Does this work?

Milana Cap: I’m a single mum from Serbia (that means I get no financial help whatsoever from anyone, the government, or my ex-husband). A classical musician by education and initial aspiration. The loudest member of the WordPress Documentation team.

I’ve been freelancing as a WordPress developer for a decade and then found a nice and cozy spot at XWP, where I’ve been in WordPress engineering since January 2022.

Milana Cap: I didn’t decide. I was already a developer when I made a switch from classical music. PHP and WordPress were a nice pass time and kept my cogs spinning. Then people started asking me to build them websites, which I saw as a very useful budget boost.

But then the Serbian government decided it was time to show how much they care about culture so my paycheck was cut by more than 30% within 6 months, which made me decide to stop sponsoring my employment in theater and switch to development. It was a fast transition. In 3 weeks I had ~20 job interviews and started working as a WordPress developer at the beginning of the 4th week.

Milana Cap: Back in 2009 when I tried WordPress for the first time, WordPress was one of rare blog PHP scripts that actually worked. It didn’t do much but at least the whole pages were loading without errors.

Google search showed at least 5 new tutorials for WordPress each day and there was documentation you could edit by just being logged in to WordPress.org. That gave me enough material to learn a lot every day and to do it at my own pace. As I often say, I’m not a gamer but I assume that’s how gamers feel completing new levels each day.

Milana Cap: Does this work?

Milana Cap: I love that it allows people with a wide range of knowledge and experience to actually build something. You can approach it from very different perspectives and it will do for you whatever you want.

I hate the way PHP parts have been neglected for years now. Introducing React.js is very bold and I support it. I love bold Frankensteins. But the way it’s being done is not really the WordPress/PHP way. Right now we have two very different philosophy streams trying to lead WordPress forward. If they don’t start integrating better I’m afraid we’ll be trying to patch a massive gap with duct tape.

Milana Cap: Being stubborn enough to stay on my path. My parents did a great job teaching me how to recognize my path and genetics kept me on it. Many times I was the only person on Earth believing in that path and when I think about it, if I followed just 10% of the advice I was given, I’d be in a very different place right now—living someone else’s dreams.

Milana Cap: I don’t remember. I’m not raised to think that way. I had many difficulties and obstacles in life, some were the results of my own decisions, and some I had no control over. But all of it together showed me how to do things properly and just how many times I’m able to be broken and repaired. None of it is a fuckup.

Milana Cap: I don’t give much importance to the future in general. I think of it as an unlimited number of possible scenarios but don’t attach myself to either, nor do I give enough significance to any of them to fear them. Everything can completely change in a blink of an eye by a factor no one could predict. I follow one simple rule of thumb: I do what I enjoy as deeply as I enjoy it. I hope to enjoy WordPress for many years to come. That’s all I know about the future 😅