Topher DeRosia is a Husband, Father, Christian, Coder. He lives in a small house in a quiet neighborhood in a smallish city where it still smells sweet after the rain.

He grew up in the woods, tried to be a pilot, and got sucked into the internet. Been working there ever since.

Topher will be presenting Command Line Awesome.

Interview

Why do you use WordPress?

WordPress does a wonderful job of thinking ahead to what I might want to do on the web, and provides methods for accomplishing that, while being flexible enough to allow me to change those methods if I wish.

When and how did you start using WordPress?

When it was first released, I tried it and thought I could do better. So I built something. My personal blog still uses that.

Then when 3.0 came out with custom content types, everything changed, and I haven’t really used anything since.

What tips or resources would you recommend to a new WordPress user?

Set up a site you don’t care about and try everything. Install themes, plugins, just go crazy with it. Getting your hands on the tool will give great insights.

Then read everything you can about WordPress.

What advice would you give someone who’s building a business around WordPress design or development?

Find people who are more knowledgeable than you and get to know them. Don’t necessarily ask a lot of questions, just watch and listen.

And read chrislema.com 🙂

How do you stay informed about WordPress (news, tips, etc.)?

Mostly Twitter, following people who are doing cool and interesting things.  I follow poststat.us and wptavern via Twitter.

What’s a cool WordPress-based site you’ve seen recently?

Oddly, I don’t visit that many web sites.  I had a hand in building ottawacitizen.com, that’s cool.

What do you like most about WordCamps?

Talking with everyone, meeting everyone, finding out what they’re building, growing, doing, etc.

Where can we find you online?

derosia.com/phlog/
Twitter: @topher1kenobe