Résumé

I am Demetris Kikizas. I live in Athens, Greece, and I work as a web developer.

Web development brings together three things I love: technology, publishing and the web. I focus on making websites that are fast and easy to use on all devices — from desktop computers to mobile phones.

The latest version of this document is available at https://kikizas.com/resume/

Personal information

Name Demetris Kikizas
Email d@kikizas.com
Phone +30 210 604 4426
Mobile +30 694 402 6728

Education

1993–1994 University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. MPhil in Moral and Political Philosophy.
1987–1991 Panteion University, Athens, Greece. Degree in Sociology.

Work experience

2021–NOW XWP. Front-end, WordPress and WooCommerce developer. See below, Skills
2021–NOW Xfive. Front-end and WordPress developer. See below, Skills
2009–2020 Freelancer. WordPress consultant and developer. See below, Skills
2000–2002 Sotiropoulos Brothers, commercial real estate agency, Athens, Greece. Apprentice mediator and PA to the chief mediator.
1995–2015 Freelancer. Translator (mostly English to Greek) and copy editor for several publishers in Athens, Greece. Specialized in novels and in technical documents. Authors I have translated include Ursula K. Le Guin, François Châtelet, D. H. Lawrence, Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austen.
1994–1995 Greek Army. Mandatory military service.

Skills

WordPress – Advanced

I have been working with WordPress since 2008. My skills include:

  • Setting up and maintaining WordPress sites
  • Optimizing WordPress sites for speed
  • Building custom themes using the WordPress API and modern HTML and CSS
  • Developing custom plugins to meet client needs
  • Designing and implementing custom post types and custom post fields
  • Customizing the WordPress admin UI to make it friendlier for users
  • Configuring, optimizing, hardening and maintaining web servers for WordPress

WordPress plugins (recent)

WordPress contributions and related work

WordPress and WooCommerce websites (recent)

  • In October 2021 I took over the maintenance of myLAB Box for XWP. myLAB Box is a platform for at-home health and wellness testing. It is built on WordPress and WooCommerce and hosted on WP VIP. In addition to regular maintenance and adding features as needed, I have focused on performance and security. Organic search traffic has more than doubled as a result of the improvements made on the site.
  • In 2021 I rebuilt the website of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, an American architectural firm. The rebuild was based on the already existing design and uses WordPress, custom post types, custom taxonomies and custom fields. I also built a subsidiary mini-site for Bohlin Cywinski Jackson using Next.js and the GraphQL API.
  • In 2019 I completed the new website of NOMIS Foundation, a Swiss private fund for scientific research. The site uses custom post types, Advanced Custom Fields and automatic bi-directional post-to-post relationships, integrates a few external libraries (Siema, baguetteBox.js, and schema-org) and has a members area implemented with BuddyPress. From 2017 to 2020 I hosted and maintained the NOMIS website on a Linode VPS.

Skills, continued

Chisel & Timber – Intermediate to Advanced

At Xfive I started using Chisel and Timber. It is a combination that I enjoy because it makes templating in WordPress pleasant.

React.js – Beginner to Intermediate

In 2022 I started using and learning Next.js, a React framework. I also use React for custom Gutenberg blocks in WordPress.

HTML & CSS – Advanced

I have been exploring and using semantic HTML and standards-compliant CSS since 2002. I always aim to use the most modern HTML and CSS supported by targeted browsers; this brings benefits in performance, accessibility and SEO, while it is also something I enjoy as a developer.

Sass – Advanced

I write CSS in Sass.

JavaScript & TypeScript – Intermediate

I write JavaScript for DOM manipulation, Ajax, integration of third-party libraries, etc. I prefer writing JavaScript in TypeScript because TypeScript helps me make better sense of JavaScript.

PHP – Intermediate to advanced

I follow the developments in PHP and I strive to follow modern practices and to take advantage of modern features available in the PHP ecosystem and in the latest versions of the language.

npm, Gulp and Yarn – Intermediate

I use npm, Gulp and Yarn for transpiling TypeScript and Sass and for managing assets.

Eleventy.js – Beginner

I started exploring Eleventy recently. I find that it is a simple and at the same time flexible SSG that I like working with.

Linux administration – Advanced

I am well acquainted with the Debian and Ubuntu operating systems and with the command-line interface. I maintain a few Debian servers at Linode for hosting, testing and web development.

Other skills & interests

Languages

  • Greek. Native tongue.
  • English. Fluent.
  • French. Basic reading skills (studied to intermediate level, haven’t practiced).
  • German. Basic reading skills (studied to intermediate level, haven’t practiced).

Personal computers

I have used personal computers since 1984, Windows since 1993, and Linux since 2003. Currently I use Windows 10 with WSL on my main computer and Debian on my laptop computer.

Music

I studied piano with Eleni Hallecker and Efi Agrafioti in Athens, Greece, for eight years (1996–2004). My favourite classical composers are Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Charles Ives and György Ligeti.

DYI

I enjoy assembling, disassembling and repairing stuff. I like to know how the things I use work.

Sport

I play and watch football and I used to play basketball and tennis.