Hi, I'm Diego.
I’m a full stack developer and founder of Birdboar. Since 2017 I’ve been building new sites, debugging broken sites, and leading a small team that helps people make their sites work for them. The devil is in the details, and I love crafting high quality code, but I also believe the best solution is often the simplest one. I geek out about things like automation, creative solutions to hard problems, and actually using web standards (Shoelace anyone? Or Remix??). Occasionally I’ll write about these things and have been featured on CSS-Tricks and LogRocket. But for the most part I just really like doing the work.
Skills
Things I know.Languages
CSS/SCSS, semantic HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Twig, Liquid, English, and Portuguese.
Frameworks
Vue, Laravel, Bootstrap, jQuery, Tailwind, Alpine.js.
CMS
WordPress, Shopify, Statamic, Craft.
Tools
Git, Advanced Custom Fields, WP Engine, Flywheel, PhpStorm, Figma, Linear, Notion, ClickUp, Elementor, Gravity Forms.
Other
Visual design, UX design, talking to people and writing clearly about complicated things.
Journal
How-to's and other thoughts.Work
Things I've Done.
MBRP
The online store for a manufacturer of performance exhaust systems. This was built in Shopify with a custom theme. There is also a Laravel app that syncs data to Shopify from various sources, and a few Vue apps to tie it all together.
My role:
I was the primary theme developer and built most of the Shopify theme from the ground up. I also lead a team of 4 other devs working on different parts of the site, coordinated with another dev team working on the Laravel app, and served as technical consultant when the client was figuring out how to make their vision a reality.
Some of my contributions include:
- Used the Shopify Ajax API to build cart functionality from scratch to meet unique requirements.
- Developed a templating technique that overcomes Liquid and API limitations to meet stretch goals. This technique enables SPA-like behavior without using a bulky JS framework.
- Developed a deployment technique to smartly handle content discrepancies between development and live themes.
- Created custom NPM scripts to handle deployments which integrate with PostCSS, Git, and Shopify CLI to safely deploy code to two separate sites. Eliminated frequent human error and decreased deployment time from about 15 minutes to 30 seconds.
- Translated the client’s objectives into tech specs and specific tasks for my team.
Shadwell Farm Data App
A private site used internally by Shadwell Farm personnel to view information and documents related to their horses. This was a WordPress site with a custom theme built from the ground up using Twig for templating.
My role:
I was the primary designer and developer for this project. Some highlights include:
- Built a WordPress theme from the ground up using the Timber plugin for Twig templating.
- Built extensive custom field groups for complex horse data.
- Created page templates heavily integrated with third-party data pulled in real time via REST API.
RateLinx
A marketing website for a provider of transportation management services and logistics solutions. This is a WordPress site built mostly in Elementor with a number of custom shortcodes and functions for the parts where Elementor didn’t cut it.
My role:
I worked with another designer/developer on this. They did most of the Elementor work and I took care of the custom code.
The main highlight for me was developing a new technique for injecting data from a custom post type into an Elementor template through a Gutenberg block. This had several benefits:
- We could use Elementor to create post skins visually. This was a big requirement for the agency and their client.
- We could create complex loops, filters, and logic that were not possible within Elementor’s loop builder.
- Content editing stayed in the native WordPress block editor, which made things easier for the client because it is focused on content (unlike Elementor).
Tough Bible Stuff
A digital version of a Bible commentary and related materials. This is a WordPress site with a custom theme built from the ground up using the Underscores framework from Automattic.
My role:
I was the primary designer and developer on this project. Some highlights include:
- Integrated with a third-party JavaScript library for parsing freeform text into verse/chapter references (used in searches).
- Developed a system for automatically displaying which books, chapters, and verses have content on the site.
- Conducted a usability study to gather feedback which guided the design of the complex commentary layout, especially for mobile devices. Successfully created a design which presents a ton of information in a way that’s understandable.