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. My main tool for web development is WordPress and 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 |
| 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
| 2009–2020 | Freelancer. WordPress consultant and developer. See below, Web technologies & tools |
| 2000–2002 | Sotiropoulos Brothers, commercial real estate agency, Athens, Greece. Apprentice mediator and PA to the chief mediator. |
| 1995–2009 | Freelancer. Translator (mostly English to Greek) and copy editor for several publishers in Athens, Greece. Specialized in novels and in techical documents. Authors I have translated include Ursula K. Le Guin, François Châtelet, D. H. Lawrence, Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austen. |
| 1994–1995 | Greek Army. Compulsory military service. |
Web technologies & tools
WordPress – Advanced
I have been working with WordPress since 2008. My WordPress 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)
- Omni Contact Form, a basic contact form that uses shortcodes and the WordPress REST API: github.com/demetris/omni-contact-form
- Omni Control, a collection of WordPress tweaks: github.com/demetris/omni-control
WordPress contributions and related work
- I have contributed more than 100 reports and patches to WordPress: core.trac.wordpress.org/query?reporter=demetris
- I was the main translator of WordPress into Greek for versions 2.6 to 2.9, and took the completeness of the Greek translation from 50% to 99%.
- I have written a few well-received articles on WordPress. How to make a child theme for WordPress (2008) and The WordPress excerpt (2009) are two.
- 111 Recipes is a site I started in 2020 for notes and short recipes (about web development) that I want to be able to access quickly from everywhere.
WordPress websites (recent)
- In 2019 I completed the new website of NOMIS Foundation, a Swiss private fund for scientific research: nomisfoundation.ch. I designed the data architecture and built the WordPress theme from scratch. 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.
- In 2018 I put together yalosbranding.com for Yalos Branding Intelligence, an independedent agency in Athens, Greece. The site uses a completely custom WordPress theme that I built to implement the design mockups and has been optimized for fast delivery of images. I hosted and maintained the site on a Linode VPS from 2018 to 2020.
Web technologies & tools, continued
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 use Sass for stylesheets that are expected to grow longer than 50–60 lines of code.
JavaScript & TypeScript – Intermediate
I write small bits of JavaScript as projects demand (DOM manipulation, Ajax, integration of third-party libraries). I write 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.