Kaspars Dambis
@kaspars.damb.is
Full stack maker of things with passion for #WordPress, electronics, sustainable living, personal finance and teaching. Find me at https://kaspars.net and https://wpelevator.com
Has anyone had luck registering for AliExpress API access?
Getting auto-rejected and not sure what to try next.
Getting auto-rejected and not sure what to try next.
November 28, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Has anyone had luck registering for AliExpress API access?
Getting auto-rejected and not sure what to try next.
Getting auto-rejected and not sure what to try next.
Check out my updated /uses list with the latest gear and software changes from 2025: kaspars.net/uses
Uses — Kaspars Dambis
Here is a list of tools and services I love and use (last updated on November 2025): Computing MacBook Pro (M1 2021). iPhone 11 (3rd battery) and looking to upgrade to iPhone 17. Apple Watch Series 8 for tracking sleep, gym, walks and bike rides. QNAP TS-435XeU (Amazon) home-lab server for Home Assistant and Scrypted...
kaspars.net
November 23, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Check out my updated /uses list with the latest gear and software changes from 2025: kaspars.net/uses
Amazing how little PHP can do so much! serverless.industries/2025/07/06/a...
I also do 99% of prototyping in PHP.
Fun idea from @christian@einbeck.social
I also do 99% of prototyping in PHP.
Fun idea from @christian@einbeck.social
The Anti-Framework - Serverless Industries
After all these years, I still love PHP. Every time when I create a small or big personal project which should work for a long time with low effort, I choose PHP over .NET or Angular. It “just works”.
serverless.industries
November 23, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Amazing how little PHP can do so much! serverless.industries/2025/07/06/a...
I also do 99% of prototyping in PHP.
Fun idea from @christian@einbeck.social
I also do 99% of prototyping in PHP.
Fun idea from @christian@einbeck.social
Turns out HTTP Host headers can have a trailing dot (totally valid too) and nginx will happily forward it to php-fpm making $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] have a trailing dot which then fails all WP multisite domain lookups...
First time seeing this on a fresh nginx + php 8.4 setup.
First time seeing this on a fresh nginx + php 8.4 setup.
November 21, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Turns out HTTP Host headers can have a trailing dot (totally valid too) and nginx will happily forward it to php-fpm making $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] have a trailing dot which then fails all WP multisite domain lookups...
First time seeing this on a fresh nginx + php 8.4 setup.
First time seeing this on a fresh nginx + php 8.4 setup.
How do you profile PHPStan runs for performance issues?
It appears to be spawning a child process even if maximumNumberOfProcesses is set 1 which makes the core logic invisible to XDebug profiler.
It appears to be spawning a child process even if maximumNumberOfProcesses is set 1 which makes the core logic invisible to XDebug profiler.
November 21, 2025 at 11:08 AM
How do you profile PHPStan runs for performance issues?
It appears to be spawning a child process even if maximumNumberOfProcesses is set 1 which makes the core logic invisible to XDebug profiler.
It appears to be spawning a child process even if maximumNumberOfProcesses is set 1 which makes the core logic invisible to XDebug profiler.
Trying out the new VS Code fork from Google.
Requires Google login to actually use it... not sure I like this direction.
Requires Google login to actually use it... not sure I like this direction.
November 21, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Trying out the new VS Code fork from Google.
Requires Google login to actually use it... not sure I like this direction.
Requires Google login to actually use it... not sure I like this direction.
Feels like half the web is down now...
November 18, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Feels like half the web is down now...
Cloudflare and other MITM proxies with TLS termination have access to your WP usernames and passwords, and every WooCommerce transaction (including customer billing and address data).
November 16, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Cloudflare and other MITM proxies with TLS termination have access to your WP usernames and passwords, and every WooCommerce transaction (including customer billing and address data).
Version 3.0.0 of the Minit plugin for WordPress now defers the script bundle by default and uses this trick to support scripts with "after" logic (which require the parent to be loaded).
Learn more here: github.com/kasparsd/minit
Learn more here: github.com/kasparsd/minit
November 15, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Version 3.0.0 of the Minit plugin for WordPress now defers the script bundle by default and uses this trick to support scripts with "after" logic (which require the parent to be loaded).
Learn more here: github.com/kasparsd/minit
Learn more here: github.com/kasparsd/minit
Has anyone seen WP add ?_t=... to image URLs? Couldn't find anything in the codebase where this is happening.
This is causing WP to fail at generating the srcsets.
This is causing WP to fail at generating the srcsets.
November 13, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Has anyone seen WP add ?_t=... to image URLs? Couldn't find anything in the codebase where this is happening.
This is causing WP to fail at generating the srcsets.
This is causing WP to fail at generating the srcsets.
Improve the local development experience for your team and point *.local.yourproject.com to 127.0.0.1 using the public DNS.
Here is how to configure it:
Here is how to configure it:
Setup Local Development Domain with Public DNS
Did you know that you can point any domain to 127.0.0.1 and it will happily resolve to your local development environment? No more edits to ...
kaspars.net
November 13, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Improve the local development experience for your team and point *.local.yourproject.com to 127.0.0.1 using the public DNS.
Here is how to configure it:
Here is how to configure it:
Everyone on Twitter now...
The whole re-auth flow is completely broken. I'm using the correct key and it still goes into this infinite loop.
The whole re-auth flow is completely broken. I'm using the correct key and it still goes into this infinite loop.
November 12, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Everyone on Twitter now...
The whole re-auth flow is completely broken. I'm using the correct key and it still goes into this infinite loop.
The whole re-auth flow is completely broken. I'm using the correct key and it still goes into this infinite loop.
Has anyone created a /metrics REST API endpoint for WordPress that reports data about the WP instance -- object cache reads/writes/memory (from memcache/redis/apcu), php-fpm stats, system load, disk space, etc.
Ideally, with Prometheus and OpenTelemetry output formats.
Ideally, with Prometheus and OpenTelemetry output formats.
November 12, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Has anyone created a /metrics REST API endpoint for WordPress that reports data about the WP instance -- object cache reads/writes/memory (from memcache/redis/apcu), php-fpm stats, system load, disk space, etc.
Ideally, with Prometheus and OpenTelemetry output formats.
Ideally, with Prometheus and OpenTelemetry output formats.
Here is a tip -- you don't need the defined( 'ABSPATH' ) checks in class files that don't run any code. PHP will simply do nothing when a class definition is loaded.
I've noticed that AI is prone to adding it because of how WP core uses outside of class files.
I've noticed that AI is prone to adding it because of how WP core uses outside of class files.
November 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Here is a tip -- you don't need the defined( 'ABSPATH' ) checks in class files that don't run any code. PHP will simply do nothing when a class definition is loaded.
I've noticed that AI is prone to adding it because of how WP core uses outside of class files.
I've noticed that AI is prone to adding it because of how WP core uses outside of class files.
Cmd+Z for restoring recently closed tab is really nice. That key combo is muscle memory for global undo.
TIL: Zen browser and others use Cmd+Shift+T to do that.
TIL: Zen browser and others use Cmd+Shift+T to do that.
November 5, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Cmd+Z for restoring recently closed tab is really nice. That key combo is muscle memory for global undo.
TIL: Zen browser and others use Cmd+Shift+T to do that.
TIL: Zen browser and others use Cmd+Shift+T to do that.
“Knowing what matters for a specific thing is called being an expert.
Knowing what matters over the course of a human life is called being wise.”
commoncog.com/only-thing-t...
Knowing what matters over the course of a human life is called being wise.”
commoncog.com/only-thing-t...
The Only Thing That Matters
Business skill as the ability to cut a messy business problem down to a single, most important thing.
commoncog.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:14 PM
“Knowing what matters for a specific thing is called being an expert.
Knowing what matters over the course of a human life is called being wise.”
commoncog.com/only-thing-t...
Knowing what matters over the course of a human life is called being wise.”
commoncog.com/only-thing-t...
What’s your preferred service for hosting 1000TB of S3-like data (videos, images) with ~300TB/month egress?
Backblaze B2 seems really nice but I’m looking for recommendations.
Backblaze B2 seems really nice but I’m looking for recommendations.
October 31, 2025 at 2:51 PM
What’s your preferred service for hosting 1000TB of S3-like data (videos, images) with ~300TB/month egress?
Backblaze B2 seems really nice but I’m looking for recommendations.
Backblaze B2 seems really nice but I’m looking for recommendations.
Did you know that *.wpenv.net (all subdomains) point to 127.0.0.1?
Use it for local development and avoid editing hosts file or setting up custom NS resolver.
Use it for local development and avoid editing hosts file or setting up custom NS resolver.
October 27, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Did you know that *.wpenv.net (all subdomains) point to 127.0.0.1?
Use it for local development and avoid editing hosts file or setting up custom NS resolver.
Use it for local development and avoid editing hosts file or setting up custom NS resolver.
Finally moved away from 1Password 7 (which still had the iCloud sync) to Strongbox which uses KeePass behind the scenes.
All started with trying out the Zen browser which doesn't work with the old 1Password extension 😅
All started with trying out the Zen browser which doesn't work with the old 1Password extension 😅
October 23, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Finally moved away from 1Password 7 (which still had the iCloud sync) to Strongbox which uses KeePass behind the scenes.
All started with trying out the Zen browser which doesn't work with the old 1Password extension 😅
All started with trying out the Zen browser which doesn't work with the old 1Password extension 😅
Reposted by Kaspars Dambis
whenever I see a `bet on ${currentHype}` because "the web is in decline" I just smirk because it's a great way of demonstrating you have no idea what you're actually talking about.
the web outlives every "the web is dead, use this thing i like" and will continue to do so.
always bet on the web.
the web outlives every "the web is dead, use this thing i like" and will continue to do so.
always bet on the web.
October 16, 2025 at 9:24 AM
whenever I see a `bet on ${currentHype}` because "the web is in decline" I just smirk because it's a great way of demonstrating you have no idea what you're actually talking about.
the web outlives every "the web is dead, use this thing i like" and will continue to do so.
always bet on the web.
the web outlives every "the web is dead, use this thing i like" and will continue to do so.
always bet on the web.
Facebook Ad Manager feels like a time capsule of bad UX decisions. It's slow, confusing and somehow gets worse every year.
A perfect case study in legacy product debt buried under layers of React.
A perfect case study in legacy product debt buried under layers of React.
October 14, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Facebook Ad Manager feels like a time capsule of bad UX decisions. It's slow, confusing and somehow gets worse every year.
A perfect case study in legacy product debt buried under layers of React.
A perfect case study in legacy product debt buried under layers of React.
Did you know that Google Tag Manager now supports server-side implementation which runs all the tag logic on your server?
Since they only publish a Docker image of the server, I extracted and published the source in case you're interested.
Since they only publish a Docker image of the server, I extracted and published the source in case you're interested.
www.googletagmanager.com
October 14, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Did you know that Google Tag Manager now supports server-side implementation which runs all the tag logic on your server?
Since they only publish a Docker image of the server, I extracted and published the source in case you're interested.
Since they only publish a Docker image of the server, I extracted and published the source in case you're interested.
This looks fun! Just joined. See you there.
October 10, 2025 at 7:01 AM
This looks fun! Just joined. See you there.
Have you experieced “default to AI” in your work?
Reading through verbose RFCs and PRDs filled with emojied lists accompanied by obviously vibe coded prototype pull requests, shared via AI composed emails and Slack threads is a sad experience.
Reading through verbose RFCs and PRDs filled with emojied lists accompanied by obviously vibe coded prototype pull requests, shared via AI composed emails and Slack threads is a sad experience.
September 29, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Have you experieced “default to AI” in your work?
Reading through verbose RFCs and PRDs filled with emojied lists accompanied by obviously vibe coded prototype pull requests, shared via AI composed emails and Slack threads is a sad experience.
Reading through verbose RFCs and PRDs filled with emojied lists accompanied by obviously vibe coded prototype pull requests, shared via AI composed emails and Slack threads is a sad experience.