By opening up the page template functionality to all post types, developers will be able to add more than one template for any post type available on a site, and users will then be able to choose a template for individual pieces of content.

In addition to the Template Name file header, the post types supported by a template can be specified using Template Post Type: post, foo, bar.
When at least one template exists for a post type, the ‘Post Attributes’ meta box will be displayed in the back end, without the need to add post type support for ‘page-attributes’. ‘Post Attributes’ can be customized per post type using the ‘attributes’ label when registering a post type.

Two years later.

Source: The HTTP 451 Error Code for Censorship Is Now an Internet Standard

The idealist in me wants to think this will do some good for users. Sensorship is not a good thing, for too many reasons to mention, and since net neutrality is on the chopping block and it’ll only be a matter of time before it’s completely gone, this seems as good a way as any to fight back.

As an aside, being in favor of net neutrality should not be a partisan issue. Users, including those who swallow whatever talking points they’re fed on the subject, especially by those who refer to themselves as conservatives but aren’t really. The only groups who will benefit from a lack of net neutrality are those who are interested in silencing voices. In other words, sensors. And sensors serve no one but themselves, or whoever’s paying their bills.

This post is in response to this one, and you should go read it first before reading the rest of this one.

We’ve probably all heard a phrase that goes something along these lines.

Keep your personal life and problems private and out of your business dealings.

That’s not an exact quote, but it’s definitely a skill that you learn as you go into business. Never show your weaknesses, because they erode client trust. If your clients see that you’re having problems, and that you’re public about them, they’re less likely to work with you. If your clients know that you have any kind of mental illness, or physical illness, they’re afraid it’s going to effect your work, and they’re less likely to hire you.

This is a mindset that has become ingrained within just about every type of business community, and until I became a part of the WordPress community, I thought it was just the rules of the road. Since I joined the WordPress community, I have come to view it as dangerous, destructive, and the ultimate killer of productivity.

I have come to believe that wellness, (shlemah, completeness or complete personal well-being), makes up at least half of what we would consider productivity, and is the first priority over everything else, including skillset or the amount of tasks you complete in a day for a project or projects.

This is hard to admit, because it means that I’ve had to unlearn a whole lot. I’m still not done unlearning, and I’m definitely not done implementing what I’ve relearned. I’m still working on that and trying to figure out the logistics.

But at this point, I believe that nothing is more important than wellness. Not personal glory, not deadlines, not accessibility, not good code, nothing.

It has become a key factor in picking clients or projects. Whether or not a client cares about their own wellness enough isn’t something I have control over. Whether or not I make room in my busy schedule for my own wellness is something I do have control over.

I’m not posting this to preach at anyone so much as for personal accountability. I’m going to need the help of the WordPress community to figure all this out beyond the first step. There will be financial implications to this. To be honest, there’s not enough money to go around in the first place, and I’m pretty certain this is going to effect at least one of my off and on client relationships negatively, and it’s the one that usually pays the most to boot.

Also, I’m going to have to start charging for every piece of accessibility advice I give. As much as I love helping the community achieve accessibility goodness, that comes at a cost to me, and if I help with your theme or plugin, even if you’re giving it away for free, I’ll still have to charge for that help. I’m pretty sure most of you can’t afford my ideal hourly rate of $200 per hour, so I’ll be testing out some lower rates to see what works, as well as testing out some sort of pay-by-the-minute setup. Clarity won’t work for this, as the interface is almost completely unusable for both myself and any other clients who are visually impaired and use a screen reader. So I’ll be building something with Gravity Forms and charging a minimum amount for a minimum amount of minutes.

I’d like to hope that no one in the WordPress community takes this personally. Because trust me, it’s not. And we’re going to need to work together to figure out a rate that this particular market will bear. Most of the money that’s made in the accessibility community is made from Fortune 50 or Fortune 500 companies, and the rates are determined accordingly. This community is obviously not the Fortune 50 or Fortune 500, and yet there needs to be a solution for the little guy or little business who cares deeply about doing the right thing and making their products and software accessible, and yet can’t afford Fortune 50 or Fortune 500 rates for practical advice.

So all of this, I hope, will be a journey we can go on together, hopefully creating something that works for the little guy, gets the right thing done, and makes the world a better place for millions of people.

Now to publish this and see what the fall-out is.

Here’s hoping it doesn’t go completely wrong. 🙂

I’ve been patiently waiting all day, and now I’m taking a break from my pile of work to introduce you to WordPress 4.4, Clifford.

WordPress 4.4 “Clifford”

Feature of note: Responsive Image Support

As of WordPress 4.4, responsive image support is now part of core. Here’s how it works.

If you’re using the the Responsive Images Community Group’s feature plugin, you’ll already be familiar with how WordPress 4.4’s new responsive images support works. That’s because this plugin has been merged into core and, (along with several helper functions and filters for developers to use), is the new responsive images feature. So sites like this beauty lovingly crafted by Prime Access Consulting will continue to enjoy the support for responsive images they’ve always had, except with one less plugin. For sites not running this plugin already, all you’ll need to do is install the Regenerate Thumbnails plugin, because you’ll need to generate the missing medium-large size for all your images. You’ll only need to do this once, and from that point onward, you can uninstall the plugin and rely on WordPress’s automatic handling of your image sizes.

If you’re a user who’s not a developer, or a user who is a developer but doesn’t have the time to dive into all the new responsive images goodness, you can learn how to use WordPress’s new responsive images functionality by reading this post.

And if you are a developer who’s interested in diving into all WordPress has to offer with regard to responsive images, you can learn all about it by reading this post.

Responsive Images in WordPress 4.4

There are, of course, more amazing user-specific and developer-specific features in WordPress 4.4, but this post is getting long and I really have to get back to work. So you can find out more about what WordPress 4.4 has to offer from this post by Brian Krogsgard.

I really do hope you enjoy using WordPress 4.4. I’ve had a ball contributing to it via the WordPress Accessibility Team, and although my name’s not in the credits, (one day soon I will haz the props), I’ll be celebrating with the rest of the WordPress community. Just after I finish all this work. 😛