I read a lot of WordPress articles everyday, when I say read, I mean I skim the the first few lines and close the tab in disgust (90% of the time). Like many web development niches WordPress is full of what is called “thin” content, which is to say articles that don’t actually have any content in them. We have all read the top 10 plugins, the best green themes in May, why hosting company x is the best. These articles quite often are there as revenue generators, sometimes they are fillers and sadly for some that might be what they feel WordPress articles should be about. To be honest I don’t have an issue with this content its easy to identify and ignore.
The cases that scare me, are when such sites try to write articles on performance, security or maintenance issues, nearly always this is a recipe for disaster. There is a lot of fud especially surrounding performance and security where if a site is giving out bad advice it has the potential to wreak havoc on readers sites. You can argue that it serves the readers right for following bad advice but each time this happens it’s not just effecting the readers site, but chipping at the community. I should also say there are some great sites and people out there, offering rock solid advice it’s just difficult at times to see them sometimes.
So I would like to offer my services as a Proofreader/Technical Editor, to any site discussing WordPress and Security/Performance.
What does this mean:
- Simply send me your article prior to publication and I will scan through it, check for any major issues and potentially recommend a couple of changes or clarifications.
- I will also provide advice on best way to conduct tests and testing methodology
What I won’t do:
- Write posts for you.
- Distribute/Promote posts, unless they are any good in which case chances are I would have done it naturally
- Do any spelling, grammar, normal proof reading, as you can see from my own blog you wouldn’t want me to
You should ideally give me a couple of days to get back to you, though I will try to get some notes back to you as soon as possible. It also maybe due to time commitments I can’t look at every article sent to me, though I will try to always get back to you.
Costs? Free!
So I’m happy to give up my time for free to any site which is not for profit non corporate site. If you feel you don’t fit into that category then do get in touch we can work something out.
This really is an easy win for anyone writing such posts, you get a second pair of eyes and you are more then welcome to ignore my comments, if I can’t add anything you haven’t lost anything. On the other hand if I spot something then it was done before you published.
Getting started
Drop me an email site AT timnash.co.uk
include in the email:
- Your name and contact details
- The domain of the site
- A link to the preview if using a plugin like Public Post Preview, Google doc etc. Please no logins
- Or the post in plain text/markdown, please please please don’t send me Word Docs or Open Office I will just get grumpy
- If you have a specific publish date in mind, let me know. keep in mind it’s worth giving me a couple of days minimum
TLDR;
Writing a WordPress post on security or performance, send it to me first and I will critique it and offer advice on improvements if needed.