Binate Thoughts

  • The season for tinkering

    Like many, the holidays are about taking stock, reflecting, and recharging. They are also often about learning new things and experimenting. This year, I took some time to do just that and found myself returning refreshed with several excellent projects brewing.

    Move fast and break my things.

    At the start of the break, I knew I wanted to do too much, which isn’t an uncommon theme for many. However, I knew the point was starting to do things and keep doing them. 

    If anyone explores one of my experiments or things I worked on over the holidays and finds a bug, I wouldn’t be surprised. That’s the point. I moved fast and broke my things. Brewing to polish and level takes time, so this was done as an experiment with my things. I will now be taking that time.

    A goal started

    I am not the most frequent resolution setter, but I have one this year, and it’s simply to try and make 50 things in a year. These can be big, but they will probably be small for the most part. From themes to plugins to non-WordPress things, this year will be about making for me. 

    I will write more on the why of this in another post, but the short version is that I am turning 50 this year and want to get back to my essence as a maker. So, I did that this holiday: I started making each day. I will log most of the journey here or through Composition Products.

    The making

    I am closing out the break, having made a few things. Most haven’t been launched or need fixing, but they will soon be. I plan on writing about each, as part of this is also about writing as I go. 

    Don’t you miss the days when we wrote about what we created? I sure do. This year’s side quest is to write more about what I am making and have a more frequent writing cadence

    Here is a list of what I have made, even if it’s got friendly bugs.

    • This site and several others of mine use a new theme base. This is in no way a complete theme, but it is a start and it got me blogging again.
    • I refreshed many of my own sites, including their content. I aligned them to reflect what I do more and surface my projects.
    • I created a new site for my photo-a-day project for this year, which I am doing again.
    • A block in a plugin that is a mode switcher: seen on this site and others I updated. 
    • A duotone and filter plugin for images.
    • A watermark plugin for image prototypes.

    Along with these, I sketched out several prototyped ideas that include:

    • A holding page plugin that uses templates.
    • A prototype of a tagging and group plugin for images.
    • A generative line art and shape plugin for backgrounds.
    • A background generator plugin for the site editor.
    • Site editor style selector plugin.
    • A classic theme-to-block theme convertor.

    The learning

    Along the way, I learned more about several areas and identified areas where I wanted to dive. Here are a few things I got to explore this time:

    • Creating blocks: appreciating how easily you can scaffold one.
    • Block themes: particularly noting how you can rapidly prototype with the create block theme plugin.
    • Fly.io: I wanted to learn something new for deploying.
    • React/Remix: A new stack that’s not tied to WordPress and with native CSS. I fell in love with the ease of composing and plan to write about this more.
    • Plugins: I spent a lot of time learning the guidelines and some nuances around plugins.
    • CSS/JS: I dipped my toes into a variety of new things in styling and scripting.

    I also learned a lot about other areas in preparation for the following things I want to do.

    The approach

    I took a few different paths along the way and also used tools. In general, my approach was to write down everything I wanted to make at the start and then not hold myself to any product roadmap for once and this once only. While my passion for them remains, I wanted to give myself a pure experimentation space to make in.

    Some notes from my approach:

    • I used Cursor along the way as a prototype or unblocker when I was using something new. For example, I explored a new project using Remix and React publishing to fly.io at one point. I wasn’t unfamiliar with this stack, so I got some support there.
    • I would pivot to another idea if I hit a block that took too long. I was brewing something with editor styling, and it just wouldn’t shift. I would have taken most of the holiday on this alone and got nothing else done. I will return to this idea, but it didn’t serve well for rapid ideation.
    • I pushed to a private repo on GitHub each day. I will make things public, but being private helped me.
    • I released my theme and other pieces early onto the sites as shown here. Bugs can be found in my things when I use them.

    Reflections

    Sometimes, you need to get a bit selfish to make it. I did this holiday. I didn’t think about the market or the reason for making it. I made it for myself in most cases. I also made it to learn—which often is a good reason to make in itself. Selfish-making isn’t always the right path at all, but it is something I’ve not done for a while, and I needed to get into my teashop and brew for a bit.

    Not shipping everything is also okay. I am very comfortable launching early on my own sites. For example, this theme is very minimal and will be something I grow into, but I happily am now using it across a number of sites. The point is I got it done, bugs or not. Bugs are friends you get to move projects forward with by fixing when in your own teashop.

    A reflection I’ll wrap up is to keep going. It is going to be tempting to get distracted by work in the best way and not make space to keep going with the momentum I gained this break. In order not to let all this good work go stagnant, it also needs refinement and release. So now the hard work happens. I will have a day a week where I continue this work. I have learnt by doing this that making gives me energy and a longing to continue.

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  • Look before you work

    I had a Labrador that was fearless about jumping into the water. No matter what body of water it was, she would launch herself into it, seemingly without checking the depth or anything in a blissful trust of the water. Of course, we’d all love to have that total trust as we start a project or come into one.

    The reality is she did some checking it was just invisible to me stood watching. There was instincts and likely an assessment, although done at speed. Treating every project with a baseline of checking ensures you don’t leap without knowing.

    Projects are usually a black box, particularly those you come to in progress. Taking time to observe the lay of the land before diving in is critical. Pause, open your eyes. Engage observation mode; listen before just diving into creating. Deep breathing here fills your lungs for the dive ahead. It stops wasting time, stress and allows you to start from a place of strength, not hope.

    Check the reviews

    When booking a restaurant, you often check out the reviews. If you wouldn’t eat somewhere without checking those out why are you ok just diving in without asking those working on it or who might have? Often you may find someone is working on it already or has gone down a path now abandoned you can be aware of and not waste time doing the same.

    This pause is an opportunity to listen, channel your inner archaeologist. Context is critical before making any decisions so ask, observe and make sure you know what has come before. You never know someone might already have found a solution, or be very close.

    One toe at a time

    You don’t jump straight into a bath, or maybe you do once then learn. You check how warm the water is and then go in. Often if you jump both feet first, the sound of the splash will ring so loud you’ll not be able to focus. Taking time at the start means a stronger project and a better experience for everyone.

    Check for monsters under the bed

    Part of the eyes open approach to starting a project involves being honest about what could be lurking. If you give a monster a name in fairytales it often got less scary, do this to your project monsters. Name them, note where they are and be ready to slay them with your sword of preparedness.

    Make sure you’ve checked everywhere, those project monsters like to hide in tiny places. If you are coming to a project already in progress be sure to ask where the monsters are hiding.

    Take a map, snacks and don’t go alone

    Starting a project is a journey so prepare like you would for any adventure. Pack your project backpack, take snacks, make a map and above all, don’t go alone. While you might be leading or the point person on a project, you never have to go alone. A travelling companion makes everything seem a shorter and less arduous task. Plan the next steps and where you are going to go.

    Measure twice cut once

    The crux of this is about taking time at the start of a project. If you do this, you will rapidly get on the same page. While there is a little pause as you catch up to everyone’s breath and get in sync, then you can increase the pace from a strong foundation.

    Mistakes cost trust, so by taking time to be careful, check the situation, you can ensure everyone has the best project adventure possible. Looking before you work enables you to work effectively and get a lot more done with a lot less stress.

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