Shawn Hesketh (@shawndh) – WordPress user profile

Bio

I’m an online educator with more than 35 years of experience as a freelancer. In 2008, I created the original WordPress 101 video tutorial series, which has helped millions of people learn how to use WordPress to create their own website. In February of 2023, I sold WP101 to join the team at MotivationCode.com, where I am the VP of Learning Strategy and Design.

Interests

I’m an avid fan of F1 and IndyCar racing, and raced sports cars at an amateur level for many years. I enjoy running, being a GeekDad³, and traveling with my wife and our three teenage dynamos. When I’m not in front of the computer, you’ll often find me on the back porch, enjoying a cigar with a nice whiskey.

WordPress Origin Story

I started designing websites in 1994, using WYSIWYG apps like Adobe PageMill. As my skills and the complexity of my clients’ sites grew, I began using more powerful apps like Adobe GoLive and Dreamweaver.

By the mid-2000s, my clients began requesting the ability to edit their own website content. So I experimented with the most popular CMS systems at the time. They all seemed to be bloated, unnecessarily complicated, and unintuitive. Imagine my relief when I discovered WordPress 2.0 in June of 2006.

Compared to Joomla, Drupal, and Expression Engine, I felt WordPress was incredibly intuitive. Thankfully, so did my clients. They particularly enjoyed the ability to create and edit their own website content using just a web browser—without learning how to code or hire a ‘webmaster’ every time they needed to make changes. I began recommending WordPress for every new website and have never looked back!

In 2008, I created WP101.com, which has become one of the most popular WordPress tutorial sites in the world. Since then, the WordPress 101 tutorial videos have helped millions of people all around the world learn how to use WordPress to build their own website or blog.

Over the next 14 years, I created over a thousand tutorial videos for Automattic, WooCommerce, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Yoast, Beaver Builder, Ninja Forms, and many others.

In 2023, I sold WP101 to Syed Balkhi, founder of WP Beginner and Awesome Motive, to join my good friend, Chris Lema, at MotivationCode.com.

Today, I’m the VP of Learning Strategy and Design at MotivationCode.com, where I help coaches, creators, and high-performers discover their unique Motivation Code so they can do meaningful work that lights them up… without burning out.

On a personal note, I’m an avid fan of F1 and IndyCar racing, and raced sports cars myself for many years in our local SCCA. When I’m not in front of the computer, you’ll often find me enjoying a nice cigar and whiskey with my amazing wife of 28 years, Kay. And my greatest joy in life is helping our three teenage dynamos discover their own gifts and purpose.

Whether you need some help with your online course, creating better tutorial videos, or are feeling burned out and need to reconnect with your WHY, let’s talk!

Member Since: June 1st, 2007
Location: Houston, TX
Website: shawnhesketh.com
Job Title: VP of Learning Strategy and Design
Employer: MotivationCode.com
Find me on:

Contribution History

Plugin Developer

Activity
Plugins
Favorites

Committed [2777968] to Plugins SVN:
Tested up to: 6.0.2
2 years ago
Committed [2777967] to Plugins SVN:
Tested up to: 6.0.2
2 years ago
Created a topic, Ruined a perfectly simple plugin., on the site WordPress.org Forums:
In a perfect example of “answering questions that aren…
2 years ago
Committed [2768530] to Plugins SVN:
Up to date for WordPress 6.0.1
2 years ago
Committed [2768528] to Plugins SVN:
Resolved warning in PHP 8.
2 years ago
Committed [2728878] to Plugins SVN:
Tested and verified for WordPress 6.0
3 years ago
Committed [2663762] to Plugins SVN:
Tested and verified for WordPress 5.9
3 years ago
Committed [2631636] to Plugins SVN:
Tested up to 5.8.2
3 years ago
Posted a reply to PHP Warning in PHP 8, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Hi Sarah, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I'll open a ticket for…
3 years ago
Committed [2593339] to Plugins SVN:
Tested up to WordPress 5.8.
3 years ago
Created a topic, [DW Question & Answer] CSRF Bypass Vulnerability, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
iThemes Security and NinTechNet have reported a CSRF v…
3 years ago
Committed [2490848] to Plugins SVN:
Tested and verified for WordPress 5.7
4 years ago
Posted a reply to Compatible with Woocommerce 5.0.0?, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Hi Xander, Yes, the WP101 Plugin is compatible with WooCommerce 5.0. It looks like WooCommerce…
4 years ago
Posted a reply to WP101 Video Tutorial Plugin, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Hi, I'm not really clear on your question. The WP101 Plugin provides video tutorials for…
4 years ago
Committed [2433488] to Plugins SVN:
Tested and verified for WordPress 5.6, plus some minor housekeeping.
4 years ago
Committed [2433475] to Plugins SVN:
Tested and verified for WordPress 5.6.
4 years ago
Committed [2386432] to Plugins SVN:
Tested up to WordPress 5.5.1
4 years ago
Committed [2204762] to Plugins SVN:
Tested up to 5.3
5 years ago
Committed [2204738] to Plugins SVN:
Tested and verified for WordPress 5.3, plus some minor housekeeping.
5 years ago
Committed [2030801] to Plugins SVN:
Tested for compatibility with WordPress 5.1
6 years ago
Committed [2010188] to Plugins SVN:
In addition to whether or not the Classic Editor plugin is installed ...
6 years ago
Committed [2000078] to Plugins SVN:
CSS Fix for Arrows
6 years ago
Committed [2000061] to Plugins SVN:
Re-added the original WordPress 101 videos for the Classic Editor in ...
6 years ago
Committed [1998524] to Plugins SVN:
Updated with all-new WordPress video tutorials for the all-new ...
6 years ago
Committed [1998516] to Plugins SVN:
Deleting faulty branch with new 4.1 branch.
6 years ago
Created a topic, Not PHP 7.2 Compatible?, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
As you know, PHP 5.6 and 7.0 will both reach end of li…
6 years ago
Committed [1861460] to Plugins SVN:
Roll back upgrade to 4.1
7 years ago
Committed [1861457] to Plugins SVN:
Add videos for the MailPoet plugin!
7 years ago
Committed [1861448] to Plugins SVN:
Add videos for the MailPoet plugin!
7 years ago
Committed [1786420] to Plugins SVN:
Return the ‘plugin_action_links_’ filter argument in all cases. ...
7 years ago
Committed [1765370] to Plugins SVN:
Verified for 4.9!
7 years ago
Posted a reply to Is the plugin supported or compatible with PHP 7?, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Yes, the WP101 Plugin is compatible with and optimized for PHP 7. Hope this helps!
7 years ago
Posted a reply to WP multisite, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Yes, and you'll want to review the documentation so find out how to add your…
7 years ago
Committed [1713778] to Plugins SVN:
Tested up to: 4.8.1
7 years ago
Posted a reply to Worth every penny!, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Hey Jackie, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with…
7 years ago
Created a topic, Connecting with your site visitors couldn’t be easier., on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Holler Box is a refreshingly simple way to connect wit…
8 years ago
Posted a reply to Payment Required, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Thanks for your question. Actually, the WP101 Plugin qualifies as “Serviceware,” under point number 6…
8 years ago
Committed [1591977] to Plugins SVN:
Updated to add WooCommerce and Jetpack videos, plus accordion lists, CSS ...
8 years ago
Created a topic, These videos are completely stolen from WP101., on the site WordPress.org Forums:
The videos used in this plugin use copyrighted materia…
8 years ago
Posted a reply to Recipient “” has too many recent signup requests, on the site WordPress.org Forums:
Hi Brandon, I'm getting the same error on my site, ShawnHesketh.com. Have tried your recommendation…
8 years ago
Committed [1546819] to Plugins SVN:
Tested for 4.7.
8 years ago
Committed [1474248] to Plugins SVN:
Verified for WordPress 4.6!
8 years ago
Committed [1386694] to Plugins SVN:
Bug fix.
9 years ago
Committed [1383492] to Plugins SVN:
Tested up to 4.5
9 years ago
Committed [1304571] to Plugins SVN:
Verified for WordPress 4.4!
9 years ago
Committed [1260522] to Plugins SVN:
Updated for new translation system on WordPress.org.
9 years ago
Committed [1203297] to Plugins SVN:
Changed title to reflect the new name of the Yoast SEO for WordPress ...
9 years ago
Committed [1182139] to Plugins SVN:
Updated URLs from: http:// to: https://
10 years ago
Committed [1159961] to Plugins SVN:
Version bump. Improve docs for inserting API key via wp-config
10 years ago
Committed [1121628] to Plugins SVN:
Added updated videos for version 2.0 of the WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin. ...
10 years ago

Bio

Interests

WordPress Origin Story

Contribution History

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