What inspires me the most about the word WordPress is that it not only refers to a powerful CMS supporting over 40% of the Internet, but also a large community of warm people collaborating to make publishing and creating more accessible, plus a philosophy of sharing knowledge so everyone can benefit from the very best tools possible — the kind that can change lives.
And I’m no exception.
I remember the first time I had to deal with WordPress; I remember it clearly. In 2011, I was a Web Developer in a local multimedia agency and was assigned to a project that was already live and needed its photo gallery modified. I took the task convinced that, like with any other project up to that moment, I would have to download the source code, study it, and alter it until it would match the new requirements.
Against all my expectations, I met the WordPress hooks, the actions, and filters that currently empower more features than we can think of. I was blown away by it. I couldn’t believe that I could completely modify a behavior without having to deal with third-party code. And not only that, the hooks paradigm would let me remove features by adding code. Give yourself a moment to process that.
Right after that first encounter, and being a young code-enthusiast, I asked to get involved in other WordPress projects, just to get to know the potential of its other features. By middle 2013, I already had some experience developing themes and, especially, plugins.
The plan was to stay employed long enough, get enough team-wise experience, and ultimately, switch to freelancing. With over 7 years of experience working for different agencies as a Web Developer and now as a WordPress Developer as well, I executed the plan: by mid 2014, I quit my job.
I was motivated, happy to pursue my passion, and also afraid of the uncertainty that every project comes with. I was lucky enough to start working right away on many projects, primarily WordPress-based, that would test my expertise and push my limits. As I kept becoming more familiar with its functions, I realized that developing plugins that expand the limits of the platform is what I enjoyed the most.
It was 2019. Some years had passed, and I was a well-established freelance WordPress developer in Argentina, known for managing a small team, delivering websites, and advanced plugins. My country had no WordPress community, as we know it, so I made a habit of paying extra attention to each sign that came across, that could imply expansion. One afternoon, while checking my feed, I stumbled upon a post from a fellow WordPress developer talking about Codeable.
Here it was, a hiring service, fully focused on WordPress developers, with a blueprint for pursuing excellence in all WordPress matters. A perfect match. After going through a rigorous selection process, I was accepted and earned my status as a Codeable Expert.
For an Argentina-based professional, Codeable was the bridge that would enable me to work for new and bigger European clients. It not only brought a new chapter full of challenges and opportunities, but also the unexpected chance to connect with people from different cultures. That changes people, and it changed me.
After being involved in different projects, I started to focus on large, custom WooCommerce sites; the kind that forces you to deal with huge databases, tailor-made themes, and advanced customizations, such as taxation and multilingual stacks. This allowed me to get experience in WooCommerce-related matters, which eventually led me to work with luxury brands.
Alongside all of this, I attended, for the first time, WordCamp EU 2022 in Porto, Portugal, which had been postponed twice due to the COVID pandemic. I was filled with joy, surrounded by colleagues with a shared passion, some of them volunteering and organizing the event. And thanks to a growing industry, I was able to attend WordCamp EU 2023 in Athens, Greece, as well.
Two years later, I attended WordCamp EU 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. But this time, it was different. This time, the focus was on the emerging role of AI, presenting the first implemented ideas and prototypes. A role that is yet to be decided.
At the moment of writing this post, over 15 years have passed since I worked on my very first WordPress task. I had the opportunity to play around with it, study it, analyze it, and recognize its downsides and limitations. And I have to say, like many of us, it is amazing to keep choosing it daily.
WordPress is, after all, a piece of technology that connects people in ways that are difficult to express. A tool that changes and improves lives. A platform that we take care of, and it takes care of us.
Dear WordPress… thank you.