DEV Community: Teszáry Péter

WordPress Development Environment on Pop OS

Teszáry Péter — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 07:43:49 +0000

WordPress Boiler Plate Chase part 2.

The devil is in the small details...

So reflecting on my previous article (WordPress Boiler Plate Chase), I might find some solution to it. Also, it has a short story, that has happened this weekend.

So previously I've started to breathe life into Sage's boilerplate, with no luck. I thought it was some specialized dependency problem, that was caused by Pop OS. So I decided to look into a different way for no, cause I want to make some progress. I'll get back to is when I am feeling comfortable with packages and dependencies like composer and node.

VS Code extensions are not working

I found a Tailwind boilerplate which looks good, and it was easy to install (I thought). BUT. Then I've wanted to install the Tailwind CSS Intellisense extension to my VS Code, because I am a bit lazy with remembering CSS classes, so it might help. I am using Tailwind with my WordPress projects, and I really like it, but it is easier to cheat a bit with a classes-helper like that.

Ao after the installation an error message came up.

Tailwind CSS: Can't resolve 'lodash' in ....

Or something like that. I've tried to get it back from my browser history, but It was just too many records. Anyways, I could not find the answer. But. I thought that might be a problem with Pop Os again. I've tried to uninstall, and reinstall Nodejs & npm again. Auto removes, purge and clear everything with an auto fix as well. Nothing worked. So I thought I will install the good old Ubuntu on my laptop again (the problems above were on my desktop PC).

I have installed ubuntu beside my Pop Os, cause I did not want to go through the install processes of each Os week after week. I have installed 20.04 of Ubuntu, unfortunately. I did not check the version on the bootable Pendrive. So I had to upgrade after installation.

Years passed while the terminal was updating the stuff. I decided to watch the Shang-Chi movie, and come back in the morning. In the morning everything was fine. I have installed Nodejs and npm. I have installed Local by Flywheel (as I told you I am lazy) and VS code (and also some Ubuntu tweaks). Fresh WordPress install with the TailPress theme/repo in it. Great. Almost everything is green. Even the npm watch is working!!!

Then I wanted to install Tailwind CSS Intellisense with this fresh installation. Same error as previously. I made a coffee.

So the problem might not be with Ubuntu or Pop Os either. After some investigation, I have found the right solution with the right installation methods. I will create a Shell script later on and update the post with it.

First of all, you have to clear all that you (probably) have done, to solve the problem.

Source

CLEAR EVERYTHING

sudo apt clean
sudo apt update -m
sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt install -f
sudo apt full-upgrade
sudo apt autoremove --purge

THEN

sudo apt install pop-desktop

Removing Nodejs and Npm

Source

sudo apt-get remove nodejs npm node
sudo apt-get purge nodejs

Now remove .node and .npm folders from your system

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/npm 
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/share/man/man1/node* 
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d 
sudo rm -rf ~/.npm 
sudo rm -rf ~/.node-gyp 
sudo rm -rf /opt/local/bin/node 
sudo rm -rf opt/local/include/node 
sudo rm -rf /opt/local/lib/node_modules  

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node*
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/include/node*
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/node*

Go to home directory and remove any node or node_modules directory, if exists.

You can verify your uninstallation by these commands; they should not output anything.

which node
which nodejs
which npm

And now, start it over, but first of all with Composer

NOTE: YOU HAVE TO INSTALL ALL THE FOLLOWING GLOBALLY!

So, not from VS Code's terminal in the theme folder of your WordPress theme

Like this

Source

Installing PHP and Additional Dependencies

First, update the package manager cache by running

sudo apt update

Next, run the following command to install the required packages:

sudo apt install php-cli unzip

Downloading and Installing Composer

cd ~

curl -sS https://getcomposer.org/installer -o /tmp/composer-setup.php

Next, we’ll verify that the downloaded installer matches the SHA-384 hash for the latest installer found on the Composer Public Keys / Signatures page. To facilitate the verification step, you can use the following command to programmatically obtain the latest hash from the Composer page and store it in a shell variable:

HASH=`curl -sS https://composer.github.io/installer.sig`

If you want to verify the obtained value, you can run:

echo $HASH

Output
e0012edf3e80b6978849f5eff0d4b4e4c79ff1609dd1e613307e16318854d24ae64f26d17af3ef0bf7cfb710ca74755a

Now execute the following PHP code, as provided in the Composer download page, to verify that the installation script is safe to run:

php -r "if (hash_file('SHA384', '/tmp/composer-setup.php') === '$HASH') { echo 'Installer verified'; } else { echo 'Installer corrupt'; unlink('composer-setup.php'); } echo PHP_EOL;"

You’ll see the following output:

Installer verified

To install composer globally, use the following command which will download and install Composer as a system-wide command named composer, under /usr/local/bin:

sudo php /tmp/composer-setup.php --install-dir=/usr/local/bin --filename=composer

You’ll see output similar to this:

Output
All settings correct for using Composer
Downloading...

Composer (version 1.10.5) successfully installed to: /usr/local/bin/composer
Use it: php /usr/local/bin/composer

To test your installation, run:

composer

Output:

Output
   ______
  / ____/___  ____ ___  ____  ____  ________  _____
 / /   / __ \/ __ `__ \/ __ \/ __ \/ ___/ _ \/ ___/
/ /___/ /_/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ (__  )  __/ /
\____/\____/_/ /_/ /_/ .___/\____/____/\___/_/
                    /_/
Composer version 1.10.5 2020-04-10 11:44:22

Usage:
  command [options] [arguments]

Options:
  -h, --help                     Display this help message
  -q, --quiet                    Do not output any message
  -V, --version                  Display this application version
      --ansi                     Force ANSI output
      --no-ansi                  Disable ANSI output
  -n, --no-interaction           Do not ask any interactive question
      --profile                  Display timing and memory usage information
      --no-plugins               Whether to disable plugins.
  -d, --working-dir=WORKING-DIR  If specified, use the given directory as working directory.
      --no-cache                 Prevent use of the cache
  -v|vv|vvv, --verbose           Increase the verbosity of messages: 1 for normal output, 2 for more verbose output and 3 for debug
...

Then install Nodejs & npm

Source

Start by updating the packages list by typing:

sudo apt update

Install nodejs using the apt package manager:

sudo apt install nodejs npm

To launch:

nodejs

To verify:

node -v && npm -v

Then you can install the Tailwind boilerplate into your WordPress theme folder:

Source

Open the themes folder in VS Code (where all your themes are NOT the exact theme order (in case it does not exist yet))

Open a terminal in VS Code

composer global require jeffreyvanrossum/tailpress-installer

Clone repo

git clone https://github.com/jeffreyvr/tailpress.git && cd tailpress

Run

rm -rf .git

Run

npm install

Run

npm run watch

to start developing

And now you can use Tailwind CSS Intellisense...

Hope it helps!

Comment if it is! :)

Good Luck!

If there is something wrong, don't hesitate to comment it under, so I can correct my article. Thanks!

Why is it important to maintain a WordPress website?

Teszáry Péter — Sun, 06 Feb 2022 06:38:03 +0000

In many cases, I see people that have developed their website and not thinking about the future, leaning back, and enjoying life. Then one day they reach out to the developer in despair that a big crisis exists.

The analogy is similar to that of our own health. We only go to the doctor if we get sick. This is very sad because prevention is always more effective than the treatment itself. But let's start at the beginning.

Biology of WordPress

Because WordPress is an open-source CMS system, many people write their source code to keep up to date with current technological changes (such as adapting to programming languages) or to polish something, discover a new bug, vulnerability, and so on.

The situation is similar to the themes and extensions used on WordPress pages. There are always newer and newer updates for these as well. These include fixes that make our site more secure.

Additionally, these updates include new features that developers will add to the new version of the add-on or theme.

This is how WordPress gets older and, unlike us, gets better and better (this isn’t necessarily true since Gutenberg).

Unhealthy lifestyle

Like everything on the web, our WordPress website is vulnerable to attacks. The best way to protect them in the first round is to keep your plugin and so-called core file up-to-date on all the topics related to your website. Otherwise, the basic precautions are no longer in place.

Of course, the user can perform the updates itself, but just like with a Windows update, there is a possibility that something will go wrong and crash. Because the update may not run for some reason, there may be a compatibility issue between the extensions, a compatibility issue with the server (such as PHP version number support, etc.), and there may be several other reasons why our attempt may fail. That's why we need to back up our website in all cases, so it's a good idea to have it done by a professional. He/she already has a routine in it and even if he/she doesn’t know everything, he/she knows right away where to look.

General cleaning

Like everything else, our car, our apartment, our email account, so our website needs cleaning too. For example, if you use a cache plugin, you may want to delete the cache sometimes (The cache plugin helps us load our site faster). The comment section is worth checking out because in vain we can imagine that your spambots have burst into the blog with their comments. Unnecessary or unused extensions can be deleted. The database tables on the website should also be cleaned up. This includes revisions, entries, and so on. contains earlier versions. These are used to restore an earlier backup, for example from an entry. But in many cases, the tables of plugins previously installed and deleted since then remain here, which are no longer useful to us, they just “take up space” in the database. You can also empty the trash of this website. Deleted articles, trash entries, etc.

You may also want to delete unused media files to help you keep track of your trash.

Run firewalls, malware, and anti-virus plugins. In many cases, they work automatically and require no intervention. However, during such maintenance, we can run it for safety.

Create a backup

I cannot stress the importance of this. Whatever happens to our site, if we have a backup, you can always restore the latest saved version from there. Even for a static website with no content change, it's a good idea to make one backup per month. In the case of pages where content is uploaded on a daily/weekly basis, it is worth doing this on a weekly basis. Of course, there are those who do this once every night.

Although this post only partially touched on the topic of maintaining WordPress websites, we can see that maintenance is not just about three clicks. It comes with a lot of responsibilities. Yet many people do not perform maintenance on their site for months or years. Of course, they can say that there is nothing wrong with the site, but it is a bit like Russian roulette. There are updates every day, bad guys can try to crack your page every day. There can be a server failure every day or anything else. If you don't have a backup, your entire website is gone. You can always take a risk, but it’s worth appreciating and caring about our website a bit, as we created it to present us in the online world. It’s worth taking the time and money to go to the doctor at least once a month.

Because one apple a day keeps the doctor away...

WordPress Boiler Plate Chase

Teszáry Péter — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 12:01:21 +0000

The original article HERE

At the beginning of this year, I wanted to gain my skills in custom theme development, but I wanted to do it the proper way. So, I started to look around some boilerplates, to see what is inside them, how they build up, and what kind of plus they can give while developing my "test" theme.

A WordPress theme boilerplate is a WordPress starter pack, that has different modules in it, like Node.js/npm, Bootsrap, Gulp, SCSS, etc., and also has the core template files that a template has to have to start building from scratch. But it does not have layouts and such, so you have to build everything yourself. It is really a starter pack, to build custom themes.

I've seen a lot of Youtube videos and I have a couple of paid Udemy courses, but as time goes on I notice that there is no simple solution. I've started from scratch via a Udemy course, but later on, I realized, that there are much more options, and even the rhythm of the course is too slow. So, I've jumped right into the Youtube maze of WP dev videos. I've found a good one, but then I saw that I have to buy the development theme if I want to follow along. I've seen another one, but then I saw that there were no node modules in it (I've wanted to learn that part too, that is why it is important).

OK.

Then I started to look around because there are lots of free boilerplates out there.
I have found https://roots.io/ . Man, that stuff looks amazing. It has all that stuff. Node.js, npm, composer, Bootsrap, Tailwind, Bulma, scss, and all that. Superb! I've started to check it out right after. But I had some trouble by trying to breathe life into it. I've been trying for days to get it to work. No luck. So after tons of searches on different sites, like the classic StackOverflow, I've decided to ask some questions in the Roots Sage Github Repo.

Problem 1

illuminate/support is locked to version v5.6.39 and an update of this package was not requested.

illuminate/support v5.6.39 requires ext-mbstring * -> it is missing from your system. Install or enable PHP's mbstring extension. Problem 2

squizlabs/php_codesniffer is locked to version 2.9.2 and an update of this package was not requested.

squizlabs/php_codesniffer 2.9.2 requires ext-simplexml * -> it is missing from your system. Install or enable PHP's simplexml extension. Problem 3

illuminate/support v5.6.39 requires ext-mbstring * -> it is missing from your system. Install or enable PHP's mbstring extension.

illuminate/console v5.6.39 requires illuminate/support 5.6.* -> satisfiable by illuminate/support[v5.6.39].

illuminate/console is locked to version v5.6.39 and an update of this package was not requested.

I've reported it as a bug, and also give all the information to them, to even reproduce the circumstances. But after a day, they replied, that I should do as I have found in an article (that I also added to my report) because there are some PHP packages and other dependencies that are missing. And then they there way another short answer with similar advice and then they closed my bug report.

After that, I have contacted one of my friends who is proficient in DevOps and System Administration things. After a long investigation, we found out that there is some compatibility issue with Pop OS (21.10) (It was a fresh 1-day install). Even it is based on Ubuntu it has some problems with the PHP extensions. We have solved the Node problem, but we could not find a solution for the PHP extension problem. We have tried everything and it did not work.

My article about why I've switched to POP OS is >HERE<

I've commented under my closed bug report, maybe someone might need it in the future. Even the support could not give me the solution, I don't want others to hang on to this problem without having some answer or without any compass for days.

The reason we came to the conclusion that Pop OS is the problem is that we have installed Docker, and it worked perfectly in a Docker image. By the way, even if it is an OS compatibility issue, why does it have to be "rocket science" to install a boilerplate? Why should you investigate for days (and nights) just to find out that there is an OS compatibility issue? So Sage is a super boilerplate, but I will just let it go. I will find some easier boilerplate for my study purposes. But this will be another story.

6 reasons why to learn how to develop a WordPress plugin

Teszáry Péter — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 19:48:04 +0000

The original article HERE

Well, the main reason why I started to learn how to develop a WordPress plugin is a bit long story, and I am sure that many of you out there has similar experiences. Let me tell you mine.

1st reason:

So the first reason is that I have spent so much money on different plugins, for different problems to solve.

2nd reason

The second reason is that I don't want to use a plugin for everything. So while you learn how to build a plugin, you will see that there are so much more and simpler options than just installing and using a plugin. For example, I am sure that instead of using 3 plugins for different purposes, you can surely add the scripts that those plugins are using into a code snippet, or add it to the functions.php. But that was just an example. The solution can be different in many ways.

3rd reason

The third reason is that I want to understand, how these things are working. I create websites and webshops for a living, so I want to deliver the highest quality that is possible. So damn sure I have to dive in if I want to be good in it.

4th reason

Fourth reason: I am studying every day to become a full-stack developer. It is a good practice as well. You can practice PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, Js, version control, and many other things, by just finding a solution to your problems.

5th reason

The fifth reason is to find a solution to your problems. Previously, I started to study plugins a theme development without a plan. I've just wanted to learn it, to be more professional. But It is much easier if you study it with an exact purpose.

For example, I have many unfinished projects, because I lost my interest in them on the way. But after a period, I ran into some problems that pushed me to dive in again and again. And as soon as I had some "personal" problems to solve - for example, environment dependency problems while developing a theme - I had the motivation to keep going.

Same with plugin development. I have bought several courses, to have a guided study curve. But it is just getting boring sometimes. Until you run into a "personal" problem in your everyday work. In my case something got my website slowing down, so I started to investigate in that way, till I found out there is no solution for my problems in that way that I want it to. So, let's develop a solution for it, that is personalized for my needs.

6th reason

The sixth reason. If you get good enough, and your stuff is working well, you can earn some money as well. Even if it is just a couple of dollars, it still feels good, to get paid for something that you have done for fun.

So I guess if you are at the beginning of this road, you can pick one reason for this 6 above, and use it as a star in the night sky, so if you are lost, and out of motivation, maybe it helps to get you back on track!

Good luck!

Why PoP OS is my favorite Linux Distro?

Teszáry Péter — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 19:46:34 +0000

The original article HERE

Why PoP OS is my favorite Linux Distro? Well long story short: because I love the UI/UX and it is so handy.

Ok, but this is an article, so I have to explain a bit more right? I have been a Windows user, for well. 30+ years now. Man... What a waste of time...

So in the middle of last year, I switched to Linux...

Previously I've tried to use Linux(Ubuntu) several times, but I never had luck. I've always ren into some problems that I could not solve, besides that, I had problems with the command line as well.

Do I always have to use this command line stuff? Why? It is so hard?

This is what I was thinking.

So I've switched back to Windows many times. Also, there was a compatibility issue with the programs that I used. Photoshop, Illustrator, and so on. I did try Wine and PlayOnLinux but I could not get the programs that I needed to work with them on my Ubuntu.

I thought that maybe this is not for me. But last year at the beginning of the summer I've pulled myself together and give it a try again. I said there is no turning back, no matter what.

First I've switched my Main PC to Ubuntu. And I have used it for a week, searching for open source solutions for Ubuntu that can replace the Win applications. I've found many of them. I have to learn a lot of stuff completely from scratch. Like how to design logos in Inkscape, or how to modify images in Gimp or Krita. But it felt good to evolve, and not to be stuck between the monetizing claws of Adobe and such. So after a week, I have switched all my machines to Ubuntu at home. Let's play hard.

I really loved it. It was a bit hard at the beginning but then it was so easy in the end. In the meantime in the middle of the summer, I felt like I am missing something. I liked Ubuntu, but Something was not cool. So I've jumped into Google's ocean again ad read a ton of articles, did a million searches, and watched hours of videos. This result came up:

I have to switch/try Pop OS...

I have installed it on my desktop, and wow... That is it. I really like it. It is so clean and so from the future. Previously I've tried Clear Linux also, but I did not like it much. So the interface the look and the feel of Pop OS are so great. That was love for the first sign. I just can't explain it. It is just so handy and looks polished.

Even if I had some problem with the installation of the PHP environment, I cannot say anything bad about Pop OS. And because of this little problem above, I have to study a little bit about Docker. Why not, I've heard so much about it, so I will catch up on some knowledge about it in the next few months.

So back to the OS. I love the dark and the light theme as well. - Of course, my favorite is the dark one - Love the Pop Shop, where you can find all the applications. The other thing that I love is that because it is based on Ubuntu, you can do the same things with it, as with Ubuntu. Love the wallpapers, the installation screens, and the small tweaks that come with Pop.

Even though I am new to Linux, I am comfortable with this distribution. I know quite a lot about it today. So If you tried/liked ubuntu, and if you want to try something new, you must give a shot to Pop OS.

Here are some detailed changes from the near past:
https://blog.system76.com/post/670564272872488960/popos-2110-has-landed

My Journey with WordPress

Teszáry Péter — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 16:48:39 +0000

Previously (the background)

Previously I have been working as a marketer for several companies since 2013. It was an interesting and creative kind of area, but after a while, everything became centralized around ROAS. So creativity just died. As a part of my job, I have created many email campaigns and some client processes based on if-else statements. This I what I liked the most. But nowadays, everything is about PPC and profit. Also, it takes a full-time job (and a bit more ) to keep up with the continuous daily changes of the ads manager applications. I've wanted some changes wanted some challenging and creative things to do.

I have started my journey with WordPress back in 2016. I've finished a web design course that worked with WordPress templates.

We simply just modified the template. No child theme, no CSS frameworks just some little modifications.

After I have finished the course, I have started to apply to companies for a job. I thought I know everything about WordPress. I was so naive.

Now

Unfortunately, I could not apply for the Computer Science department of the university or college in my studies. But I have been always interested in programming since I have created websites with Yahoo's Geocities application back in the 2000s. So I wanted some changes. I had less interim in the marketing industry.

So, besides my regular job I've started the create websites for my clients after my work hours. I have learned a lot about coding, clients, running a business, using tools, etc. Of course, first I've started with free templates and the "Elementor and Divi" period came up. Also tried several other builders, but later on, I have started to learn theme and plugin development via code.

Today I am still on the (beginning of the) road to mastering WordPress theme and plugin development. But now I know a lot more. Nowadays I am already working with CSS frameworks like Bootstrap, Tailwind, Automatic, and so on. Have some knowledge of PHP, Javascript, MySQL, Node.js, npm, gulp, yarn, etc.

For client sites, I use Oxygen Builder as my main tool because it is more flexible and more developer-focused (and faster to work with).

The future

For this year I've decided to get back to finish the two-years programming school (second year), and also to develop my skills to become a full-stack developer. Also want to dive in more deeply into custom WordPress development. I hope I do it all the way through.

Only a few weeks passed in 2022, but I can see that this will be a much harder year than it was before. But It will be a cool journey anyway :)

Why I have Switched To Linux?

Teszáry Péter — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 17:06:25 +0000

Short story long

It’s a very long story, but the point, in a nutshell, is that I’ve been struggling for many, many years to switch to the ‘dark side’ (or just the Jedi side?). I’ve tried using Ubuntu several times before, but for some reason, I’ve always been disappointed to get back to Windows.

However, about a half year ago (around 2021 June), I decided to step in again. But not just in this matter, but that I’m turning my life upside down.

If you do something, do it right!

The story:

So far, I’ve worked with a Lenovo T420 laptop as the base, to which I connected 2 monitors so I could work on 3 displays. It was awesome. I loved it.
But as many customers, so many habits, that is why almost every customer had to use a new channel for communication. Skype here, Meet here, Discord, Messenger, Telegram, Hangouts, and more. And since most of them have (or have only) a desktop app, I installed them.

Why?

Because in many cases my phone is muted or set to vibrate. On the one hand, not to disturb a meeting, and on the other hand, not to beep constantly.

So the Desktop app can help me get messages in and reply to them relatively quickly (more on that later).

However, having a whole bunch of software for my work and a whole bunch of software for communication up on my machine resulted in the machine slowing down terribly.

There was a consultation and/or training where I managed to hold the event from 3 tools. And I said that is enough...

First steps I did

I've installed Ubuntu on my desktop computer first. We looked at each other for a few days, but the laptop was still up on Windows. Consultations on the multi-machine solution continued. 4-5 monitors.

So far, I haven't dared to switch completely to Linux because the software I used and needed to work (Photoshop, Illustrator, XD, Premier, Office, etc.) is only "ported" to WIN and MAC os. So I should have made a compromise. Although there are solutions that can bridge this thing on Linux systems (Vine, PlayOnLinux, etc.), I haven't been able to breathe life into it, at least in the current versions.

Switch entirely

Then one night I thought about it and decided to make moves.
On the one hand, I was fascinated by the idea that I could only learn from it (but it would take a lot of struggle with it, which in turn would strengthen and provide usable knowledge), and on the other hand, the purity and "simplicity" of Linux was very sympathetic. Of course, I don't want to offend anyone here, so I'd correct that when I write this if you do something on Linux, it's done. I meant it like this.

Was the idea that what I was used to so far and what programs I used for my everyday work will be really replaceable scary (and still is)? Yes, It was very scary! But I thought I should give it a try.

The next day I installed Ubuntu on my laptop as well. But just to start in an advanced mode right away, I put up the 21.04 Hirsute Hippo version instead of the 20.04 version. About when the release came out.

How is it going?

So it's been a half year since. The trip is terribly exciting and will even last for a while, so I’m sure I’ll tell you about that in the next few posts. What kind of software I use now, what my experience is, and how at all, how sharp an active business case is on the go. If you think the same way as I do, and you are before the switch,
or just want to smile good at my ball steps sometimes, follow me on this bumpy road :)

Thanks for reading.

This is my first article on DEV.to

Teszáry Péter — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 17:11:11 +0000

So, this is the first article here on DEV.to. I just don't know yet why have I started it. I already have two blogs. One is for my business and the other one is for fun. The non-business one is similar to a diary. But I just like to try out new things, so that is why I've decided to click around DEV.to.

Maybe I will start with some short tweets here to see if I can keep up with the writing. The reason to keep this blog up to date and post regularly is to have some consistency in my learning methodology.

I am coming from a WordPress world, and my main goal is to become a full-stack developer someday. I will tell you about this in a later article. So I would like to dive deeply into programming. Also, I have a programmer background as well, because I have studied a lot for myself, from Udemy and Youtube courses. Also, I had a 2-years programming school, that I did not finish. Only the first year yet. But I decided to go back this September, so we will see. Until that, I would like to keep up with studying as much as it is possible. So I hope I can document this journey here.

So I hope that I will see you and myself around. That was my first post. I guess there will be a lot more. We'll see.