
Nathan Finch
WordPress Plugins Developer
Nathan’s been building websites since 2011. He loves development—it's the perfect mix of problem-solving, building, and lifelong learning. Currently, Nathan is the VP of development at TheDigitalRing.com, building websites and mentoring developers. Prior to joining TDR, he freelanced, working with several clients through Toptal and other agencies with a brief stint as a web engineer at 10up.
Portfolio
Availability
Preferred Environment
MacOS, WordPress, Terminal, Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
The most amazing...
...project was when I developed an entirely custom web app, database, view, etc. (built on WordPress and set up to interact with multiple third-party APIs.
Work Experience
VP of Development
The Digital Ring
- Built custom web applications using WordPress and other PHP frameworks specific to the client's needs.
- Developed custom APIs to "sit" on top of a custom client SQL database.
- Collaborated with clients to map out project and delegate to our team of developers, designers, and accounts personnel.
- Worked hand-in-hand with the developer team to grow and strengthen their skills.
- Established the direction and led the development team to foster growth, depth, and competence in our field.
Front-end Web Developer | Consultant
Finch Professional Services
- Built custom and customized WordPress sites—primarily with the Genesis Framework.
- Studied and kept up to date with emerging tools and trends in web development, especially around WordPress and the front-end.
- Consulted with small/medium size businesses, non-profits, government organizations, and others about their online needs.
- Developed custom functionalities and plugins for clients.
- Managed teams of contractors for larger projects, interfaced with clients to manage expectations and relationships.
Web Engineer
10up
- Built completely custom experiences using WordPress, PHP, and JavaScript.
- Integrated services like Elasticsearch and the WordPress REST API.
- Worked on a team of more senior level devs.
- Performed code reviews and worked with Gitflow.
- Worked in a fully remote/distributed environment.
Experience
Custom Website Design and Functionality Including a Migration to WordPress
http://jungsik.krGitHub: https://github.com/n8finch/jungsik-theme, https://github.com/n8finch/jungsik-theme-seoul
• This site has neat grids, Sass and Grunt for styling; jQuery/JavaScript for some interactivity. The website is not my design, but I built the code for it. It is a custom child theme on the Genesis Framework, built from the ground up with my Genesis starter theme. ACF was used to build in a customized experience for loading menu Items (lunch and dinner), bar menu items, bios, and press releases.
• The previous site had the same front-end design but was all PHP—so there was no way for the client to change anything without FTP. After moving this to WordPress and training them on how to use the CMS, they breathed a sigh of relief: “Oh, this is MUCH easier!” they said.
It’s a multisite, as the New York and Seoul restaurants are slightly different with different needs. I developed it as a local site, pushed it to a development site, then migrated it to production, so single and multisite migrations are not a problem for me.
WordPress Quick Draft or Post WordPress REST API Plugin
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-quick-post-or-draft/Please note: this plugin currently requires the WordPress REST API (Version 2) plugin (which you can download here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/rest-api/).
The idea of this plugin is that it is quick to post from the front end and only gives you three fields to fill out: post title, post content, and category. From there, you can save it as a draft, or post it immediately. The plugin uses the WP REST API to post the data.
Please refer to installation and screenshots to see how to install, how to set this plugin up, and how to use it.
Instructions for use:
1. Click on the blue slide out button to pull up the popup.
2. Fill out the Title, Content, and Category (though you don't need a category filled out).
3. Click on the button to save as a draft or immediately post.
4. Upon successful posting, you'll see a confirmation box, then you can close the popup or it will close in five seconds.
Yet Another Social Share Plugin
Support for the following social networks is required: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Whatsapp (for mobile browsers only).
The plugin options page include the following configurable items:
• There is a choice to display on posts, pages, and other registered custom post types.
• Options to activate or deactivate the buttons for different social networks.
• Three different button sizes to choose from small, medium, and large.
• The choice to display the icons in their original colors (default) or all in a selected color.
• An option to determine in which order the icons will appear (e.g., FB, TW, G+, or more).
• Opportunities to place the social share bar (one or more of these can be selected):
a) Below the post title.
b) Floating on the left side.
c) After the post content.
d) Inside the featured image.
The plugin also enables a shortcode to include a sharing bar inside a post.
Custom Author/Book Websites
Work Done:
• Migrated the site to the Genesis Framework.
• Built a custom widgetized homepage.
• Performed social media integration.
• Developed a layer slider.
• Installed SSL.
• Implemented a Gumroad Integration.
Artisan Kraft Genesis Child Theme and Customizations
This project was a redesign of the AKGoods website. They wanted to move to the Genesis Framework, and after heavily customizing the Jessica theme, including added extra functionality, wrapped this project up.
Notes:
• Built responsive multiple page layouts on the site.
• Developed custom categories, single product, and multi-column pages.
• Developed single product pages including custom features: accordion, pair with a query (you can also like a query), a custom cart, wishlist, and search layouts.
• Wrote custom Contact Form 7 layouts and actions.

Don't Repeat Yourself: Automating Repetitive Tasks with WP-CLI
Skills
Frameworks
Genesis Framework, Laravel
Languages
JavaScript, CSS, CSS3, HTML, Sass, PHP, HTML5
Libraries/APIs
jQuery UI, jQuery, WordPress API, jQuery Plugins, GitHub API, Vue, React
Tools
Grunt, GitHub, Git, Gulp, WP-CLI, Terminal
Platforms
WordPress, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), MacOS, WooCommerce, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Craft CMS
Other
WordPress Rescue, WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Multisite, HTML to WordPress, APIs
Paradigms
Agile
Storage
MySQL
Education
Nanodegree in Front-End Development, JavaScript
Udacity - Online (https://www.udacity.com)
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Business, International Business, Finance
North Park University - Chicago, IL, USA
Certifications
Front-end Nano Degree
Udacity