Headline

Senior WordPress engineering for media, education, and government — on the web since 1996, in WordPress since 2007. Accessibility-by-default. WordCamp speaker at 18+ events. MA candidate at Royal Roads. Fort Erie, ON.

About

I'm Christopher Ross. I build WordPress sites for media organisations, educational institutions, and government bodies - and I train the teams who run them. I've been building on the web since 1996 and working in WordPress since 2007. The teaching work started a few years later and has run alongside the engineering ever since. The work I take on tends to be the parts of a build that show up under stress - performance under real editorial load, technical SEO past the easy wins, LMS architecture that holds when learner counts grow, accessibility built into every project from the first commit. AODA, WCAG 2.2 AA, and Accessible Canada Act compliance are not optional add-ons. This Is My URL is my consulting and training practice in Fort Erie, Ontario. Selected engagements I take on: - Senior WordPress engineering: high-end builds, plugin development, custom theme work, accessibility remediation - Technical SEO: schema, Core Web Vitals, indexation, internal linking strategy - LMS architecture: LearnDash, SCORM, integration work, scaling past a few hundred learners - Workshops and training for editorial and developer teams - live in the room, or remote - Conference speaking and corporate keynotes Rates: $275/hr CAD for senior WordPress engineering; $425/hr CAD for strategy and architecture advisory. Fixed-price delivery where scope supports it; time-and-materials where the work genuinely doesn't. Every project includes full disclosure of where and how AI was used. Rescue and recovery work is always accepted. I'm also an instructor and curriculum architect at the M.L. Campbell Training Center - the international training facility of Sherwin-Williams' industrial wood division - where I developed AI-productivity training for the sales and distribution force and serve as the color theory authority for North American color matchers. Credentials and contributions: - MA candidate in Learning and Technology - Royal Roads University - WordPress.org plugin developer - 19 plugins published since 2009 (profiles.wordpress.org/thisismyurl) - WordCamp speaker at 18+ events across Canada and the US, 2010-2024 - WordCamp Niagara organiser (including WordCamp Niagara Falls 2017) - Open-source code on GitHub - github.com/thisismyurl Earlier in my career: Senior Web Developer at Corel Corporation (1999-2001) and Director of Corporate Technology at Yorkville (2008-2009). Post-secondary teaching at Sheridan College, York University, and the Center for Arts and Technology. Based in Fort Erie, Ontario. Engagements that earn the trip happen worldwide.

Location

Greater St-Catharines-Niagara Metropolitan Area

Work experience

Principal at This Is My URL, Jan 1996 - Present · 30 yrs 6 mos, Fort Erie, ON, Independent WordPress engineering and training practice. The work is for media organisations, educational institutions, and government bodies - procurement-defensible engineering with accessibility built into eery project from the first commit. The practice has run since 1996, alongside Senior Web Developer at Coel (1999-2001), Director of Corporate Technology at Yorkville (2008-2009), and the founder/owner roles tht followed. Current incarnation runs concurrent with the M.L. Campbell Training Center work for Sherwin-Wlliams. The senior WordPress engineering work spans high-end builds, plugin development, custom theme wok, and the kind of performance tuning that only matters when a site is under real editorial load. Technical SEO past the easy wins - schema, Core Web Vitals, indexation, internal linking - runs alongside. Specific lanes: - LMS architecture that holds when learner counts grow - LearnDash, SCORM, custom integrations- Accessibility remediation - AODA, WCAG 2.2 AA, Accessible Canada Act, ADA / Section 508 - Workshops and training for editorial and developer teams - live in the room, or remote - Rescue and recovery engagement - always accepted Rates: $275/hr CAD for senior WordPress engineering; $425/hr CAD for strategy and arcitecture advisory. Every project includes full disclosure of where and how AI was used in the work. WorPress.org plugin developer with 19 plugins published since 2009. WordCamp speaker at 18+ events. WordCamp Niagara organiser.

Instructor and Curriculum Architect — M.L. Campbell Training Center at Sherwin-Williams, Mar 2020 - Present · 6 yrs 4 mos, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, Instructor and curriculum architect at the M.L. Campbell Training Center - the international training facility of Sherwin-Williams' industrial wood division, serving North American distributor partners and their sales and application teams. In this role, I have: - Redeveloped the course catalog for both the training center and the national distribution and sales teams, restructuring the curriculum around adult-earner progression and measurable on-the-job outcome - Developed and delivered AI-productivity training designed to increase productivity for distributors and the sales force, addressing how non-technical workfrces integrate AI tools into established workflows -Architected and operated a LearnDash + SharePoint trining environment supporting both online learning an in-person classroom + application-lab instruction -Served as the color theory authority for color matchers across North America, developing the methodologies and processes that color matchers learn through multi-day programs at the international training facility - Produced video for online courses (DaVinci Resolve) and live broadcast (Wirecast) - Built mobile applications and interactive training software supporting the program Restructured the program from in-person-only to a hybrid online + classroom model the team can maintain independently. Tooling: WordPress, LearnDash, SCORM, SharePoint, Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Captivate, Articulate 360, Articulate Storyline, DaVini Resolve, Wirecast.

Training Manager at Lakeview Brands, Sep 2016 - Mar 2020 · 3 yrs 7 mos, Toronto, ON, Training and learning lead across a multi-brand consumer-goods organisation. The work spanned curriculum design, training delivery, and the technology that made remote training possible across a distributed tea. What the role covered: - Designed and delivered earning plans across Search Engine Marketing, social media platforms, and the Microsoft Office stack - Wod, Excel, Outlook, Access, Lotus Notes, SharePoint -Built custom video learning content for the company' online education platforms, supporting remote and self-paced learning before 'remote' was the default - delivered training in both classroom and virtual environments - practical knowledge transfer across divers learning styles and seniority levels - Partnered wih marketing and operations stakeholders to align technology plans with the business - Supported Google Analytics and social-media engagement optimisation across the brand portfolio - Provided ongoing Excel, data management, and spreadsheet-analysis training to enhance workforce capability This was the role where the WordPress consulting practice began to take its current shape alongside the day job - the work I was teaching corporate teams was the same craft I was practicing on weekends and after hours.

Founder and Software Developer at Rodonic Corporation, May 2009 - Jun 2016 · 7 yrs 2 mos, Toronto, ON, Founded and built a technology firm focused on international media organisations. Built the company from a freelance practice into a structured team, then sod it to a national brand after seven years. What the work covered: - Led engineering for a distributed, remote-first team of developers across time zones - efore remote-first had a name - Built and maintained WordPress and WordPress VIP environments for broadcast media, digital publishers, and content-heavy originations where uptime is not negotiable - Developed mobile apps and websites for clients operating at national scale - Managed the full delivery cycle: scoping architecture, development, deployment, and ongoing support The business was built on a simple premise: media organisations need infrastructure that never fails. This was the team that made that possible.

Director of Corporate Technology at Yorkville, Jan 2008 - Apr 2009 · 1 yr 4 mos, Toronto, ON, Technology and learning systems lead for an education group operating across multiple institutions: Yorkville University, Toronto Film School, RCC College of Art and Design, and a network of private schools in the United States. What the role covered: - Developed and deployed Learning Management System (LMS) infrastructure across the group's institutions, supporting diverse curriculum delivery and student management needs - Responsible for security architecture and access management across a student population of approximately 36,000 - a scale that demanded precision in identity management and system integrity - Implemented and maintained e-learning tools including Captivate, Moodle, and WordPress, alongside CRM integration using Salesforce - Partnered across academic departments to align technology systems with instructional design requirements - Managed technology budgets and vendor relationships for the group's Canadian and US operations

Education

Master of Arts - MA, Learning and Technology, Royal Roads University

Business Administration and Management, General, University of New Brunswick