Next on deck in our Speaker Q&A series is Doug Stewart, who’ll be presenting “Tales from the Command Line!”

WHY DO YOU USE WORDPRESS?

It puts food on the table. *grin* I work for 10up and do WordPress stuff day-in/day-out, but I got started with it as a writer and have participated in its growth and evolution over the course of the last 11.5 years.

WHEN AND HOW DID YOU GET STARTED USING WORDPRESS?

I started using WordPress in 2004 with version 1.0. I had been using Blogger and wanted to host my own site, so I started investigating Movable Type. MT changed their license from an open source one to a for-pay closed-source one just before WP 1.0 was released, so I was looking around for a CMS with similar capabilities but with an open source license. WP fit the bill quite nicely.

WHAT TIPS OR RESOURCES WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO A NEW WORDPRESS USER?

Find a local Meetup, ask questions, and most importantly, play around with WP. Install themes and plugins, figure out how they work together (or don’t!).

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WHO’S BUILDING A BUSINESS AROUND WORDPRESS DESIGN OR DEVELOPMENT?

Find a niche that no one else is exploiting and the go after it with quality code and good support.

HOW DO YOU STAY INFORMED ABOUT WORDPRESS (NEWS, TIPS, ETC.)?

Mainly Twitter and a heap of Feedly RSS subscriptions, plus my co-workers.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT WORDCAMPS?

Getting other people excited about new developments and approaches in WordPress. I love seeing the “lightbulb moments” for people and I’ve been the beneficiary of just such a moment more than a few times.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO AT WORDCAMP DFW?

Getting to interact with a whole new community of WordPress users. I’ve got family in Dallas and I’m really looking forward to it.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?

Website: http://literalbarrage.org/blog
Twitter: @zamoose