Today we have an interview with Syed Blakhi, a WordPress Developer & Blogger. Syed is well known for his fairly popular WordPress resource site – WPBeginnner.
WPBeginner is a WordPress resource blog, packed with useful information and tutorials about WordPress Themes and Plugins, add it to your feed reader if it isn’t already.
Thanks to Syed for taking the time to talk to WPKube.
Q: Can you tell readers a little about yourself & your WordPress blog?
My name is Syed Balkhi. I am the founder of a fairly popular WordPress resource site called WPBeginner. I am mostly known for my aggressive marketing skills, creative designs, and expertise in SEO. I have worked with some of the top brands in the industry. You can read more about me here.
Q: When did you start using WordPress?
I started using WordPress in 2006. Mainly to add blogs for my niche websites.
Q. What do you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses with the WordPress platform?
My biggest strength is customizing WordPress to do what I want it to do. My biggest weakness with the platform would be my limited knowledge. WordPress is an evolving project. There are like two major updates every year and a handful of minor updates. It is impossible to keep up with every little thing that gets added in. A good number of functions are not even documented. My limited time and ability to keep up with the everyday development of the software is by far the biggest weak point.
Q: Where do you see WordPress going in the next 2-3 years?
I see WordPress gaining more market share. I expect more and more websites (including corporations) to start using WordPress. In terms of the project itself, I believe it is ever evolving. I expect them to improve usability even further (something that Matt hinted earlier).
Q: Is there anything you think that most WordPress themes lack?
Simplicity. Most themes come with bloated options panel. It is impossible for users to get what they want. Surely, some companies have taken the initiative to provide dummy import files to get the users started. I just remember the time, when installing a theme was a breeze. Simple and Easy. I’m all for cool features in themes, but we have got to figure out a user-friendly options panel for themes.
Q: Who do you admire in the WordPress community?
It is really hard to pin point one person. There are a lot of awesome folks that work super hard to make things possible, hence “the WordPress community”. If I have to go for knowledge, then I would say I admire the knowledge of Otto, Nacin, Matt, Justin Tadlock, and Mark Jaquith. I have learned a lot from each of them.
Q: What are your favorite 5 WordPress plugins and why?
Ok this is a tough one. I use a lot of plugins 30+ (some of my own which are private). To find a list of plugins that I’m using, you can see WPBeginner’s Blueprint.
To pick 5 plugins, I will say:
- WordPress SEO by Yoast – Most Complete SEO plugin for WP
- W3 Total Cache – The best optimization plugin for WP
- Gravity Forms – The best form management solution for WP
- Akismet – Best Comment SPAM protection in WP
- Edit Flow – Best plugin for author management in WP
Q: What future plans do you have for your WordPress blog WPBeginner?
We have a lot of cool things coming up. Unfortunately, I don’t like sharing a lot of inside news. If you want to know, then you should probably subscribe to my email newsletter 
Nice interview, Syed is an awesome dude.
hehe +1 Alex.
Thanks man. Means a lot coming from you. Now that you are 18, I expect to see you at many more conferences. How about Vegas in January?? for NMX, CES, and ASW..
Good! work well done
Thanks for the nice words, Mairaj.
Great interview Dev! Syed rocks.
Thanks for stopping by, Beau.
Great interview. Syed rocks. One of the best blogger I know in my life
Syed is a great blogger and WPBeginner is a fantastic resource for someone wanting to learn more about WordPress.
Thanks for stopping by, Ammar.
Nice ! Devesh a good interview of-course.
Nice work.
Nice interview! Liked it.
Nice Interview Devesh !