Robert Starkweather, Developer in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Robert Starkweather

Verified Expert  in Engineering

WordPress Developer

Location
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Toptal Member Since
April 4, 2022

Robert is a veteran web designer and full-stack developer with more than 15 years of professional WordPress experience. He specializes in creating custom themes and plugins that align with businesses' bottom lines. A product of the news publishing industry, Robert has a razor-sharp eye for design and usability. He is a remote worker with experience in multicultural environments and has been active across time zones.

Portfolio

K4 Media
WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, AI to WordPress, PSD to WordPress, MySQL...
Newsroom Cambodia
WordPress, Digital Securities, Writing & Editing, Photoshop CC, Newspapers...
The Cambodia Daily
WordPress, PHP, MySQL, Newspapers, WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, News...

Experience

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

WordPress, WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, HTML5, PHP, WooCommerce, CSS, HTML, cPanel, ACF PRO, Back-end, Plugins, WordPress Optimization, Web UI, Web UX

The most amazing...

...project I've worked on is called Memoryst, which lets users upload and share concerts and other memories.

Work Experience

Senior WordPress Developer

1999 - PRESENT
K4 Media
  • Guided clients through the project lifecycle, from discovery to site launch.
  • Designed user-centric interfaces for custom WordPress themes and projects.
  • Designed custom WooCommerce themes and shipping plugins.
  • Integrated WooCommerce shops with in-store POS systems.
  • Built tailormade publishing forms with Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Pro.
Technologies: WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, AI to WordPress, PSD to WordPress, MySQL, jQuery, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, XML, APIs, Publishing, Newsfeeds, PHP, Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, Graphic Design, Print Design, Site Speed Optimization, WooCommerce, Web UI Design, WordPress Design, Web Design, POS, Swift, User Interface (UI), ACF PRO, RSS Feeds, Multilingual Websites, WPML, Custom Post Types, Responsive Layout, Google SEO, Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), Gutenberg Editor, HTML5, Elementor, Figma, REST APIs, Writing & Editing, Printing, Data Migration, Core Web Vitals, Front-end, Stripe, Web Hosting, Gravity Forms, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web Development, Responsive UI, eCommerce, CSS3, Liquid, Shopify, Indexing, Google, Security, API Integration, Content Management Systems (CMS), SQL, Squarespace, Project Management, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Blog Posting, SEO Tools, Minimalism, Caching, Cloudflare, W3 Total Cache, PHP 7, Back-end, Plugins, Stripe API, WordPress Optimization, Web UI, Web UX

Journalism Training Consultant

2019 - 2021
Newsroom Cambodia
  • Designed program identity and launched a multi-language news website.
  • Managed day-to-day publishing, maintenance, and security of the website.
  • Led and designed training on WordPress publishing and digital security.
Technologies: WordPress, Digital Securities, Writing & Editing, Photoshop CC, Newspapers, WordPress Themes, News, Multilingual Websites, Publishing, WPML, Data Migration, Web Hosting, Web Development, Responsive UI, Project Management, Blog Posting, Cloudflare, Plugins

Web Consultant

2017 - 2017
The Cambodia Daily
  • Spearheaded technical innovations for election-related coverage.
  • Maximized server stability and reliability, increasing site speed 10-fold.
  • Debugged themes and plugins, reducing server downtime by 95%.
Technologies: WordPress, PHP, MySQL, Newspapers, WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, News, Publishing, WPML, Responsive Layout, Writing & Editing, Data Migration, Stripe, Web Hosting, Web Development, Responsive UI, CSS3, Security, SQL, Project Management, Blog Posting, Cloudflare, Subscriptions, Back-end, Plugins, WordPress Optimization, Web UI

Graphic Designer and Webmaster

2015 - 2016
Mekong Review
  • Worked in tight collaboration with the editor to design and launch a highly regarded, 32-page quarterly journal.
  • Launched and managed the subscription-based WordPress site.
  • Managed day-to-day publishing, maintenance, and security of the website.
Technologies: WordPress, WooCommerce, WooCommerce Subscriptions 2, Photoshop CC, Newspapers, Print Design, WordPress Themes, Newsfeeds, News, Web UI Design, Publishing, Printing, Web Hosting, Web Development, Responsive UI, Blog Posting, Subscriptions, Back-end, Plugins, Web UI

Art Director and Webmaster

2012 - 2015
The Advisor
  • Launched a website and migrated print coverage to digital.
  • Grew weekly newspaper from four pages to 32 in 18 months.
  • Expanded coverage to include topical and political stories.
  • Introduced Best of Issue, garnering city-wide acclaim.
  • Generated interesting story ideas and improved event coverage.
Technologies: WordPress, Graphic Design, Printing, Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, Newspapers, Print Design, WordPress Themes, Newsfeeds, News, Writing & Editing, Web UI Design, Publishing, Web Hosting, Project Management, Plugins

Con's Liquor

https://consliquor.com/
Con's Liquor is a retail wine and spirits outlet in Western Australia.

I created a tailor-made WooCommerce site with custom front-page publishing options and back-end API integration.

I designed the site's user interface, coded a custom WooCommerce theme, and developed two site-specific plugins. The plugins support order integration with the shop's in-store POS system and custom delivery pricing.

CoinPad

https://coinpad.io/
CoinPad is a cryptocurrency start page that allows users to create a personalized dashboard for following coin prices and industry news.

Users can create their own list of coins with real-time pricing and custom Twitter, and YouTube feeds.

I designed the user interface and graphics and coded a custom WordPress theme. The theme features include an RSS crawler that consumes news feeds, populates posts, and allows easy post categorization.

Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP)

https://cicp.org.kh/
CICP is a foreign-policy think tank based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The majority of their work revolves around publishing, from white papers and editorials to books and quarterly digital magazines.

I collaborated with the group on designs that showcased their best offerings while making older content easy to find. I coded the design into a custom WordPress theme, which included a streamlined back end for easy uploading and categorizing publications.

De Vine Cellars

https://devinecellars.com.au/
De Vine Cellars is a wine and liquor outlet based in Perth, Australia, with more than 3,000 unique products. The De Vine website is built with WooCommerce and ACF Pro and includes a custom shipping plugin.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

https://tuolsleng.gov.kh/en/
Tuol Sleng is the Cambodian genocide museum.

I worked in tight collaboration with a multicultural team to create a custom, multilingual WordPress site. I coded the theme to exacting design specifications and utilized ACF Pro to create a streamlined back end that allowed museum staff to easy manage a complex, multi-language website.

Frenchside Travel

https://frenchsidetravel.com/
Frenchside Travel is an inbound travel agency specializing in tours of France.

I coded a custom WordPress theme utilizing Advanced Custom Fields Pro to create a streamlined back end for easy site management.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia

A Divi-based custom WordPress website for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia. The site includes a bespoke WooCommerce-based subscription product that allows members to purchase annual memberships online.

Languages

PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, SQL, PHP 7, Swift, XML

Libraries/APIs

REST APIs, Stripe, jQuery, Liquid, React, Stripe API

Tools

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, ACF PRO, WPML, Gutenberg Editor, Figma

Paradigms

Responsive Layout, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web UI Design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Platforms

WordPress, WooCommerce, cPanel, Shopify

Industry Expertise

Web Design, Project Management

Other

Site Speed Optimization, WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Design, PSD to WordPress, Writing & Editing, Printing, Data Migration, Core Web Vitals, Front-end, Web Development, Responsive UI, Content Management Systems (CMS), Blog Posting, Plugins, WordPress Optimization, Web UI, Web UX, Graphic Design, Newspapers, Print Design, User Interface (UI), AI to WordPress, APIs, Publishing, Custom Post Types, Google SEO, Elementor, Web Hosting, eCommerce, Security, API Integration, Squarespace, Minimalism, Caching, Subscriptions, Back-end, Indexing, Google, POS, RSS Feeds, Newsfeeds, News, Multilingual Websites, Digital Securities, WooCommerce Subscriptions 2, Gravity Forms, SEO Tools, Cloudflare, W3 Total Cache

Frameworks

Divi

Storage

MySQL

Collaboration That Works

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