Plugin-A-Palooza 2017 Contestant Jacob Arriola

Meet Plugin-A-Palooza Contestant Jacob Arriola

Announcements

Jacob Arriola first noticed WordPress because the company he worked at started building all of their internal sites using WordPress. “Once I became aware of the project and its capabilities I started going to the OC WordPress Meetup group,” he said.

When asked who he considered to be his WordPress mentor(s), Jacob said, “It starts with my boss, Steve Zehngut. He’s the one that opened my eyes to all of the capabilities of WordPress via the Meetups. Jeff Zinn and Brandon Dove of Pixel Jar helped me realize more in-depth developer topics as well. Currently, my colleague at Zeek, Aaron Holbrook has been really helping and pushing me to the next level.”

Jacob hopes his plugin, Progressive Images, will take users to the next level as well. Describing its super power as performance, Jacob said, “My plugin will wait to load your featured thumbnail only after everything else has loaded. Images can get heavy, so let’s load all of the content, CSS, JavaScript and all other stuff, too, thereby giving site visitors faster access to that awesome content.”

The plugin loads the native WordPress featured image after the rest of the page, thereby improving your site’s perceived speed. An interesting item to note is that the plugin doesn’t  include a settings page, so all of the customizations need to happen via filters, which Jacob documented.

Jacob’s first WordCamp was WordCamp OC 2014 and he loved it. “I’m a So-Cal boy: flip-flops, shorts and t-shirts! WordCamp OC has a awesome community and a great group of organizers. They never let me down.”

About Jen Miller

Jen Miller has spent a lifetime deep in the content trenches - more than 25 years - publishing everything from newspapers, magazines, and books to newsletters, emails, resumes, and websites. As the author of The Book on Content, entrepreneur, blogger, and sales and marketing expert, Jen understands how to use content to build authority, create trust, and forge lasting client relationships. Jen became known in the WordPress world as her company, Need Someone To Blog, published and promoted more than a million blog posts for companies and individuals representing many industries, from real estate and mortgage, executive coaching and leadership, health and fitness, construction, plumbing and air conditioning, insurance and finance, technology and start-ups to non-profits and artisans. Jen has a breadth of website content and business blogging knowledge you will not find elsewhere. Jen launched a course entitled "Create Great Content" in 2015, where she taught clients how to get the same results her company produced for their clients. She has spoken at many WordCamps and, in 2021, began sharing her knowledge as an adjunct faculty member at four universities. Professionally, as Director of Accounts at WebDevStudios, she helps clients find success through WordPress website enterprise solutions. Jen lives just outside of Phoenix, AZ, with her two teen sons and Goldendoodle dog and says she uses her college degree every day, having graduated from CSU, Long Beach, with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, an option in Music and a minor in Journalism. She also earned a Master of Science in Management and Leadership (MSML) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Western Governors University and is working on a Ph.D. in Business at the University of the Cumberlands. Jen Miller is an active volunteer with her church and other non-profits in her area and has served as an organizer for WordCamp Phoenix, believing that the key to providing value is learning and sharing with her community.

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