Potluck — Is it worth it to still learn WordPress? × Is Safari the new IE11? × Mobile website testing × Pirated content × Styled components × SSGs × Transitioning to full-time freelance × More!

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: This potluck episode covers practical web-dev advice across storage for blog content, sharing course tips publicly, dropping IE11, evaluating NestJS, learning WordPress for freelancing, testing mobile layouts accurately, handling piracy, understanding styled-components class names, EDU/government CMS constraints, auth with static generation, and transitioning from employment to freelance work. The hosts strongly favor modern, standards-based tooling, pragmatic workflow choices, and not over-optimizing for edge cases.

Main Topics: Markdown/MDX for personal blogs: Brian asks about best practices for storing blog posts; the hosts recommend keeping content in standard formats like Markdown or MDX inside a static site generator, emphasizing portability, simplicity, and good developer experience. Sharing course tips and reusing educational content: Zach asks whether it is okay to share tips from paid courses on social media; both hosts encourage sharing with attribution and only object to re-recording and reselling the full course. Dropping IE11 and the modern browser lowest common denominator: Jules asks whether IE11 should still be supported after official support ends; both hosts say generally no, and suggest Safari is the more relevant compatibility target today because it lags in updates and standards support. NestJS vs other Node back-end frameworks: The hosts compare NestJS with Fastify, Express, Redwood, Keystone, and others. They find NestJS polished but somewhat Angular-centric, class-heavy, and less aligned with their React/Fastify preferences. WordPress for freelancing and avoiding vendor lock-in: Anon asks whether WordPress is still worth learning. The hosts say yes for getting clients and making money, but advise not limiting yourself to WordPress-only work and to keep building transferable web skills. Testing mobile sites accurately: Brian asks how to test mobile behavior beyond Chrome DevTools emulation. The hosts recommend real-device testing via local network IPs, iOS simulators in Xcode, Safari remote debugging, and tunneling tools like localtunnel or Ngrok when necessary. Piracy, course theft, and creator response: A listener asks how to protect premium courses from being pirated on platforms like Udemy or Skillshare. The hosts say piracy is frustrating but not worth obsessing over; better to keep building and serving legitimate customers.

Key Arguments: There is no universal best practice for personal blog storage; using Markdown/MDX in a static or hybrid framework is ideal because it is standard, editable, and portable. Sharing knowledge from paid courses publicly is encouraged as long as attribution is given and the full course is not re-recorded and resold. IE11 support can usually be dropped because its user base is small and shrinking; Safari is now the more common compatibility pain point. NestJS is well-documented and polished, but its ecosystem feels closely tied to Angular and its class/decorator style may not fit every stack. WordPress remains valuable for freelancing because it is still widely used and easy to sell, but developers should continue learning broader web skills to avoid being trapped in one ecosystem. Testing on Chrome’s mobile emulation is not enough for iOS behavior because all iOS browsers use Safari/WebKit; real-device or simulator testing is required for accurate debugging. Piracy is best handled pragmatically: file takedowns, but don’t spend disproportionate time on it when legitimate customers and new content are more valuable. Styled-components generates strange class names to guarantee uniqueness and avoid collisions; the randomness is intentional and mostly a non-issue in production. For education or government websites, legacy content and infrastructure constraints often force older CMS choices like Drupal, unless an organization can modernize its hosting and policies. If a page is fully static but must be access-controlled, server-side rendering or server-side authorization is usually simpler than inventing a custom static-auth workflow. When leaving a job to freelance, ask about continuing work only after you’re prepared to leave; don’t rely on the same employer as guaranteed freelance income. Practical creator-business advice matters as much as technical advice: diversify revenue, keep shipping, and stay focused on users rather than edge-case headaches.

Data Points: IE11 support end date: August 17th, 2021 - Mentioned in the question about whether developers should still support IE11. Free usage tier increase via sponsor link: Double - Sanity sponsor offer when using the syntax.io/syntax link. Course discount code: $10 off - Wes’s coupon code syntax for his courses. Team discount for annual course subscription: 25% off - Mentioned in the shameless plug for Level Up Tutorials Pro team accounts. Ransom/repair cost from anecdote: $20,000 - Mike Birbiglia accident anecdote used as a metaphor for letting go of frustration. Hairline route performance metric metaphor: User misery score - Sentry performance dashboard feature described as measuring slow, high-traffic routes. Timeframe of free YouTube output: 2012 to 2016 - Wes described producing free YouTube videos during those years. Duration of my week being affected by school test: One week - Scott described kids being home for a week due to an unexpected positive test at school. Childhood/march-break vacation chant: SBO4 - Mentioned as a tongue-in-cheek spring-break chant from high school. USB cable length: 10 feet - Sick pick of a multi-head braided USB cable. Milk frother power detail: 3.6 volts - Compared with regular battery setups, used to explain why the USB-rechargeable frother feels fast.

Pivotal Quotes: "The best part about this is it's your site. You can do it however the heck you want to do it." — Wes Bos: Advice to a listener asking about a best practice for storing blog posts. "No, no. I like to think about it like this: if everybody... stopped supporting it tomorrow, the people who are using it would have to move on to something else." — Scott Tolinski: Strong stance against continued IE11 support. "Just got to let it go." — Wes Bos: On piracy and not spending all day fighting stolen course content.

Implications: Listeners are encouraged to choose pragmatic, standards-based tools, test on real devices, and avoid over-investing in legacy support or piracy battles. The episode reinforces that modern web work is about portability, debugging reality, and focusing energy where it creates value.