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Each month we highlight some of the crew-members that make up the team. Some of them you might see at WordCamps, while many of the team do what they do best… which is coding or support and answer your questions.
This month, we introduce to you the two members of the crew that played a vital role in the development of the latest released YITH Point of Sale for WooCommerce plugin. We normally feature one person, but both these developers are so inspiring and been brilliant in the latest plugin development, so we decided to highlight them both.
Crew Member one: Emanuela
Let’s meet Emanuela first, one of the longest-serving developers at YITH who was recruited through a special programme. She is very hardworking and never afraid to learn something new like REACT which was needed to create the Point of Sale plugin. Also, Emanuela is a morning person and loves to switch off by doing some art. Here are the full Question and Answers for Emanuela.
How did you apply for the job?
“YITH organized a WordPress course with a limited number of candidates who had to pass an initial test to participate. After passing the test brilliantly and following the course, at the end 4 best participants were selected to carry out an internship first then the hiring arrived.”
How would you describe your job since you’ve started work for YITH?
“Working in the YITH team made me grow professionally, I learned a lot of new things, and above all, I met wonderful people.”
Describe your typical working day.
“YITH offers the possibility to work from home or office and with flexible hours. I like to work in the office and start as soon as possible, usually around 8.30. First I consult ASANA if there are tasks assigned, then I read the email and then after a coffee, I start working on the assigned projects. At 13 we have lunch, we have a break of 30 minutes, after which we start again. A short break at 15.30 and then at work until 17.”
What is the best moment of the day?
“The morning, when my mind is fresh and there’s a lot of silence at the office.”
Do you have a favourite type of customer?
“I prefer the type of customers, kind and proactive. Those customers who describe their problem clearly, send suggestions and in the end, simply say thank you! I can’t stand arrogant ones and without respect for developers.”
Do you have a project you are particularly proud of?
“The last plugin that I created POS, developed with Francesco Leanza, was a challenge because the project was long and involved the use of REACT with which I had never worked and I knew little.”
What were the struggles you experienced when completing this project?
“Learning REACT and the new way of programming were difficult times, but in the end, it was fun.”
What lessons did you learn from it and what can someone take-away from these lessons?
“I learned that you have to throw yourself into things even if you think you don’t have the skills. You always have to get involved and play the game. If you have problems that you cannot overcome, you are not alone, you are part of a team, there is always someone who can help you win the game.”
Tell us a bit more about your life, education and previous work experience.
“I graduated in physics with full marks, but after university, I decided to devote myself to the world of computer science because it fascinated me so much. I worked as a junior Java IT consultant for two years and subsequently as head of the web department of an advertising agency for 6 years. Later I became a freelance, but after a couple of years, I realized that I had become a slave to my clients, I could not separate my working life from the real one. For this reason, I have decided to return to be dependent to work for YITH.”
What are your passions and hobbies?
“I really like drawing, especially botanical subjects, flowers, leaves, trees, buds and mandalas. I often enjoy digitizing them and using them to create patterns.”
What food gets you motivated and makes you hungry thinking about it?
“I like eating fish, and a nice pasta with seafood would motivate me a lot.”
Crew Member two: Francesco Leanza
Francesco was also heavily involved in the development of the Point of Sale plugin. His developer career started over 5 years ago with YITH. For Francesco, YITH is a second family and this is something that most of us feel too. REACT and the REST API was also for Francesco a new skill that needed mastering in order to make the POS project perfect.
How would you describe your jobs since you’ve started work for YITH?
“I started by developing a simple plugin and I learned day by day the world of WordPress and WooCommerce, by developing bigger and bigger plugins, increasing my knowledge and my skills. Every day I learn something new, so every day is better than the previous one.”
How did you find out about the job or did you apply for the job?
“A long time ago, I found an old Facebook post in a University group that advertised a developers job. Through that message, I contacted YITH and applied for the job.”
Describe a typical working day from start to finish.
“All days start with a greeting on Discord, in our general channel, where all YITH guys (I don’t like call us employees, since I’ve always been part of the YITH family and not only a YITH employee) every day greet everyone (this is a nice start that I remember I appreciated very much when I started to work at YITH). After that I open the software I need and start the virtual machine and, in the meantime, I check for Asana tasks since maybe someone left some task for me or I’ve scheduled a task in the days before.”
What is the best moment of the day?
“There are many nice moments in a working day. I’m a dev, I love programming, so I could tell you my best moment of the day is the programming time. But I also like very much sharing opinions with my colleagues: this is a good moment to rich my baggage (professional and human).”
Describe your favourite type of customer?
“Each customer is unique. Each of them has a different point of view, a different way to think, and so on… The challenge is to provide always them with the best product and the best support!”
Do you have a project you are particularly proud of?
“I really like many of the plugins I developed. If I should choose only one of them, I probably choose YITH POS
What were the struggles you experienced when completing this project?
“This is a really complex plugin and it’s different for the other plugins since it uses React, so I learned new concepts like the React behaviour and potentiality and the power of REST API.”
What lessons did you learn from it and what can someone take-away from these lessons?
“In the case of that plugin, using React and REST API is a powerful way to create a web-app: React allows to manage the project in a different way and in conjunction with REST API you can “easily” create a powerful app by using javascript.”
Tell us a bit more about your life, education and previous work experience
“About my education, I studied at Classical high school (yes I’m a dev and I studied Latin, Greek, Philosophy, …). In the meantime, in the evening I studied “Organ and organ composition” at the Music high school of Catania.”
I started to study programming when I was 12: I always like it, so I continued my studies in Computer Engineering (at university).
About work: I taught piano, made sites with WordPress for customers, worked in call centres and then I met YITH.
What are your passions and hobbies?
“Programming, Music, Photography (this is a new-entry passion)”
What food gets you motivated and makes you hungry thinking about it?
“New things and challenges catch always my attention: I’m really curious and I like to learn new things and face new challenges. Furthermore, I like the order and making things good (i.e.: writing high-quality codes).”
Anything else you like to share with the world that might surprise people?
My slogan is: “Everything is possible: you just have to believe it!”
Are you inspired by their journey into WordPress development? Please leave a comment as they would certainly appreciate this. You can connect with Francesco and Emanuela on twitter.
