any custom theme’s structure, which files are involved in page structure, and what template parts are used.
Another clever plugin is Store Locator Plus. This one allows businesses with multiple locations quickly create a Google Maps based page with all store locations on map, their search and even geo-located nearest to furthest from used.
Resources or recommendations?
I honestly think that WordPress documentation pages are the best friend for any developer and they should use it as their #1 resource.
However, I also have a passion for pages to be well optimized performance-wise, so I’d highly recommend GTMetrix.com as a testing tool. It uses 2 engines to analyze the performance and gives great feedback, tips and even some content re-compressed such as images & scripts.