Lee Shadle's guest appearances

Lee Shadle

WP Tavern

Jukebox

Chris Coyier

Courtney Robertson

Joe Simpson

Matt Mullenweg

Cory Miller

Anne McCarthy

Tara King

Morten Rand-Hendriksen

Dave Smith

Robert Jacobi

Josepha Haden

Oliver Sild

Cate DeRosia

Dan Maby

Leonardo Losoviz

OwlTail

On the Jukebox podcast today we have Lee Shadle. Lee is a WordPress developer at WP Draft, and by his own admission is obsessed with building block based themes, plugins and websites. He’s been using WordPress for many years and as soon as the Gutenberg project was announced, he decided he was going to explore it and learn how it worked. We talk about what he has been building with blocks and why he thinks that they represent a bright future for WordPress. For Lee, it's about the extra capabilities which they bring for end users. We discuss the difficulties developers face learning new skills, and how Lee overcame this. Have a listen to Lee Shadle on the podcast.

#8 – Lee Shadle on How Blocks Create New Opportunities

About this episode.On the podcast today we have Lee Shadle. Lee is a WordPress developer at WP Draft, and by his own admission is obsessed with building block based themes, plugins and websites. He’s been using WordPress for many years and as soon as the Gutenberg project was announced, he decided he was going to explore it and learn how it worked. He runs a small agency building sites with blocks as well as with 3rd party page builders. I first saw Lee when he presented at WordCamp Europe earlier in 2021, and his passion for working with blocks and React was obvious. It’s pretty clear that, right from the start, he’s embraced the possibilities that blocks offer, both now and in the future. At the time of recording this podcast, many are still unsure about what blocks are for, and what they will be able to do down the road, but Lee has thrown himself into figuring out what’s possible, and it might come as a surprise just how powerful they are. We start our conversation by addressing whether Gutenberg was something that the WordPress project actually needed. Was it necessary to build a new tool which would require people to learn new skills and new techniques? We then get into some concrete examples of how blocks will add new capabilities to websites. Some of the examples show that complex operations can be handled within single blocks. These possibilities were once the domain of plugins and shortcodes, and now they can be deployed and configured by anyone who edits content. We talk about the obstacles which Lee encountered whilst learning how to build blocks. In his case, he worked on projects which he knew he would enjoy. We also touch upon some resources he used to assist in his learning. There’s also a discussion about the commercial landscape for block developers and how blocks might become a new way of generating revenue. Although we’re not there yet, it might well be that in the future, WordPress users will be on the lookout to purchase blocks in the same way that they now buy plugins and themes. Perhaps there’s even scope for a market of inexpensive blocks which have limited functionality. As you’ll hear, Lee is very optimistic about the future of WordPress, with blocks at it’s core.Useful links.Lee's Twitter account Stimulus Benefits - Lee's calculator block Aino Block Visibility Newsletter Glue React for beginners GenerateBlocks Nick Diego Mike Oliver Brian Gardner

About this episode. On the podcast today we have <a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/leeshadle/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lee Shadle</a>. Lee is a WordPress developer at <a href="https://wpdraft.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WP Draft</a>, and by his own admission is obsessed with building block based themes, plugins and websites. He’s been using WordPress for many years and as soon as the Gutenberg project was announced, he decided he was going to explore it and learn how it worked. He runs a small agency building sites with blocks as well as with 3rd party page builders. I first saw Lee when he presented at WordCamp Europe earlier in 2021, and his passion for working with blocks and React was obvious. It’s pretty clear that, right from the start, he’s embraced the possibilities that blocks offer, both now and in the future. At the time of recording this podcast, many are still unsure about what blocks are for, and what they will be able to do down the road, but Lee has thrown himself into figuring out what’s possible, and it might come as a surprise just how powerful they are. We start our conversation by addressing whether Gutenberg was something that the WordPress project actually needed. Was it necessary to build a new tool which would require people to learn new skills and new techniques? We then get into some concrete examples of how blocks will add new capabilities to websites. Some of the examples show that complex operations can be handled within single blocks. These possibilities were once the domain of plugins and shortcodes, and now they can be deployed and configured by anyone who edits content. We talk about the obstacles which Lee encountered whilst learning how to build blocks. In his case, he worked on projects which he knew he would enjoy. We also touch upon some resources he used to assist in his learning. There’s also a discussion about the commercial landscape for block developers and how blocks might become a new way of generating revenue. Although we’re not there yet, it might well be that in the future, WordPress users will be on the lookout to purchase blocks in the same way that they now buy plugins and themes. Perhaps there’s even scope for a market of inexpensive blocks which have limited functionality. As you’ll hear, Lee is very optimistic about the future of WordPress, with blocks at it’s core.Useful links. <a href="https://twitter.com/leeshadle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lee's Twitter account</a> <a href="https://stimulusbenefits.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stimulus Benefits</a> - Lee's calculator block <a href="https://wpaino.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aino</a> <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/block-visibility/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Block Visibility</a> <a href="https://newsletterglue.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newsletter Glue</a> <a href="https://reactforbeginners.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">React for beginners</a> <a href="https://generateblocks.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">GenerateBlocks</a> <a href="https://www.nickdiego.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nick Diego</a> <a href="https://mikeoliver.me/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mike Oliver</a> <a href="https://briangardner.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brian Gardner</a>