From product idea to Gutenberg PR in a weekend
Here’s a good excerpt: I built my first Gutenberg PR from a product idea I had already tested in Opa.blog. The code still has to pass review, but the bigger shift is already clear: AI coding agents can help product people, writers, designers, and WordPress power users move from “someone should build this” to “what would it take for me to build the first version?”
Changing things up
I’m working on something I’m very passionate about. I’m learning and doing things with WordPress I never imagined. Do you want to know what it is? I think you’ll find interesting, even if just to see how it gets built.
Radical Speed Month: Opa.blog
This month I'm working with Marjorie R. Asturias to build something new with WordPress. I'll be sharing my work as I go on my blog, Substack, and here on LinkedIn. I had worked out an idea initially to build a completely new experience, but it was turning into a spaghetti mess of Next.js, Astro, and decoupled (headless) WordPress. Not only am I a part of…
I Built a Second Brain on WordPress: Here’s What Actually Happened
I wanted to build a second brain. I spent weeks going in circles on the tech stack. Then I stopped planning and just started building with WordPress and AI.
https://derekhanson.blog/i-built-a-second-brain-on-wordpress-heres-what-actually-happened/
Cover block parallax style — v1.2.0
The first version of Cover Block Parallax Style was a pretty simple idea: add a smooth parallax scrolling effect to the native WordPress Cover block without requiring custom blocks or shortcodes. Toggle it on, pick a speed, done. v1.2.0 is less about new features and more about fixing things that were quietly broken. What got fixed The most embarrassing bug: the editor and frontend were using different default speeds.
I'm not a developer. I'm a project manager who knows how to communicate a vision. Turns out that's exactly what you need to build a WordPress theme with AI. New post on how Tufte Blocks got made.
The scroll indicator block, properly done
This block has been a long time coming. I first built the Scroll Indicator back in September, when I was exploring what Telex AI could do. The idea was simple: a small animated mouse icon that sits at the bottom of the screen and nudges readers to keep scrolling. Telex built it in minutes. It even added a click-to-scroll behavior I never asked for, which was a genuinely delightful surprise.
I Just Leveled Up: From Telex to Claude Code
I built a podcast RSS feed block in Telex last week. I needed it for a project, and within minutes I had a working proof of concept, an RSS block that pulled in episodes with custom style settings. Telex is incredible for that moment when you have an idea and need to see it working in the editor immediately. But then I wanted to push it further.
https://derekhanson.blog/i-just-leveled-up-from-telex-to-claude-code/
