I was fortunate enough to score an e-mail interview with Steve Smith, creator and writer of Ordered List.

I just wanted to start by thanking you for this wonderful opportunity. On the 22nd of June, I posted a small review of your site, www.orderedlist.com, as one of my Sites I Love, so to be able to ask you a few questions is a great honour.

Steve: Thanks for your support.

1.) I would love some background on who is Steve Smith? And why did you pick Ordered List as your domain?

Steve: I have been programming for years, but never thought of making a career out of it until my Senior year of College. I was majoring in Physics/Mathematics, but really fell in love with Web Development. It’s really not that far of a stretch to go from the Sciences to programming, as they both involve a logical, formula based thought process. Learning web standards was the next big thing, and that really brought the idea of syntax back to the web. It was around this time that I started Ordered List. I wanted a place to lay down my thoughts, to help people learn, and to learn myself. ‘Ordered List’ seemed to fit the bill as far as the sites goals, and it also plays to my geeky sense of humor.

2.) What about WordPress interested you? And why have you taken it upon yourself to make plugins and work on changes?

Steve: When I started my site, I developed my own CMS. I didn’t really know about WordPress at the time, but it was still in its infancy, I believe. At the time, it was much easier for me to develop something from scratch than to try and modify other peoples code. However, as time progressed, WordPress kept advancing, and I found myself playing catch-up. It was a fun learning experience, but also time-consuming to keep developing new features for my site.

Once 1.5 was released, and I fully understood the power of the Template system, I was hooked. I could finally get the best of both worlds: my need to tweak and customize my own code, along with the advancement of feature sets in core code, without the two conflicting with each other. It just made sense. Now I could focus more on the content of my site without worrying about maintaining the code.

Because WP is so customizable, and because it envelops such a great community, I decided from the beginning that any modifications, or plugins, I made for my site I would make available to the public. Some are more popular than others, but it’s a fun way to help people out, and improve the blogging community.

3.) Your WordPress Administration Design named Tiger has received tons of notice in the WordPress community as not just another Admin theme. What inspired you to do such a big project, and where do you see it going in the future?

Steve: Well, to be honest I was ‘inspired’ by using the default design for many months. I just knew it could be made simpler without sacrificing the functionality. The project took about 2 months of on-and-off development, a few different design revisions, and learning more capabilities of CSS2. It was a difficult decision to leave behind browsers like IE for this design, but I really wanted this to be different. I’ve seen a few Admin designs, and they all have varying levels of ‘goodness’, but most of them are just color changes. They didn’t touch the layout, or how the content and navigation was presented. I wanted this to be a total transformation, and without changing the XHTML of the Admin Area, CSS2 was the only way to get that power.

Future progress of this design is very dependent on the WordPress team. I would love to see the Admin Area XHTML revamped and cleaned up. Honestly, I would even be willing to help. I really want to keep the design progressing across every version of WordPress, but that takes time and effort. A few people have donated back, and I am very thankful for that.

4.) What keeps you blogging and where do you see your blog going over the next year or two? Have you ever thought about attempting to go professional as a blogger?

Steve: I can’t go two days in my job without learning something new. I think that’s just the nature of this profession. I blog to keep ideas fresh, to log my own progress, and to get feedback and new ideas from the rest of the community. I want to see ‘Ordered List’ maturing over the next few years, putting out longer and more quality articles, and more example content. The idea of being a professional blogger has always been in the back of my head, but I really think my goal for Ordered List is to be a blogging professional.

5.) Simple question, who is your biggest online inspiration? Someone you look up to online, or read consistantly?

Steve: I don’t think I can name just one, but heres a few: Shaun Inman for his combination of smooth design and programming skills, Jon Hicks for outstanding design geekery, and Doug Bowman for anything StopDesign.

6.) And I guess the biggest question on my mind is, if you were to start over on the web, would you do things differently and if so, how would you do things differently?

Steve: I suppose there’s always the ‘what if’ scenarios like ‘What if I had started this years earlier’ or ‘Why did it take me so long to get into Web Standards’, but I’m actually very happy where I am. I have a great job working for a great University, and a successful freelance business on the side. I very much enjoy what I do, and I have enjoyed every part of getting here.

Well, once again, I just want to take this time to thank you for all the time and effort you put into this, and I urge everyone to check out Ordered List and if you are a WordPress user, check out the Tiger Admin Theme.