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 |
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)
- 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 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.