Career
Introduction
I am a full stack application and website developer with 18 years of experience (13 years with WordPress), CI/CD, DevOps, database and system administration. While at the Texas A&M University System I’ve given presentations on creating CI/CD pipelines between Github and WP Engine, created custom WordPress plugins and themes, migrated and managed large multisite networks using WP-CLI, and evaluated and addressed web accessibility issues. At Texas A&M Transportation Institute I develop and administrate custom full stack web applications for transportation research grants and meet with researchers to ensure the right work gets done.
I’ve developed for more than 1,400 high-traffic websites and applications for public and private sector clients. In my freelance work I meet with clients, discuss their problems, requirements, and limitations, and we come up with a solution that meets their needs while being mindful of its impact on the long term cost of ownership of their web technology. I am happiest when my work is saving people a significant amount of time or makes their work and lives easier.
For frameworks I primarily use WordPress, Laravel, and React and am comfortable picking up new JavaScript and PHP frameworks. I have experience modernizing PHP and JavaScript code and am able to develop with or without frameworks depending on a project’s needs due to a thorough understanding of the languages. I spend most of my time developing and implementing application features and communicating with clients to ensure these solutions meet their needs. I also have experience with web design and CSS frameworks and have a BFA in graphic design, and although my most valuable work typically comes from producing features I am also responsible for their appearance.
Skills
| Languages | PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, bash |
| Frameworks | WordPress, Laravel, React, jQuery, SASS, Node, Vue, Foundation, Grunt |
| Tools | Visual Studio Code, Docker, git, composer, npm, wp-cli, Local (by Flywheel), Sourcetree, Github actions |
| Practices | OOP, CI/CD, unit testing, documentation, code style and analysis, accessibility, SEO |
| Services | WP Engine, Github, Google Analytics, Azure, Browserstack |
Accomplishments
In 2022 I refactored the data import and certification processes for an Internet of Things sensor data application to reduce runtimes from 4 hours to 5 minutes and wrote a database connection circuit breaker process in PHP to recover from transient connection issues during high-throughput operations which trigger load balancing.
In 2021 I rebuilt an in-house Ruby on Rails workstation ordering application in PHP for WordPress which launched that Fall. This application provides a manageable, authenticated storefront for the College of Liberal Arts’ faculty and staff workstation ordering program.
In 2020 I developed a custom WordPress theme based on the Genesis framework for Texas A&M AgriLife’s News website (https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/) and launched it that year.
In 2016 I developed and implemented a continuous deployment workflow for all of AgriLife’s custom WordPress plugins and themes to deploy to an array of single and multisite installations totaling 1,000+ sites, 3,000+ users, and 100,000+ unique monthly visits.
Public Speaking
Strategies for Resilient Web Applications and Websites
Slides (PDF) • 2022 • Texas A&M Technology Summit • Online
Streamline Building, Deploying, and Maintaining Your (Higher-Ed) Websites with WordPress!
Slides (PDF) • 2019 • Texas A&M Technology Summit • Moody Gardens Convention Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Continuous Deployment from GitHub to WP Engine
Slides (PDF) • 2017 • Texas A&M Technology Summit • Moody Gardens Convention Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Open Source
thoughtful-web/activation-requirements-wp
A PHP library for WordPress to apply activation requirements as a configuration file.
thoughtful-web/settings-page-wp
A PHP library for WordPress to declare settings pages as configuration files. Supports multiple field types which connect to individual options table entries.
List Item Filter
A WordPress plugin which provides a text search box with auto suggestions. Regrettably I have not kept up with updates to this plugin’s compatibility with WordPress releases or PHP versions.
Education
Angelo State University / Bachelor of Fine Arts
JUNE 2004 – DECEMBER 2008; SAN ANGELO, TEXAS
My coursework focused on graphic design and typography. I was a member of the Honors program and as part of this coursework I created a plan and presentation booth on my proposal to reevaluate and redesign the university’s website to have an audience-based approach to its design and organization.
Certification
Cyber Secure Coder ~ December 2023
"Earners of the CertNexus Cyber Secure Coder (CSC) certification are skilled software developers, testers, and architects who have the ability to design and develop a variety of applications for various platforms, analyze security concerns outside of specific languages and platforms, use a number of testing and analysis tools, and mitigate against common threats to data systems." - CertNexus
CertNexus Credential ID 2022003327
ITIL® Foundation Level ~ October 2021
PeopleCert Credential ID GR671329641ZW • Look up credential • Visit Site
October 2021
Experience
Texas A&M Transportation Institute
November 2021 – present • Software Applications Developer III
As the Communication division’s lead web application developer, I meet with researchers, project managers, and occasionally representatives for applied research grants to discuss goals, requirements, limitations, project schedules, and to give guidance on what the technology can do or additional features they may want to consider. I also manage student technicians and another application developer.
I am responsible for development, deployment, and maintenance of the applications and sites I work on which are either hosted on Azure or WP Engine. I also work with researchers to implement their statistical calculations into application code or refactor their SQL to work more efficiently when driven by the application.
Freelance WordPress Developer
October 2011 – present • Sole Proprietor
I provide development, support, and consultation for clients already on WordPress or who wish to use it for their website. My longest client was a real estate agency using a custom theme and MLS data pipeline. I refactored their custom theme's CRM features to improve performance, security, and reliability, and then added unit tests to expedite testing this and future modifications. I have also implemented version control, SSH push deployment, custom AJAX driven search pages, and performance optimizations.
Texas A&M College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Office
November 2020 – November 2021 • Software Applications Developer II
I was the Lead Web / Applications Developer for the Dean’s Office at the College of Liberal Arts. I completely rebuilt a critical self-hosted Ruby on Rails/Kubernetes application using PHP and WordPress to remove obstacles to its management and maintenance. I also moved their WordPress multisite network from self-hosted Kubernetes to WP Engine, performed security upgrades, implemented Active Directory authentication for WordPress users, and created and contributed to standard operating procedures for website governance.
Texas A&M AgriLife Communications
April 2015 – November 2020 • Software Applications Developer II
I was the lead developer for building, deploying, and maintaining in-house WordPress plugins and responsive themes in a way that minimized production cycles and was intuitive to content owners. I consulted with clients to scope work and create project plans. I was responsible for bringing our plugins and themes to meet accessibility and privacy regulations. I evaluated new technologies to implement into our workflow and gained experience working independently, remotely, and in an Agile environment. I established a continuous deployment and release pipeline for our repositories with automated tests and an average 7 minute lead time. I created performant, responsive, and branded themes used by agrilifetoday.tamu.edu, aglifesciences.tamu.edu, agrilife.tamu.edu, and more than a thousand other sites with 100,000 average monthly visits. I developed shell scripts to perform network-wide analysis and documentation tasks. My most advanced WordPress plugin while there helped our e-learning unit create, manage, and display a searchable collection of publications. github.com/agrilife/agrilife-learn-epubs.
Naked Lime Marketing
March 2009 – April 2015 • Web Developer
I provided web solutions for clients in the automotive industry that drove leads and helped them stay competitive online. I advised management on a timeline and technology budget to fulfill client requirements and wrote contracts upon approval. I was responsible for designing, developing, and implementing new features and themes within the constraints of the in-house content management system. I Implemented and debugged site performance issues and third party features. I was rewarded for creating an inventory listing enhancement that adds individualized price, incentive, and third party data. This saved a contract with a large dealership group. I developed processes for implementing Google Maps and Analytics, created a feature to attach vehicle-specific information to customer leads, and implemented email campaign landing pages with lead-specific data.
Videos
Continuous Deployment and Release of WordPress Themes and Plugins (2017)
Publications
Volunteer Work
Halloween Hackathon Event Instructor
October 2013 • Binary Space • Bryan, Texas
Webmaster
January 2011 – January 2013 • Living Hope Baptist Church • Bryan, Texas