Eric Mann's Blog

  • Defining Your Audience

    I’ve written at length on how to identify your perfect customer, regardless of your business’ focus, but finding a “perfect customer” for a blog is quite a bit harder. This blog is now over 6 years old, and I still don’t really know who my audience is.

  • WordPress Core Proposal: SUDO

    Logging in to your WordPress site as an administrator when your plan is just to write is a bad idea. The admin user should be for administration and you should use an editor-level user for writing. But this dual-login workflow can be needlessly complicated on many sites. Instead, I propose we introduce a SUDO mode for WordPress – allowing trusted editor-level users to act as administrators when needed.

  • Hyper-Individualism is Dangerous

    It’s a bit funny how so many people will think the exact same way at the same time assuming they’re unique. It’s a bit depressing how so many people think being unique – in a consumer context – is a good thing.

  • Does “The Fold” Still Matter

    Does “the fold” still matter, or is this an outdated concept left over from the days of print media? In many ways, the answer is “no” because the web is a very different place than print. But in some ways, the answer is also a resounding “yes!”

  • Photon and HTTPS – Making It Work

    Jetpack’s Photon service doesn’t like it when image assets are served over SSL. I took some time to dig in to the issue and coded a quick workaround to enable Photon on a site locked down to serve all assets over SSL.

  • Server-side Analytics through Google

    Some of the products I build for the web don’t come with a website. But I can still use Google Analytics to track their usage. Thanks to a handy PHP library I found on GitHub, I now have the luxury of tracking the execution of server-side scripts in the same analytics dashboard I use to track web visits!

  • The Things That Matter Most

    The Things that Matter Most video podcast is ready to go and will be kicking off its first episode this Friday at 9am!

  • How to Blog More in 2014

    Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to chat with some incredible people around the WP Watercooler. We were talking about strategies for writing/blogging more in 2014, and I wanted to further explain one strategy I particularly enjoy (and plan to implement this year).

  • Securing XML-RPC for WordPress

    If you use WordPress, you’ve probably used one of the mobile apps for it. If you’ve used one of these mobile apps, then you’ve used XML-RPC. If you’ve used XML-RPC, then you’ve sent your username and password – in plain text – across the Internet. This is hugely unsafe, and I want to work to make a safer Internet. This is my proposal for more secure XML-RPC in WordPress.

  • Passing the Torch

    Six years ago I made the decision to step down as an Assistant Scoutmaster with my troop. A chance encounter that same weekend made me change my mind – I’m glad I did. Now I’m finally leaving, and I’m happy to say I’ll be leaving the unit in very good hands.