I Realized How Much I Enjoyed Doing My Own WordPress Website

Rob Cairns

Today we are going to list the interview of Rob Cairns from Toronto, Ontario. In the interview, Rob mentioned that he worked in client services in IT for one of the biggest hospitals in Toronto before starting working with WordPress professionally.

Also, he mentioned that he has spent more than 20 years with the biggest hospitals in Toronto as a Technical Support.

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Introduction

I am Rob Cairns. I live in Toronto Ontario Canada. Before I started using WordPress professionally I worked in Client Services in IT for one of Toronto’s biggest hospitals. Besides working in WordPress, I work in Digital Marketing.

Before I worked in WordPress I spent 21 years with one of Toronto’s biggest hospitals in Technical Support. I worked in both the IT call centre and Field Support Teams.

I was also a Project Lead running many projects including putting computers on Carts into the Operating Rooms.

Q. How did you get to know about WordPress? Share if there is an interesting story.

Ans: I never intended to get into WordPress full time. I registered my first domain to handle email so if I switched ISPs I had a consistent email address.

I then started doing websites to help people with technical resources – The original websites were basically quick pages with resource links so I could just say to people go here for your resources.

I then I created a blog and that is where WordPress came into play. I looked at other platforms and after spending a lot of time settled on WordPress.

I then started developing full sites in WordPress. Once i realised how much I enjoyed doing my own site I started building websites for others.

Q. What’s the most interesting project you have done to date in WordPress? What were your responsibilities?

Ans: I developed and maintained a web site for the Ontario Police Memorial to share the live streaming of their yearly event.

One of the biggest challenges with this site was the security. Their are many cop haters out in society and that makes this site an attractive site for hackers. Every year during the event the hack attempts went up and the challenge was keeping the site online during the memorial event.

It was a gratifying project because I have strong ties in the policing community and it was a great way to give back.

Q. Have you ever been to any WordPress meetups or WordCamps? Share your thoughts on WordPress Community.

Ans: I personally love the community. I have been involved in many FB Groups, have participated in meetups and Word Camps and I am one of administrators of the WordPress Product Community on Linkedin.

Q. How does your workstation look like? Can you send us a picture?

Ans: Its Clean. I have a laptop and a 22 inch monitor. I prefer simple.

Q. What interesting feature do you think you would like to see in WordPress and is currently missing?

Ans: I would like to see better management of the media library. I feel that this area of WordPress has been long neglected and needs to be improved to improve the user experience especially for new WordPress users.

I would like to see things like folder management and tags in this area. Some better search functions for the media library would help as well.

Q. Out of the current plugins and themes which one do you like the most and why?

Ans: Lately I love The Kadence Theme and Kadence Blocks. The ecosystem is easy to use and is well supported.

As I move away from a page builder this has been so important for my WordPress stack. My personal site – robcairns.xyz is already using this combination and my agency site is almost converted to this stack as well.

Q. Any awesome technology you want to share other than WordPress?

Ans: Actually lately outside of WordPress I have fallen in love with Drones especially for arial photography.

Q. Do you like/love what you currently do in WordPress?

Ans: I do and one thing that helps is the amazing support community that we have.

Q. Where do you find yourself after 5 years

Ans: Doing more of the same / evolving with WordPress and hopefully teaching more.

Q. Share something about your life other than work

Ans: I am an avid sports autograph collector in my spare time. I also like to read a lot and keep learning.

I am an avid sports fan – Hockey, Lacrosse, Football, Basketball and F1 are just a few of the sports I love to watch. Reading is also a big part of my non-work life. I try to read at least an hour a day.

Q. To whom you give credit for your success?

Ans: Truthfully I have had many mentors over the years and help from other community members but a lot of success comes from within. You need to be driven and love what you do.

Q. Can you give us some reference for whom we should conduct an interview next and why?

Ans: Davinder Singh Kanith – He does a lot in the community.

Q. How do you reward yourself?

Ans: Usually go out for a nice dinner or purchase something that I really want.

Q. Any suggestion for WordPress beginners?

Ans: Take your time and learn as much as you can. Learning a strong foundation from the ground up matters.

First off start and learn slow. Take your time. Join the community. Find some WordPress Meetups online and join them. Ask lots of questions. Listen to several WordPress podcasts to help improve your knowledge at the start.