Years ago, I used to do something called Five on Friday, and I decided it was time to bring it back.
The idea is pretty simple. Each Friday, I share five things I’ve learned recently. It might be a new workflow that made my job easier, a process I figured out, a tool I discovered, something I learned while troubleshooting a problem, or even something completely unrelated to web development.
I’m constantly learning as I work, and Five on Friday is my way of sharing some of those little discoveries along the way.
1. I learned how quickly a small compatibility plugin can solve a much bigger support problem.
A couple weeks ago, a Kadence Blocks security update unexpectedly broke the connection to our custom Kadence Design Library. Rather than having customers roll back to a vulnerable version or manually add code to their sites, I created a small compatibility plugin they could download and install to temporarily restore the library connection.
It wasn’t meant to be a permanent fix, but it gave customers an easy workaround while Kadence worked on the issue, and it helped cut down on what could have become a flood of support tickets.
That was a good reminder that sometimes the best temporary solution isn’t fixing the entire problem yourself. It’s creating a simple bridge that keeps things working until the permanent fix arrives.
Working directly with Kadence support and sharing the details of the issue along with the compatibility plugin also helped them identify and resolve the underlying problem more quickly.
2. Learn your computer’s accessibility features before you actually need them
When I suddenly developed an eye issue a few weeks ago, working on my computer became much more difficult. Since taking time off wasn’t really an option, I started digging into the accessibility features already built into Windows.
I learned how to increase font and text sizes in different areas, adjust my screen brightness, make things easier to see and generally reduce some of the strain while my eye was bothering me. Some were settings I had never paid much attention to before because I didn’t need them.
It made me realize how helpful it is to know what accessibility features are available on your computer before you suddenly find yourself needing them. Vision can change temporarily or permanently for all kinds of reasons, and there are quite a few tools already sitting there that can make using your computer much easier.
3. I learned how to audit WordPress plugins for privacy issues using AI—and caught something I would’ve missed alone.
I got curious about a popular plugin and fed the code to Claude, asking specific questions about data transmission, unauthenticated endpoints, and what happens before you even authorize a connection. Turns out the plugin was pinging the developer’s servers on activation with your site URL and plugin list—data transmission you never agreed to. Claude helped me trace exactly when and what gets sent. Now I know how to do this audit myself, and I’m passing the lesson on to developers who need to understand what they’re installing on client sites.
4. I learned I can ask AI to transform an entire theme’s demo content before installing it.
Instead of building a theme, installing it with generic demo content, then manually editing everything post-launch, I upload the theme package (content XML, JSON settings, images) and ask Claude to rewrite the whole persona—blog posts, categories, pages, site title, images, everything. Then I just install the theme and import the new content. Way faster than editing in WordPress. Other developers could do the same thing with their client work.
5. I learned I can use Slack to generate video transcripts for free—and export them.
This isn’t something I learned this past week, but it’s worth sharing here because the few people I’ve told about it didn’t know. When I was doing an accessibility audit for a client, we needed video transcripts for their website. Instead of paying for a transcription service, I uploaded the video to Slack and let it auto-generate the transcript. Then I exported it and added it to their site. It’s built-in, it’s fast, and most people don’t know Slack does this. Game-changer for accessibility work and client projects.
