Scott Bolinger

Adventures in Software Engineering

  • One Liners to Edit Object Arrays in JavaScript

    If you have an array of objects, for example Posts from the WordPress REST API (or WP-API), how do you manipulate them? Let’s say we make a GET request to an API endpoint, such as https://apppresser.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts. We get back an object array, we can oversimplify it like this: If we want to find a certain…

  • WordPress Transients vs. Options

    Transients and options are both ways to store a value in the WordPress database, but they work differently. A transient is like an option that disappears after a set amount of time. They are used for temporary values, while options usually stick around. tl;dr: Transients expire, options don’t. Use transients for a single value you…

  • Two helpful functions to build better WordPress plugins

    When writing a plugin, it’s important to realize one thing about WordPress: Everyone’s WordPress site is a hot mess. I’m joking. Kinda. Seriously though, everybody uses WordPress differently, so you need to account for that. These 2 PHP functions will help you avoid errors in strange WordPress environments: class_exists() and function_exists(). Avoiding Errors With Plugin…

  • Dynamic Content with Gatsby and WordPress

    Gatsby is a static site generator, but it can also do dynamic content. It’s built on React, so you can use all the dynamic stuff in React along with your static content. This creates what could be the perfect pairing for a lot of websites. Static content for speed, scalability, security, and SEO, with some…

  • Announcing Static Fuse: Gatsby + WordPress

    I got really interested in Gatsby recently, and started creating themes and websites with it. I decided to make things official, and started a project called Static Fuse. Static Fuse is a collaboration with Justin Hall to help developers, freelancers, and agencies build Gatsby + WordPress sites. Justin and I have been working on this…

  • Why JAMstack Is So Hot Right Now

    A lot of people are talking about JAMstack right now, and for good reason. Many sites been using this stack for years, it’s nothing new. So why is it such a big deal?

  • Headless WordPress with Gatsby

    I just released the Gatsby theme I use for this site, called Gatsby Theme Publisher. Update 10/19: this theme has had a lot of updates, and has moved to a new repository. I’ve updated the post to reflect that. This site (scottbolinger.com) uses WordPress as a back-end, and Gatsby as a static front-end with the…

  • Podcasting to Get Out of My Bubble

    I didn’t want to do a podcast. I’m not a radio personality type of guy, and it wasn’t appealing to me. Recently I started to feel too much in my own world, like I wasn’t meeting enough people and expanding my horizons. Since my product is WordPress based, I mostly go to WordPress conferences, and…

  • My New Site: The Product Business

    I have a problem, maybe you can relate. Writing on my personal blog doesn’t make money, and doesn’t get many readers, so it’s last on my todo list. That means I hardly ever publish on it. I’m still passionate about products, so I did some soul-searching and decided to move my business writing to a…

  • Our Big Road Trip

    A while ago my wife and I had the crazy idea to pack up our lives and hit the road for 6-12 months. Fast forward to today. We sold our house, and we leave this weekend. We are totally prepared and everything has gone perfectly. We are packing up our Kia Sorento with luggage, bikes,…