Today I’m hanging out with Nick Davis, the man of mystery “somewhere in Italy” behind eSanctuary, the design and development firm that also has an awesome set of video tutorials for WordPress. Nick has created an unofficial (but quality) set of tutorials and how-to’s for WordPress, AND for WP Engine’s User Portal and developer tools that I like to send people to. Nick got his start as a BBC reporter, and moved his way into managing online publishing teams before harnessing the power of WordPress and become a publisher himself. He has a self-styled life running his online businesses, servicing[...]

Since the news of Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr, users of the CMS are migrating their blogs over to WordPress like African Swallows unladed with coconuts. There are quite a few ways to migrate, so we figured we could save you the trouble and share a quick and simple way, which can be done in a few easy steps. 1. Create a WP Engine account You gotta have an awesome place to host your site. Once you have your domain name, create an account with WP Engine to help with all your WordPress needs. 2. Authenticate with Tumblr Inside your WordPress[...]

In a bold attempt at an image makeover this week, Yahoo acquired Tumblr for a cool billion dollars. The acquisition of the CMS slash social network has shaken up the world of blogging and created some uncertainty for folks who have build an audience on the Tumblr platform. Despite Yahoo!’s promise “to not screw it up,” folks are worried that they may lose their content if Yahoo decides to shut Tumblr down altogether. Yahoo’s track record with companies they acquire is spotty. The outcome of Yahoo’s goal to acquire relevancy with the younger set remains to be seen. So what’s[...]

This was an awesome weekend. WordCamp Austin officially came to a close Sunday afternoon after record-breaking attendance and a diverse group of attendees and speakers from all over the planet. Thanks again to the organizers for all their hard work to organize the event. The Austin WordPress Meetup continues to grow each year, thanks to the dedicated work of organizers. Attendees came from all over the Continental U.S., from Portland to Phoenix to Tampa, Florida. But, the “I traveled farthest to come to WordCamp Austin” award goes to one of my favorite developers and bloggers, Konstantin Kovshenin. His transatlantic flight[...]

Today, I’m talking with Alex Vasquez, who is one of the awesome folks in the Orange County WordPress meetup group. That’s one of the most active groups on Facebook, in terms of supporting each other’s work, etc, and Alex is a cultural leader of the local community. Alex is doing the lion’s share of his work with higher ed, helping those institutions do online employee training, online courses, and publishing content. His company, DigiSavvy is a full service, boutique agency, based in Orange County, and serving clients all over. Alex is a Pacific Northwest-born dude, who has made his way[...]

Three weeks ago we held our quarterly “All-Hands” event where every WP Engine employee travels to our Headquarters in Austin, TX for a week to spend quality time together as WP Engineers. Everyone from San Francisco to Philadelphia gathers for a week of face to face meetings and fun shenanigans that help build relationships and strengthen our company culture as we continue to grow. While many of our teams are used to working remotely with each other, regularly conducting meetings via phone or Google Hangouts, nothing can really replace a week of face to face meetings and events. It’s important[...]

Last week, WP Engine was very proud to have The President of the United States, Barack Obama, visit the Capital Factory startup offices. As an Austin entrepreneur, I’m very proud that President Obama chose to visit Austin, and our offices in particular. It’s an exciting time for the city of Austin, as well as for WP Engine, and the President’s visit provides a unique opportunity for us to comment on WP Engine’s approach to job creation. WP Engine has benefitted from the community and resources in Capital Factory for the past 3 years as we’ve grown as a company. Our growth[...]

This guest post is a technical  by Brad Williams, a leading WordPress developer and security expert, as well as a co-founder of WebDevStudios, one of the top WordPress agencies. He is the author of Professional WordPress, and also co-hosts the DradCast. One of the most important steps when writing code, regardless of what platform the code will run on, is making sure it is secure from hacks and exploits. Running a plugin with a security hole could open up the entire WordPress website to malicious hackers. WordPress features some built-in security tools that you should always take advantage of when[...]

Today, I’m chatting with Aaron Campbell, one of the partners and CTOs (yep, Pete Mall is the other one) of Ran.ge, one of the top WordPress agencies. Aaron joined up with Pete and Sara Cannon to solve some of the tough technical problems for well-known brands and large-scale websites. Ran.ge counts PandoDaily, 500 Startups, Venture Beat and Automattic among their clients. Their reputation is doing nothing but grow. Aaron currently lives in Phoenix with his wife and son, where he has plenty of space to be outdoors. “Snob” is a work that fits Aaron’s obsessions with coffee and beer. But[...]

The fourth post in our security series is an in-depth look at the history of the security of WordPress written by Jason Cosper, the head WordPress Expert at WP Engine. Jason has led support teams for 10 years at places like DreamHost, and now at WP Engine. He also has a strong background in Information Security growing up inside the Los Angeles hacker community.  It’s time to clear up the debate once and for all. Despite all the doubts (and some haters), WordPress core is without a doubt one of the most secure platforms you can choose to put a site on.[...]