First presented at the Manchester WordPress User Group on 16th May 2012. Outlines what a workflow is, why it's important to have one, explains what mine is. Actual presentation had a live demo. (This is the KeyNote presentation rather than a flat PDF)

1. Less ‘Oh Sh*t’ With GIT
How having a GIT-based workflow can make your life infinitely easier

2. What with a who-now?
2

3. What with a who-now?
• Who the hell are you?
• What the hell are you
talking about?
• What the hell is a
‘Workflow’ ?
• What the hell is
‘GIT’?
• Oh. Why the hell am I
not using this thing?
2

4. Who the hell are you?
3

5. Who the hell are you?
3

6. Who the hell are you?
• Richard Tape
3

7. Who the hell are you?
• Richard Tape
• Sticky, sello, masking,
video, worm. You’re
welcome
3

8. Who the hell are you?
• Richard Tape
• Sticky, sello, masking,
video, worm. You’re
welcome
• Working with WP
professionally for >3
years. Thanks Mike!
3

9. Who the hell are you?
• Richard Tape
• Sticky, sello, masking,
video, worm. You’re
welcome
• Working with WP
professionally for >3
years. Thanks Mike!
• @RichardTape
3

10. Who the hell are you?
• Richard Tape
• Sticky, sello, masking,
video, worm. You’re
welcome
• Working with WP
professionally for >3
years. Thanks Mike!
• @RichardTape
• http://rich.is/ (coming
soon) but have site at
http://iamfriendly.com/
3

11. 4

12. 4

13. !important
4

14. !important
• Here’s what I’m not
saying:
4

15. !important
• Here’s what I’m not
saying:
★ That my WorkFlow is the One
True Way ©
4

16. !important
• Here’s what I’m not
saying:
★ That my WorkFlow is the One
True Way ©
★ That what I do is ‘right’
4

17. !important
• Here’s what I’m not
saying:
★ That my WorkFlow is the One
True Way ©
★ That what I do is ‘right’
★ That you should copy what I do
without having a basic
understanding of what you’re
doing
4

18. !important
• Here’s what I’m not
saying:
★ That my WorkFlow is the One
True Way ©
★ That what I do is ‘right’
★ That you should copy what I do
without having a basic
understanding of what you’re
doing
★ Manchester City deserved to
win the Premiership Title this
year
4

19. 5

20. What the hell are you talking
about, then?
5

21. What the hell are you talking
about, then?
• What is a Workflow and why do I need one?
5

22. What the hell are you talking
about, then?
• What is a Workflow and why do I need one?
• Richard, what were you doing this time last year?
5

23. What the hell are you talking
about, then?
• What is a Workflow and why do I need one?
• Richard, what were you doing this time last year?
• Haha. That’s ridiculous. You’re an idiot. What are you doing now,
though?
5

24. What the hell are you talking
about, then?
• What is a Workflow and why do I need one?
• Richard, what were you doing this time last year?
• Haha. That’s ridiculous. You’re an idiot. What are you doing now,
though?
• But I already have my way of doing things and it works great.
When do you stop talking? You’re boring.
5

25. What the hell are you talking
about, then?
• What is a Workflow and why do I need one?
• Richard, what were you doing this time last year?
• Haha. That’s ridiculous. You’re an idiot. What are you doing now,
though?
• But I already have my way of doing things and it works great.
When do you stop talking? You’re boring.
• OK, OK, as it’d apparently be ‘rude’ if I got up and left, you might
as well tell me about this ‘GIT’ thing. ENTERTAIN ME.
5

26. 6

27. What is a Workflow?
6

28. What is a Workflow?
You’re going to crack out a dictionary definition aren’t you?
You’re so predictable.
6

29. What is a Workflow?
You’re going to crack out a dictionary definition aren’t you?
You’re so predictable.
1. The scheduling of independent jobs on a computer.
6

30. What is a Workflow?
You’re going to crack out a dictionary definition aren’t you?
You’re so predictable.
1. The scheduling of independent jobs on a computer.
2. The set of relationships between all the activities in a
project, from start to finish. Activities are related by different
types of trigger relation. Activities may be triggered by
external events or by other activities.
6

31. What is a Workflow?
You’re going to crack out a dictionary definition aren’t you?
You’re so predictable.
1. The scheduling of independent jobs on a computer.
2. The set of relationships between all the activities in a
project, from start to finish. Activities are related by different
types of trigger relation. Activities may be triggered by
external events or by other activities.
3. The movement of documents around an organisation for
purposes including sign-off, evaluation, performing activities
in a process and co-writing.
6

32. 7

33. And in English, please?
7

34. And in English, please?
How you go about your day-to-day
tasks and the systems you put in
place to allow you to do those tasks
more easily
7

35. 8

36. Richard, what were you doing
this time last year?
8

37. Richard, what were you doing
this time last year?
• Work locally using a MAMP setup.
8

38. Richard, what were you doing
this time last year?
• Work locally using a MAMP setup.
• WordPress Multisite installation, each ‘project’ was a new
site.
8

39. Richard, what were you doing
this time last year?
• Work locally using a MAMP setup.
• WordPress Multisite installation, each ‘project’ was a new
site.
• When happy with work, sFTP to live site. Cross fingers and
sacrifice a goat in the hope that it wouldn’t break.
8

40. Richard, what were you doing
this time last year?
• Work locally using a MAMP setup.
• WordPress Multisite installation, each ‘project’ was a new
site.
• When happy with work, sFTP to live site. Cross fingers and
sacrifice a goat in the hope that it wouldn’t break.
• For edits: either edit file locally and re-upload or, if I was in
a rush, edit the file on the live server. Yes, I’m going straight
to hell.
8

41. Richard, what were you doing
this time last year?
• Work locally using a MAMP setup.
• WordPress Multisite installation, each ‘project’ was a new
site.
• When happy with work, sFTP to live site. Cross fingers and
sacrifice a goat in the hope that it wouldn’t break.
• For edits: either edit file locally and re-upload or, if I was in
a rush, edit the file on the live server. Yes, I’m going straight
to hell.
• For database: local and live sites were entirely separate.
8

45. Live file
editing?

46. Live file
editing?

47. Live file
editing?
Hahaha. HAHAHAHA.
AAAAHAHAHAHAHA.
You’re an idiot.
(Secretly, I sometimes do this too. But don’t tell
anyone)

48. 11

49. What are you doing now?
11

50. What are you doing now?
• All source files (including WP core) are version controlled
in GIT - stored in local repos and on github
11

51. What are you doing now?
• All source files (including WP core) are version controlled
in GIT - stored in local repos and on github
• I make all edits locally (even though I am sysadmin on my
live server, I have intentionally revoked my rights to edit
files directly)
11

52. What are you doing now?
• All source files (including WP core) are version controlled
in GIT - stored in local repos and on github
• I make all edits locally (even though I am sysadmin on my
live server, I have intentionally revoked my rights to edit
files directly)
• Commit to local git repo. Push to github.
11

53. What are you doing now?
• All source files (including WP core) are version controlled
in GIT - stored in local repos and on github
• I make all edits locally (even though I am sysadmin on my
live server, I have intentionally revoked my rights to edit
files directly)
• Commit to local git repo. Push to github.
• Post Commit hooks on github automatically pulls all edits
onto staging server
11

54. What are you doing now?
• All source files (including WP core) are version controlled
in GIT - stored in local repos and on github
• I make all edits locally (even though I am sysadmin on my
live server, I have intentionally revoked my rights to edit
files directly)
• Commit to local git repo. Push to github.
• Post Commit hooks on github automatically pulls all edits
onto staging server
• If happy on staging, deploy changes to live
11

55. 12

56. GIT? Repo? Staging? Deploy?
12

57. GIT? Repo? Staging? Deploy?
• GIT is a VCS - a version control system (a ‘distributed’ one
at that) and source code management (SCM)
★ It keeps track of all changes you make to your files
★ You can think of it like the Revisions System in WordPress
12

58. GIT? Repo? Staging? Deploy?
• GIT is a VCS - a version control system (a ‘distributed’ one
at that) and source code management (SCM)
★ It keeps track of all changes you make to your files
★ You can think of it like the Revisions System in WordPress
• Repo is short for Repository.
★ It’s sort of like a database
★ When you make changes to your files, you ‘commit’ them to your local repo
★ If you have made a mistake, you can simply ‘roll back’ to a previous state
★ Sort of like an ‘undo’ feature for all of your files
12

59. GIT? Repo? Staging? Deploy?
13

60. GIT? Repo? Staging? Deploy?
• Staging
★ An intermediary between your local environment and the live site
★ Ideally, the staging server and the live server have identical setups
★ Means you can see exactly what your changes will look like on the live site without the
panic of ‘guessing’
13

61. GIT? Repo? Staging? Deploy?
• Staging
★ An intermediary between your local environment and the live site
★ Ideally, the staging server and the live server have identical setups
★ Means you can see exactly what your changes will look like on the live site without the
panic of ‘guessing’
• Deploy
★ The equivalent of FTP’ing all your changes elsewhere
★ When you ‘deploy’ something you’re effectively “making it live”
13

62. 14

63. Hang on. So you don’t FTP?
Anything?
14

64. Hang on. So you don’t FTP?
Anything?
• Nope. Not a sausage.
14

65. Hang on. So you don’t FTP?
Anything?
• Nope. Not a sausage.
• If I need to install a plugin I do it locally. Then commit and
push to github.
14

66. Hang on. So you don’t FTP?
Anything?
• Nope. Not a sausage.
• If I need to install a plugin I do it locally. Then commit and
push to github.
• This then automatically grabs all files to the staging server
(which means FTP is disabled on my server so (a little)
more secure.
14

67. Hang on. So you don’t FTP?
Anything?
• Nope. Not a sausage.
• If I need to install a plugin I do it locally. Then commit and
push to github.
• This then automatically grabs all files to the staging server
(which means FTP is disabled on my server so (a little)
more secure.
• Likewise with themes.
14

68. Iiiinteresting. Veeeery
interesting.
15

69. 16

70. OK smart-arse, what about
content?
16

71. OK smart-arse, what about
content?
• Content is a little more complicated
16

72. OK smart-arse, what about
content?
• Content is a little more complicated
• Text is stored in a database, so no ‘flat files’ as such (there
is, kinda, but it’s complicated and not for now)
16

73. OK smart-arse, what about
content?
• Content is a little more complicated
• Text is stored in a database, so no ‘flat files’ as such (there
is, kinda, but it’s complicated and not for now)
• Can do a ‘database dump’ change references to ‘local’
environment and replace with links to live site
16

74. OK smart-arse, what about
content?
• Content is a little more complicated
• Text is stored in a database, so no ‘flat files’ as such (there
is, kinda, but it’s complicated and not for now)
• Can do a ‘database dump’ change references to ‘local’
environment and replace with links to live site
• Or...
16

75. OK smart-arse, what about
content?
• Content is a little more complicated
• Text is stored in a database, so no ‘flat files’ as such (there
is, kinda, but it’s complicated and not for now)
• Can do a ‘database dump’ change references to ‘local’
environment and replace with links to live site
• Or...
• RAMP Plugin by Crowd Favorite
http://crowdfavorite.com/wordpress/ramp/
16

76. 17

77. 17

78. 18

79. Holy Frack. How Much?!
18

80. Holy Frack. How Much?!
• Yeah, it’s not cheap. But it does a great job.
18

81. Holy Frack. How Much?!
• Yeah, it’s not cheap. But it does a great job.
• Also, it has a developer API, so all of the themes and plugins
that I develop are ‘RAMP-enabled’ which mean that any
user of said themes or plugins can benefit from RAMP’s
content management
18

82. Holy Frack. How Much?!
• Yeah, it’s not cheap. But it does a great job.
• Also, it has a developer API, so all of the themes and plugins
that I develop are ‘RAMP-enabled’ which mean that any
user of said themes or plugins can benefit from RAMP’s
content management
• Free Alternative: DeployMint by Mark Maunder
http://code.google.com/p/deploymint/
18

85. Care to
show me an
example?

86. Care to
show me an
example?
This can only go well

89. OH GOD!
THE
CONSOLE

90. OH GOD!
THE
CONSOLE
• You don’t have to use
the console, there are
several apps you can
use
• Tower or github for
mac
• GIT Gui / TortoiseGIT
for Windows

91. 21

92. 21

93. But I work
in a team?
21

94. But I work
in a team?
• On some projects, so
do I!
21

95. But I work
in a team?
• On some projects, so
do I!
• Different people have
their own ‘local’
repository and work
on different branches
21

96. But I work
in a team?
• On some projects, so
do I!
• Different people have
their own ‘local’
repository and work
on different branches
• These are then
‘merged’ as and when
21

97. 22

98. What about backups?
22

99. What about backups?
• Well, because your code is all stored on GitHub, you already
have 1 level of backup. RAMP handles media, too.
22

100. What about backups?
• Well, because your code is all stored on GitHub, you already
have 1 level of backup. RAMP handles media, too.
• For the database, I use a plugin called BackupPress (http://
www.getbackuppress.com) - it ‘just works’ and allows you to
restore your database back to a previous state if things go
awry
22

101. What about backups?
• Well, because your code is all stored on GitHub, you already
have 1 level of backup. RAMP handles media, too.
• For the database, I use a plugin called BackupPress (http://
www.getbackuppress.com) - it ‘just works’ and allows you to
restore your database back to a previous state if things go
awry
• Alternative: WP-DBManager (https://wordpress.org/
extend/plugins/wp-dbmanager/)
22

102. What about backups?
• Well, because your code is all stored on GitHub, you already
have 1 level of backup. RAMP handles media, too.
• For the database, I use a plugin called BackupPress (http://
www.getbackuppress.com) - it ‘just works’ and allows you to
restore your database back to a previous state if things go
awry
• Alternative: WP-DBManager (https://wordpress.org/
extend/plugins/wp-dbmanager/)
• I also have a cron job on my server which does a dump twice
a day.
22

103. 23

104. I’ve forgotten absolutely
everything you’ve just said
23

105. I’ve forgotten absolutely
everything you’ve just said
• Having a workflow you are both comfortable with and that
you stick to is more important than what the workflow
actually is
23

106. I’ve forgotten absolutely
everything you’ve just said
• Having a workflow you are both comfortable with and that
you stick to is more important than what the workflow
actually is
• Use a Version Control System; they will - after a small
learning curve - become a God-send
23

107. I’ve forgotten absolutely
everything you’ve just said
• Having a workflow you are both comfortable with and that
you stick to is more important than what the workflow
actually is
• Use a Version Control System; they will - after a small
learning curve - become a God-send
• Never, ever edit files on a live server. Ever. Forever, ever.
23

108. I’ve forgotten absolutely
everything you’ve just said
• Having a workflow you are both comfortable with and that
you stick to is more important than what the workflow
actually is
• Use a Version Control System; they will - after a small
learning curve - become a God-send
• Never, ever edit files on a live server. Ever. Forever, ever.
• Have a fallback plan
23

109. I’ve forgotten absolutely
everything you’ve just said
• Having a workflow you are both comfortable with and that
you stick to is more important than what the workflow
actually is
• Use a Version Control System; they will - after a small
learning curve - become a God-send
• Never, ever edit files on a live server. Ever. Forever, ever.
• Have a fallback plan
• Don’t just jump straight into something - do some reading
about it first, understand it, then take small steps
23

112. Credits
• http://bit.ly/JDjfYd
• http://bit.ly/L3Z3vL
• http://bit.ly/K3NJAZ
• http://bit.ly/L44VF3
• http://bit.ly/JtUO25
• http://bit.ly/JSTJz1
• http://bit.ly/IXPLRE
• http://bit.ly/Kt1NaX
• http://bit.ly/J85QZK
• http://bit.ly/L6md4t
• http://bit.ly/LScNN4
• http://bit.ly/JJdes2