Phil Wylie

WordPress developer, Code Club volunteer & Staffs Web Meetup organiser

September 8, 2024 — 0

ScreenMemory

Screenshot of ScreenMemory application showing a timeline view of a user's desktop activity on August 25, 2024. The interface displays a Chat by Copy.ai window and various application icons in the timeline below.

This post continues a series where I shout out apps and services that improve my workflow. These tools often fly under the radar but deserve recognition. Today’s spotlight: a clever solution to the challenge of accurate time tracking.

As a software developer, accurate time tracking can be a challenge. While the ideal solution would be to diligently log my time as I go (a habit I’m still working on!), the reality often falls short of this ideal.

A while back, my friend Dave recommended a utility called InstantShot!. You can set the program to take screenshots at regular intervals. This way, you’ll have a visual record of your day that you can use to piece together timesheets later on. For years, this app was my go-to solution, documenting my day without fuss or fanfare.

While effective, InstantShot! has aged, prompting my search for an alternative—a search that ultimately brought me to ScreenMemory. ScreenMemory is a more elegant approach and offers several advantages over its predecessor.

Unlike InstantShot!, which simply saves screenshots to a directory, ScreenMemory is purpose-built. Its rolling storage allows me to save the past few months of history, and it provides an interface for browsing screenshots. This interface is laid out like a media player; you can browse by date and scrub through the day with a timeline.

Settings window for ScreenMemory's "Timing" options. The interface shows settings to take screenshots every 60 seconds and set the end of day at 01:00.
Storage settings window for ScreenMemory. It shows options to clean data automatically, delete files older than 60 days, and displays current space used as 6.57 GB.

I can see exactly what I was working on at any given moment, which allows me to fairly allocate client time and ensures that no billable hour goes unaccounted for.

Far more than just a time-tracking tool, its use extends to various valuable functions: recalling past events, retrieving meeting details, revisiting webpages, and even backing up text. This versatility makes it an indispensable aid for memory and productivity.

ScreenMemory is available for $27, but you can take it for a test drive with a limited free trial. It’s written by Jonathan Winger Lang and you can learn more at his website.

August 14, 2024 — 0

Introducing Pure Paste

I’ve decided to start a little series about some of the apps, utilities and services I use. Some of the things that make life easier, but are often overlooked. I’ll keep these short—just enough to give an idea of what each tool does and why I like it. Maybe you’ll find something new to try out, or perhaps you’ll have some suggestions of your own.

First up is a little utility called Pure Paste. It’s a simple menu bar utility for Mac that does one thing: it strips formatting when you copy and paste.

My friend Andy recommended this to me, and I’ve got to say: it’s one of those tools that makes you wonder how you ever lived without it.

It saves the frustration of pasting something and then having to clean up the formatting. It’s just much easier for the default to be no formatting, but maybe that’s just me.

I know there’s a “Paste and Match Style” command, but it seems to change between apps. I can never remember the shortcut, and if I tried, I’d probably forget something more important! Pure Paste just sits there and does its thing…

When you do want to keep formatting, you can toggle it on and off. The icon reflects its current status.

It’s one of those tools that doesn’t try to do a million things. It does one job, and it does it well. If you’re tired of fighting with formatted text every time you paste something, give it a shot.

Pure Paste is free, available from the Mac App Store. It’s written by Sindre Sorhus and you can learn more at his website.

February 26, 2024 — 0

Streamlining Test User Management with WP-CLI

In my recent blog post for Kanuka Digital, I share insights from a project where we implemented a custom LearnDash user registration flow and an automated process for removing unverified, inactive accounts. By using WP-CLI to generate test users with specific registration dates and user meta values, we were able to thoroughly test the account deletion process before deploying it on the live site. This post highlights the importance of automation in WordPress development and how it can streamline complex, multi-step actions.

Streamlining Test User Management with WP-CLI

November 27, 2023 — 0

WordPress Bulk Post Creation with WP-CLI: A Handy Command Generator

Occasionally I find myself needing to quickly create a series of posts or pages—for building out a basic skeleton of a site, or for quickly populating content. Manually doing this within the WordPress dashboard can be tedious. This is where WP-CLI can save the day. In this post, I’ll look at how to use WP-CLI to quickly generate a series of posts within WordPress.

WP-CLI is a powerful tool that can be used to perform various tasks related to your website. For example, you can create new posts using the wp post create command:

The command is limited to creating a single post at a time. However, we can run multiple commands at once by separating them with a semicolon. So if we wanted to create two blog posts about one of the best Thai restaurants in London, we could run this command:

In order to make the above even easier, I wrote a handy tool that generates the command for you.

This tool is simple, but useful for quickly generating a small number of posts. With more time, a short bash script could loop through an array and perhaps support hierarchical post structures. For my purposes, this was sufficient and I wanted to share it in the hope that other people find it useful.

September 8, 2023 — 0

The Hype Around AI: A WordPress Developer’s Perspective

Everything you’re about to read has been entirely generated by ChatGPT, based on my thoughts shared in a recent email exchange.

Hi there,

I hope you’re well. Today, I want to dive into a topic that’s been on my mind lately—the hype surrounding AI. It seems like AI is the next big thing, much like the previous waves of excitement around cryptocurrencies and NFTs. But as a WordPress developer who has dabbled in AI tools, I’ve got some thoughts to share.

Remember those social media videos featuring entrepreneurial influencers hunting for discounted products in Walmart to resell on Amazon for a hefty profit? It’s an enticing idea—buy low, sell high, and rake in the cash. Similarly, AI is often portrayed as a game-changer, promising to revolutionize content creation and other tasks. However, I believe there’s more to it than meets the eye.

AI, particularly generative text AI like ChatGPT, can indeed help streamline certain aspects of content creation. It’s like having a tool that generates outlines, rewords sentences, and offers snippets to enhance your writing. But does it make you faster at writing a complete blog post? In my experience, not necessarily. It’s more of a companion than a silver bullet.

When it comes to writing code, AI can be a helpful assistant, but it’s not a replacement for human expertise. You still need to understand the problem and solution to determine if the code it generates is valid. Googling a coding problem and copying and pasting from Stack Overflow might remain a quicker solution for many developers.

In essence, AI is just a tool—a powerful one, but a tool nonetheless. It’s like a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can save time and improve efficiency in certain tasks. On the other hand, it can produce content that lacks authenticity and a human touch. Content generated by AI often has a distinct style that stands out to those who are familiar with it.

Looking ahead, AI is likely to become increasingly integrated into everyday software, creating a dependency on these technologies. However, this convenience may come at a cost. Providers like OpenAI may eventually start charging more for their services, passing the expenses on to users who rely on AI.

In conclusion, AI is not the magic solution to all our problems. It’s a valuable tool that can enhance our work, but it’s not a substitute for human creativity and expertise. As WordPress developers, we should use AI wisely, recognizing its strengths and limitations. While it might not make us overnight millionaires, it can certainly be a helpful companion in our digital journey.

Cheers,

Phil Wylie

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