On the podcast today we have Aki Hamano.

Aki is a freelance developer from Japan. He builds websites for clients and enjoys setting himself difficult problems to solve.

He came to my attention when Justin Tadlock wrote an article about a playful block that he’s created.

After a little further exploration, it turns out that Aki’s been busy in his spare time creating a range of blocks, all of them useful and all of them freely available in the WordPress plugin repository.

We start off by having a brief chat about what the WordPress scene is like in Japan. Is there a strong sense of community, and do in-person events take place?

We then move on to talk about how he became interested in creating blocks. Did he find it easy to understand the new skills required to get up and running and was there enough documentation to make speedy progress?

We spend the remainder of the podcast talking through the five blocks which Aki has put in the WordPress plugin repository. Often, they were created to scratch his own itch, to solve a problem that he faced in his work, but sometimes, as with his excellent Piano Block, it was just for fun and the challenge of trying something new.

The Piano Block aside, all of Aki’s blocks have an easy to understand purpose, and they take on a simple challenge, and solve it.

This is perhaps one of the main reasons that blocks are so interesting, they can be simple or complex, utilitarian or just fun.

It’s an interesting discussion, and you never know, perhaps you’ll find yourself using Aki’s blocks at some point yourself.

Useful links.

Block Editor Handbook

Create Block Package

Aki Hamano's Github page

Flexible Spacer Block

Flexible Table Block

RichText Extension

Custom HTML Block Extension

Piano Block

Play the Piano and Other Instruments via the WordPress Block Editor