Kofi Mokome receives the Yoast Care fund for his contribution to the WordPress community

Meet Kofi Mokome, a valued member of the WordPress Community Team! Mukoko Jelissa nominated him for the Yoast Care fund because of his commitment and valuable contributions to the community. Let’s learn more about this passionate WordPress enthusiast.

Nominator Mukoko Jelissa: “I want to nominate Kofi for the Yoast Care Fund because of his incredible dedication to growing our WordPress community. Thanks to his efforts, our community is slowly gaining momentum, and it’s all because of his unwavering commitment to bringing in new members and helping them improve their WordPress skills. Kofi doesn’t just want the community to grow; he wants every single member to thrive. His passion for open-source has inspired so many of us to start contributing to WordPress, something we might not have considered without his encouragement. Beyond that, he has also created a few WordPress plugins and made them freely available in the WordPress repository. He is dedicated, enthusiastic, and always ready to support others. For all these reasons, I wholeheartedly nominate Kofi for the Yoast Care Fund.“

Let’s get to know Kofi Mokome

Those are some lovely words by Mukoko. Let’s get to know Kofi a bit better and ask him some questions about his work and passion for WordPress:

Kofi, what is one WordPress-related goal you have for this year?

My primary WordPress goal this year is to become a core contributor. I’ve observed a relative lack of contributions from African developers, and I’m committed to changing that narrative. My aim is to contribute meaningfully to core development, enhance the platform, and inspire and encourage greater participation from the African WordPress community. I believe this increased diversity will strengthen the project as a whole.

What do you do in the WordPress space?

I’m deeply involved in the WordPress ecosystem in several ways. I’m a plugin developer with two plugins available, and I actively contribute to the community as a co-organizer of the Buea WordPress Meetup in Buea, Cameroon. In addition to that, I’m also passionate about sharing my knowledge and experience, leading me to speak at WordCamps, including WordCamp Jinja 2024 and WordCamp Nairobi 2024. I’m a WordPress advocate dedicated to promoting and growing the platform through development, community building, and education.

How did you first discover WordPress, and why did you start contributing?

Well, my introduction to WordPress was reasonably practical! It happened during an internship at Zinger Systems Ltd. in Buea, Cameroon. Initially, it was a training exercise focused on plugin development, where I learned to build a basic plugin that registered a custom post type. As I gained experience developing WordPress websites for the company, I encountered a particularly challenging issue: combating spam on a client’s website. Unsatisfied with the effectiveness of existing plugins like Google reCAPTCHA, I developed a custom plugin that successfully filtered over 90% of spam messages. This success led me to publish the first version of “Message Filter for Contact Form 7” on the official WordPress plugin repository in 2016, marking the beginning of my contribution journey.

One of the things I appreciate about WordPress is how it empowers developers and people who aren’t tech-savvy. Developers can use it to create compelling applications, and non-technical users can also create beautiful websites without coding. Also, I like that WordPress is open-source and has a strong community. This means it’s free to use, and lots of people help make it better. That’s why I decided to contribute and be part of it.

What advice would you give to someone just starting with WordPress?

WordPress is beneficial, and I want more people to use it. If you’re just beginning, my advice is to learn it slowly and consistently, starting with the basics. The advanced features make it easy to feel overwhelmed, so I strongly recommend starting with the fundamentals and building a solid foundation. Focus on understanding the core concepts of WordPress, such as posts versus pages, themes, and plugins. This foundational knowledge is crucial, regardless of whether you’re a developer or a non-developer. By mastering the basics, you’ll gain the confidence and skills to navigate more complex aspects of WordPress effectively.

Where can people connect with you online, at WordCamps, or other meetups?

I’m always happy to connect with fellow WordPress enthusiasts. You can find me on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Medium, and my Portfolio (please note that this is currently under development).

Thank you for this interview, Kofi, and all your contributions to the WordPress community! Do you know someone like Kofi Mokome who also deserves to be in the spotlight? Go to our Yoast Care page and nominate them right away.